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CAN SERVUS, Family home with Garden in URBANIZATION

 

Can Servus is a generously-sized family home situated in a satelite urbanization, satelite because there is nothing there but houses, the next village with any shops and services is 2km away. We came across the property in the winter of 2011, after it had been left to do its thing for several years. We were excited, coming from Can Curt (a 60mĀ² cottage) but at the same time somewhat weary, as at Can Curt we were used to walk to the beach, the shops, the village; oh and also, cleaning was done in like 20 minutes... Can Servus seemed like a castle to us then! Would we have to spend all our time cleaning? And how were we going to heat this huge home? We took the challenge though, moved the chicks and all over Christmas and still live at Can Servus today.

 

OVERALL VISION

 

Restore the biodiversity that was planned on this lot of land, maintain the microclimate without being a slave to the system, and be able to reap at least 50% of our fruit and veg intake. In Utopia we would be able to fulfill our water needs with rain water, which would mean installing a rain water collection system (there is a deposit, but no gutters) on the over 200m2 roof. A dry toilet and a yurta are other unicorn visions I have but for now we will stick with the chicken-hotel, it's a compost producing factory too, not too sure about having guests staying in it though.

 

DATA
 

  1. Plot size: 2000m2

  2. House size approx 225m2, U-shaped towards S-SW

  3. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (1 en suite), large kitchen with dining area, large sitting room with open fire place, covered terrace, sun terrace next to pool, porch type open garage

  4. Mains water

  5. Mains drains

  6. Existing heating: not very functional open fire place and hot/cold aircon units.

  7. Location: Subach, between Sa Pobla and PollenƧa, in the North of Malllorca

  8. Rainfall: 650mm - 800mm yearly

  9. approx 5 years without maintenance prior to our arrival

  10. Many fruit trees as well as ornamental plants and bushes, some of them beyond relief when we arrived

  11. Leaky swimming pool

  12. Human resources: 2 adults (who when moving to Can Servus  (Christmas in 2011) were not bound to a full-time job) and 2 little ladies some of the time, they particularly liked tending to the chickens and the bunnies at first, are now only occasionaly lured into planting.

  13. Economical resources: minimal to no availability of extra sums of money to put into any new projects. We have worked with exchange of labour (f.e. Permablitz), discounts on materials for outstanding favours and plenty of free materials such as pallets, our local tip (gold mine!), free straw and manure as well as wood chip of diverse origen, plant and seed swaps, cuttings from the great variety of plants on site, etc

 

FIRST YEAR 2012
THE BASICS IN 2013

In 2012 I worked part-time at a outdoor & adventure store. This meant that I had time to start cleaning, organizing, checking systems and cutting back the jungle out in the garden. 2000m of land sounded like not much coming from our 4000m finca but this garden was very planted up, which was in sharp contrast with the couple of dry land trees we had at Can Curt. We started a vegetable garden, but as I took on more hours in the high season (basically more than a full time), this was not extremely productive, just naturally abundant because of being planted in soil that had not been touched for a good couple of years. We also tried to get our head around the whole design, as we definitely seemed to be dealing with a system that was planted with a plan in mind.  What did we want to promote? What (apart from the dead trees) did we want to remove and/or cut back. At this stage my partners girls had come to live with us full-time, so our timetables were somewhat different than from what we had in mind when we took on the property. It quickly seemed as a job too huge for us, and often we were wondering if we had made the right decision. Apart from working at work and looking after the girls with their school-schedules, it felt like all we did was work at home. And there seemed to be no end to the joblist! We just had to stick with it and worked away at gettings jobs done. The girls were totally chuffed with the swimming pool!

 

Here you can see some photos of Can Servus back in 2012

Getting ON TOP 2014

In January of 2014 I was offered to return to be a real estate broker at the company I had left in 2009. I was promised that it wasn't going to be the same level of stress and responsibility as before when I was sales director. I could just go and do my job for 40 hours a week and enjoy the "selling of Mallorca". 40 hours quickly became 60. Weekends were out of the window. The market decided to pick up again just as I had returned for a quiet, honest job... and I couldn't resist the urge to please yet another client, hunt for yet another owner that might be the one, read that last email of the day in bed (in 2009 we didn't have the email on phones yet!) and to feel that rush of adrenaline when you get an offer on the table. Can Servus was still at turn-over point, although now I was in a better financial position, which meant I was buying trees and plants, fitted new curtains in places, upgraded bits and bobs around the house and I even got a cleaner. My man's daughters were now with us only half the time, although we needed this time to catch up on work as much as we could. The rat-race had me in its grip again and although the paycheck was nice, the stress, the politics and the competitive atmosphere (which was new to me in this company) that came with it, were very much not. In october I went to the EducaciĆ³ per la Vida conference in the Camper Foundation and met up with my ol' buddies from PermaMed and many other friendly faces. I felt like crying. And I did. This is where I belonged. These people here (approx 350 I think) know and understand what I feel inside. There and then I decided to let the company owners know that I would not be signing for a renewal when my contract finished in January. So now, it was trying to tie up deals that I had ongoing, and make as clean an exit as was possible. At Can Servus I started preparing the vegetable beds for the summer 2015. I weeded, made lasagna gardens, and thought about design. Next year would be different!

