Farming: The natural choice

 “For productivity, it’s important to have happy cows . . . I don’t even really manage my farm so much from a fiscal standpoint as from a cow standpoint, because I know that, if I take care of those cows, the bottom line will take care of itself.”
I like this holistic notion that people and animals work together for healthy productivity – rather than the horror stories one hears about factory farming with animals cooped up in tiny enclosures pumped with hormones and antibiotics living miserable lives. In Harare it’s difficult to find fresh milk. South African long life dominates in stores – and most local dairies seem to produce more UHT than fresh milk. One hangover from the empty shelves and constant foraging of 2008 is a neighbourhood milk depot where each week I collect milk direct from the supplier.  I don’t know the names of the cows but the milk is good and one morning a friend and I got together to make cheese.
Simple cottage cheese is a good solution for milk gone sour where the curdling process has already started. A German friend makes flavoured soft cheeses from lacto. She sets the lacto to strain in a cloth over a colander and leaves it overnight, then adds salt and herbs for a lovely spreading cheese. Lebanese labneh is made in a similar way using yoghurt and can be preserved in olive oil with herbs.
Indian paneer is also amazingly simple and I was delighted with inst-ant success on my first batch. Bring milk to a gentle boil, add lemon juice and immediately the curds start separating from the way and coagulating. Allow to drip through a cloth for five minutes, place on a plate with a weight on top and after half an hour unwrap and refrigerate. It couldn’t be easier and is a lovely cheese to absorb flavours. I marinated mine in turmeric and chillie before adding it to spicy spinach for a simple healthy meal.
We wanted to try something with rennet and chose stretchy mozzarella. Definitely much more complicated and without a thermometer – quite a challenge. After a couple of hours, burnt hands (mozzarella involves kneading and stretching the hot curds!) and kitchen counters covered with whey we produced with huge pride half a dozen tiny balls of rubbery cheese. We were very pleased with ourselves but it sure is hard work and time consuming. So all respect to farmers and  food producers.
I strongly endorse the message an Indian friend posted on his facebook wall – “IF YOU ATE TODAY, THANK A FARMER” and am mindf-ul of how much care and labour goes in to bringing us the food we eat.
So it’s lovely to see the fruits of similar labour in the exuberance of cultivated flowers. I love going to the orchid show – held twice a year by the Orchid Society at the Mukuvisi Woodlands in April and September – to bask in the glory of these amazing flowering plants and this year was no disappointment with sheaves of spectacular flowers falling from trees, arranged amongst rocks and spilling out of hanging baskets.  They may not be edible but what joy those mad plants bring!
I dug out an old introductory orchid guide and brought home a couple of  flowering beauties to increase my own collection. Dendrobiums flourish on old msasa trees but so far less luck with ground orchids. Next year I hope for stunning displays in my own garden!
– g.jeke@yahoo.com