14th of August to 4th of September, 2021.
I arrive in ZaunTown. At least this is how Korbinian and Yohanna call the place. It is a huge property, with five or six buildings in total but they called “4 pieces farm” because there are four main buildings in the centre, making a kind of square. They live here with Korbinian’s grandmother. We call her Oma, which means grandmother in German. The whole farm belonged to her and her husband in the past, they built most of the place and they used to have many cows.
They are younger then me, about 3 years, but they have quite a lot of knowledge about farming, trees, plants and animals. Korbinian read a lot about planting trees and cultivating; Yohanna has knowledge about herbs and flowers since she was a kid, so she knows quite a lot about the subject; they have some chickens, two cats (begin Nero the recently adopted kitty and he is extremely cute) and now a turtle.
I spend most of my time removing weeds from around the new baby trees, and putting stuff on top (like woodchips or hey or fresh cut grass) so they don’t grow back again; but I also pick up apples from the garden; I clean the tomatoes garden; I I tide up and clean the cellar; I help Korbinian to put up some shelves in there too; and I cut a lot of grass, but like a lot!
I learn some local dishes with Yohanna but also a lot of fresh herbs and fresh garden food recipes (they have a lot of different veggies, fruits and herbs), which is really cool. The day before I leave, Oma prepares a roasted pork with dumplings and potatoes, apparently a very traditional Bavarian dish. Delicious!
Korbinian gives me a lift to a town nearby, where we both agree it would be a better place for me to hitchhike to Halle.
