The field fills up Valdezarza

50 kilos of vegetables, more than 60 people of all ages, two kitchens, a few pots and a lot of desire to learn, narrate and cook. This is how the day began on Saturday 15th September in Valdezarza, where the neighbours went down to the now known Plaza Lugar Poetas, dressed in their aprons and loaded with anecdotes and stories about their relationship with the orchards, the countryside and crops in general.

In addition to personal stories from the neighborhood, we have several producers from orchards in Madrid or near the community. Remi was there, who as well as telling us about his vegetable garden in Polán (Toledo), provided us with the seasonal vegetables with which we prepared part of the daily menu: chard, peppers, cucumbers, courgettes and some spectacular tomatoes (the kind that taste like real tomatoes). Barbara also came from Las Morras farm, located very close to the Remi orchard, with whom they often exchange produce; Javi, from the La Morera de Ofelia orchard in Tetuan, and from the popular and sustainable horticultural project Los Esquimos, which is based on the popular wisdom of the people who live in the village of Perales de Tajuña; and Caroline, from blueyellow, who grows rare aromatics and whose orchard is in the Rivas Vaciamadrid area. In addition, many of those attending shared their horticultural experiences in projects such as the BAH (Bajo el Asfalto está la Huerta), Madrid Agroecológico or the Huerto Zuloaga, and there were those who told us about their family gardens or what they are trying to grow on their balconies, and also those who confessed to having no idea about gardens, but to having a lot of love for the land.

As in the previous workshop, we have a large representation of the Asociación Familias Enlazadas, which hosts the project La Colmena que dice Sí de La Dehesa de la Villa, focused on supporting local consumption and proximity. Fran, from La Colmena, explained to us what these consumption groups consist of, in which we can buy everything from fruit and vegetables to elaborated products such as cheese, bread or oil. Right now, they also distribute Sierra, a brand of craft beer made by several residents of Valdezarza.

Several members of ASPA, a programme of the Town Hall that helps young people and adolescents in situations of risk or social exclusion, which was recently launched in the district of Fuencarral, also participated in the workshop. The project, they told us, has a small vegetable garden, which they are learning to make the most of. The young people of the Pauta Association, from the neighbouring district of Tetuan, who work with people with autism and associated disorders, also wanted to take part in the workshop. They have an orchard in Torre Arias, which belongs to the Network of Community Orchards of the Community of Madrid, and have even given it a name: La Raíz Cuadrada (The Square Root).

Once the presentations were done, we set to work with the menu of the day: lentil salad -aligned with a vinaigrette in which we use some of the products that blueyellow makes with its aromatics, such as English lavender salt or Santa Maria herb vinegar-, potatoes stuffed with vegetables, rice balls, fruit skewers and ginger lemonade. As one of the maxims of these workshops is culinary improvisation, we were also able to enjoy a delicious recipe of cabbage with grated carrot and a lot of sautéed garlic prepared by Isa, a neighbour of Valdezarza, and the incredible baba ganoush of Anwar, a Lebanese neighbour of the Tetuan neighbourhood, who surprised everyone with the taste he got from the aubergines of La Morera de Ofelia.

While everyone was busy cutting vegetables, squeezing lemons, cooking potatoes or stirring sofritos, the fantabulous Mico team kept the little ones in the square very entertained. Together they erected a wooden structure, which represented a greenhouse in which to play and experiment using various materials. Once they had the greenhouses ready, they drew the products usually found in them or in the orchards, while they counted which ones they usually ate and thought about the tools needed to maintain them. As a souvenir of the workshop, each child took their own pot with a planted seed, but not before reminding them of the necessary care that the plants require.

At about half past one, we were able to enjoy a concert of dulzaina by Javi and his colleagues from the La Morera garden, a real sound luxury to whet our appetites. Shortly after sitting down to the table – to the voice of the now iconic ‘Valdezarza, a la mesaaa!’ – several members of the Asociación Vecinal La Flor also came, who had been meeting all morning in the Centro Comunitario Guatemala, where our beloved kitchens are now housed. Since they were unable to be present during the workshop, they brought some things to eat, including a delicious apple pie.