I will post a little about my current
surroundings, to give you a taste of my newly found lifestyle in
Ispica, Sicily.
Ispica, is a village of approximately
30,000 inhabitants, situated on a hill, 176m above sea-level. It is a
sleepy town, with typical south Italian conservative views. Religion
and tradition are still very evident parts modern life here. 7 km
from a owonderful beach, with soft waves and clean water.
Bernd's place (La casa di Bernard)
consists of three seperate non-adjoining gardens at the edge of the
village. Here he grows various fruit and vegetables and in one of the
gardens he lives comfortably in a series of four furnished caves. He
has lived here for over twenty years and in that time has made
“outside living” as comfortable as possible. His philosophy is to
try to be as self-sufficient, healthy and creative. When not looking
after his gardens, he is an artist and car mechanic. He is an artist
in the Leonardo diVinci sense of the word ie carving, sculpting,
painting, etc. and also designing, engineering, building new ideas.
Constantly inventing and improvising, he uses other people's thrown
out items to create new art or items to improve the quality of life
for him and his guests. An eccentric in even the most open society,
he is a remarkable oddity here in southern Sicily. But like all
genius, it is not recognised in its time. He lends his time freely to
those who care to listen. His skills and expertise are renown in this
part of Sicily and many of the church and private sculptures,
interior paintings and theatrical sets highlight his talents.
Recently, his knowledge and experience of solar panel technology is
being sought by the villagers.
I was inspired into learning how to
live in a more environmentally, basic and healthy way on my visit
here last year. Bernd invited me to “cave-sit” for him during his
two month work trip throughout Germany, fixing 2CV Citroens for
friends and family. Now, I have successfully completed my induction
training here; gardening basics, how to take care of the animals,
what to do when water/ energy/ rain is absent or in excess. I am
alonee, minding five dogs, four hens and thirteen tortoises...
Some basics of my training and daily
routine, will enlighten you to my new lifestyle.
- Here is the general layout of the main living spaces
- There are four caves which Bernd has extended in his time here. Three bedrooms, fully equipped with lights, fans (important to reduce the damp atmosphere of caves; who would have known?), stove (allegedly it gets cold here in winter and to keep the caves from becoming too damp), radio/ CD/ mp3 player, bed, tables, artwork on the walls, wardrobes
- Kitchen area is outside under a roof. Gas stove. Fresh water only from approx 8am to 11am.
- Dining area consists of a table with benches under another roof.
- Solar panels are located on a higher platform, overlooking the kitchen/ dining area.
- Outdoor shower, with water heated directly from the sun
- Indoor bathroom, with wood-heated shower
Compost”outhouse” toilet
overlooking Cava di Ispica: every six months can be emptied to use
as fertiliser in the gardens
- All energy is derived from the sun – using a few solar panels (one automatically motorised), a series of batteries and low usage appliances, this place is almost off the electrical grid (the washing machine is still connected). A word of warning, is that the energy retrieved is only of the 12V variety. This does not compromise the electrical appliances Bernd has here. It just required a rethink.
- He uses car appliances, including a car fridge, car stereos and car fans, which normally function on 12V.
- Electrical work tools, laptop, lights and other devices, he converts to accept 12V.
- USB devices and others can be plugged directly into the laptop or car cigarette lighter sockets, located throughout.
- Directly solar charged appliances, including mosquito UV lamp.
- There is one socket available that uses a transformer to convert the 12V to 240V.
- Water is used as conservatively as possible here eg compost toilet, waste water from dishes waters the plants, watering plants by hand only when necessary.
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| cauliflower |
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| grapes |
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| cactus fruit |
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| paprika/ peppers |
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| crab apple |
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| bamboo |
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| salad ie lettuce |
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| corriander |
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| lemon |
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| tomatoes |
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| aubergine/ egg plant |
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| sage |
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| rosemary |
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| dragon fruit flower |
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| 2nd garden |
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| spearmint |
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| breakfast - figs included |
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| something edible |
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| onions |
And now onto my animal tending
tendancies.
- Five schitzu dogs (Benny, Cora, Mya, Hugo and Camilla) with big personalities wander about the garden all day long. These need feeding twice a day and fresh water.
- Four egg-laying hens (for the moment, nameless). To be fed daily and fresh water. Produce four eggs a day. Rumours of expanding hen population to eight in November.
Thirteen tortoises (numbered on
their shells, seriously!). Born survivors, no need for special
attention, some discarded food scraps and fresh water for the little
'uns. Only to be seen early mornings and evenings sunning themselves
in their compound - soon to be enlarged.
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| A work in progress... step 1 of making a cave your home | - find a cave |
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| Abandoned due to landslide risk! |
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| Garden with tortoise sanctuary in background |
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| THAT kichen/ dining area space - solar panel above |
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| Bernd's sculptures mushroom |
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| NOW... La casa di Graham |
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| Towards the 2nd cave bedroom and bikeshed |
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| Four bikes to be bikesurfed |
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| Guest cave #1 |
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| Guest cave #2 |
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| Outdoor shower - water heated by the sun |
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| That shower heating system - MacGyver-esque |
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| Compost toilet - no water required - best view ever |
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| View from the toilet seat! |
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| Upper level |
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| Toilet facilities |
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| Not on Google street maps... front door |
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| View from the chicken pen |
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| Parco forza - view from the garden |
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| Mystery wagon |
