Winter in Loubar is a time to sleep, take stock of the successes of the previous year and to prepare for the coming spring.

As such all activity on Farm Finn stopped with the harvesting of the olives and the production of our first batch of home produced olive oil.

OK, I have to say at this point that I was not involved in either the picking or the milling of the oil, but that doesn’t stop me being enormously excited at what this means for us as an agro tourism project, the chance to actually produce your own food and to be able to share that with your clients..now that is truly remarkable.

Tbh, I was slightly anxious as I tasted my first dip of bread in to our oil…I’ve tasted some oil in Xaouen that is just too heavy for me…but OMG, it is simply gorgeous, so smooth, creamy and light, you just want more…and it’s good for you too. Can’t wait to get this on to people’s tables both in Loubar and in Fez.

Amongst several achievements for this year has been the putting of 16 lorry loads of rocks on to the land.

This may not sound too much, but of course it necessitated several weeks hauling said rocks from the piste along mule paths and up to here.

It also leaves us, to some degree prepared for the build starting next June. I know it might sound silly, but this image just fills me with joy and I can only wonder..and hope..at what I might be posting this time next year…Ish Allah!

Back in Ramadan 2013, I don’t think I really forsesaw how this would develop. I remember struggling along, myself and Yahyaa, trying to get just one site ready enough for me to spend one solitary, if glorious night under canvas.

Then, as if by magic we have Mwalem Mohammed and the boys and we’ve now got 4 sites up. Ok they aren’t finished, lots of planting and finishing to be done, but to my eye, they are beautiful and if I am honest, the views from each of them is simply spectacular.

Not only have I managed to purchase two donkeys, but they’ve been central to the work so far and I’ve managed to get them housed over the winter at Ghali’s place.

This is a real result given that the space at the ruin is too decrepit for winter housing and Ghali will be able to feed, water and generally care for them through the winter, afterwhich they’ll be ready to start work again and from then on be ready fr a level of donkey retirement carrying kids and bags to and from the farm…not a bad life in the circumstances I’d say.

I must say though I have an ambition of being able to saddle and load my own donkeys on my own…independent of any 10 year old kid who may take pity on me!

I know this might sound odd…as with so much, but the mere fact that Flynn is alive and well  is an achievement in itself.

Given that she started life discarded on a rubbish pit in Fez and by chance was found by the only Gaurie boy with soppy enough parents to bring this flea ridden mutt in to their home, is incredible enough.

Add to that that she survived being poisoned at only a couple of months, with even the local vet given her a minimal chance of survival and that she then found herself in the hands of people who have the space elsewhere in the countryside to house her…well..her luck was definitely in the day that Finn passed and picked her out of the gutter!

To this has to be added that by the end of October, it was getting increasingly difficult to keep Flynn in Fez, which is simply not the right place to keep a dog.

The medina is almost totally void of trees and the locals are , well, unused to dogs, shall we say, so taking her for walks was a nightmare. She’d been staying on my top terrace, which was fine in autumn, but couldn’t work in winter, especially with my being away.

Thus I was overjoyed to be able to find a place for her at Wafi’s. It may be pretty basic, but he’s a geat sort and she’ll have the run of the place…all woods and fields…far better than Fez and hopefully she’ll move over to Farm Finn when she’s finished at Wafi’s..or rather…there’s a Farm Finn for her to stay at!

And of course one has to celebrate communal achievements and, from what I am told, this years cash crop harvest has been bumper. I increasingly appreciate the complexity of the kif economy and the role it plays in the broader life and economy of the region.

Of course it provides for so much liquid cash, so quickly, but it also increasingly takes up both land and water supply because of that. But, just like wine production in France or Spain, it’s grown by artisans who know their product and are proud of it’s production.

The only shame is that it remains a black economy and not something that either the local community or the country as a whole, can fully benefit from.

Finally I had to add this image of winter oranges I passed on the way across Oued Sebou on the way to Xaouen in November. Their bright colour and sweet taste almost made me forget we were heading in to winter….God, I love Morocco!