 

 Here you can see some pictures taken at Can Servus in 2014

LIVING IT 2016

This is the first year we have veg in winter. The garden offers leek, celery, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, lettuce, parsely and I have planted onions, garlic, broad beans, cauliflower, more leeks... The fruit trees have all had the "circle-care" (loosen up earth around the base of the tree, 1m diameter or as wide as the tree's cup of branches, put a thick mattress of mulch on top, which can be cardboard and straw) although I want to make the drip line circles around their base larger. A mis-communication last year with my partner had them come out just 20cm away from the trunk all round, I would like them to be at least 50cm away from the trunk so that the roots grow broad and the tree can get stronger. We have been waiting for rain to come, so we have watered on several occasions... this in winter! The blossoms were out early (almonds, apple, khaki, apricot...), and now (early March) the cold and rain seem to have arrived. Time will tell how the harvest is this year. As soon as PermaMed's CDP is over and I am not hiking or giving massages (my latest addition to the Right Livelihood diversity of possible income sources), I would like to get round to naming all the plants and trees on the plot, with their respective photos, something I have started on paper but have not digitalized. 

We want to shelter the vegetable beds this summer, last year we lost a lot of produce due to excessive heat and sunlight. We have already planned the tomatoes in the earliest shade corner and are thinking of putting up a second hand garden marquee above some of the other beds. We will also stop pruning the Rosemary and Lantana bushes next to the vegetable garden so that they can grow tall and give shade. 

Other areas for vegetables can be the circles around the fruit trees once we start watering them again. 

Now that it has started raining, we have to hunt for snails and slugs every night. Young plants dissappear in a couple of days if we don't. Taking away the mulch was one thought but due to the lack of rain, I decided to put the mulch back in place, to prevent the soil from drying out.

 

Here are some photos of Can Servus in 2016 

In January of 2013 we had a Permablitz at Can Servus, focusing on cutting back the many fruit trees in the garden. We had an expert who showed us, he also explained that many of the trees were old and mal-treated, so that any cutting back would have to be gentle (It worked a treat I can say from in the future!). We had a good bunch of peops over, and of course we had the obligatory grilling taking place when the work was done. Later in 2013 I went away to travel as a Tour Leader through Europe and Morocco. I won't go into why or how I enjoyed it. Its consequence was though that works at Can Servus were being reduced to just plain basics: cutting back the hedges, keeping the grass alive, cleaning the house and keeping on top of general maintenance including the pool. With me out of the house and my man having to look after his daughters, that's all we managed. When on a two week break I had in early September, I thoroughly enjoyed the island whilst being on holiday, in summer time! I don't think I'd had this much real time off in summer on Mallorca since 2009. At the end of my tour leading season in November, I knew I wanted to spend 2014 on Mallorca. Doing what exactly, I had no clue yet. First things first: a planned trip to the family-in-law! We went to Argentina for Christmas and New Year and phantasized about what we could do to pay the bills in the coming year. Anything seemed to be possible. We just had to set our minds to it. 

 

Getting AHead 2015

In January 2015 I finished work at the real estate agency and got straight back into PermaMed work. It was as if I was coming home. There were good vibes running and new team members made it all happen. Big projects were on the planner and yes; this was going to be the year of change! Having to still pay the bills though, hard as it is to just step out of the capitalist system we live in, I took on a job that fitted my principles better than sales: I became a hiking guide! I would be away from home for several weeks in spring and then again in the autumn, but it is worth it, and I very much enjoy the job; working with people and being out in nature. The design for Can Servus was stepped up somewhat. Preparation of the veggie patches was carried on throughout january and february. March I was hiking. April I did more prepping/sowing, didn't dare to do too much planting as we still needed a big downpour to close off the winter season... which didn't come though. May I was away hiking again and then in June we got everything in place: seedlings, more mulch, water system... Midway through July I started making little videos, as this was easier than the notebook I had set up in April but never really used very much. We now have some more hands come in to help us with the basic big job maintenance of the garden so all hedges are trimmed, the grass is too, all sectors have operating watering systems, we have had the electric gate fixed, and the egg-making-machine is back in business (bought some more young hens!). 2015 is definitely the year in which we can get ahead, but never losing sight of the masses of work it is to run a small-ish garden! We will always need a combination of time, abled bodies and money to keep moving forward. All of them luxuries... so I am pretty grateful to have those luxuries just now (not in excess though!). I can't wait to eat more from the garden, and for this upcoming winter I would love to take the first steps towards building a food forest in the already existing orchards. Poc a poc they say though on Mallorca!

 

Here are the pictures I have taken at Can Servus in 2015

 

And here you can have a look at some videos I made (not edited - not sure about any of them!)

random questions

  • Why will the Avocado tree not give any flower or fruit? Is it age? Soil conditions or orientation? Lack of a partner?

  • How can I cure the apparent overload of nitrates in the soil? (Apparent because of the bio-indicator plants like chicory and gardener's love, and also a known fact in this area of the island - due to extreme use of chemicals in the main veg cultivating zone)

  • Is this maybe why the Avocado tree is not happy?

  • How to propagate/improve re-appearance numbers of Narcissus flowers?

  • Do we have to peel the trunks of the Banana plant?

  • What material to use for mulching the paths in the vegetable garden without it damaging the produce or soil quality of the garden beds in any way, with maximum capacity of keeping back unwanted weeds and so it is also comfortable to walk and sit on? 

  • Try and experiment with a hĆ¼gelkultur (to get rid of cuttings withouth having to burn them) or just believe the experts and their opinion of needing sunken beds rather than raised ones in a Mediterranean climate?

  • How is the water quality (mains - lime) affecting our vegetable nutritient level and the soil condition?

  • Is climbing Ivy a good idea on a North-facing, damp plastered faƧade? 

  • How about a dry toilet with/without worms in this urban area? Legalities?

I would like to express my gratitude to the owners of Can Servus, for the immense trust from their side this exchange entails.

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