We walked on mountains of Aegian Region, travelled in the green fields of Marmara. Now, we are in the steppes of Central Anatolia.
We sent our last telegraph from Jade farm (stop). Just after, we worked in the construction of adobe house for two days in Yeryüzü Eco-village. This was the fourth construction we have participated since the beginning of our journey. Now we are ready to settle.
Sezgin
Yeryüzü eco-village named their home as “Burcu”. That’s the name of the architect. We were together with a crowded, nice group of people… We have posted their photos on our website though. Also we ran into “Recognizing Plants Around Us While Walking In Nature” event. With guides from Zeytinburnu Medical Plants Gardens we have examined the plants with their names in Latin, which I can not remember now, and categorized as what is edible, which is drunk as tea, which one directly kills us. It was nice. At night, we sang songs and danced while playing bottles.
Then we went back to Jade Farm as we promised before. Actually, we were planning to make Tarhana Soup there but we couldn’t. By the way, we spent a couple of days by working in the garden and asking questions to Berin. Berin’s farm was so green, because there was too much moisture. Humid every night. Also there are too much caterpillars this year. We were hearing their sound while they were eating leafs. They will become American Butterfly when they grow. As they don’t have any natural hunter up here, they ate all the trees. American Butterfly imperialism!
We enjoyed staying in Jade Farm, but we had to leave to continue travelling. Otherwise we wouldn’t be Seeds on Wheels. Berin gave us many tomatoes sauce while leaving. We eat them every day but still we have a lot.
Adapazarı was our last stop in Marmara Region. When we go to Ankara to repair our waste oil kit (just a problem with fuse) we had a chance to meet Kır Çocukları. We are invited to Ceyhan and Nihal’s home who grows organic food with the villagers in Tahtacıörencik, Güdül. Tahtacıörencik is nice, beautiful village with its traditional country houses close to the border of Bolu. Ceyhan and Nihal decided to move there with their kids. They are interested in organic farming for a long time. They are making organic ointments and oil while organizing producer-consumer networks in the name of TADYA. Now they are doing both in the village. Their kids will grow in nature…
We continue travelling while making massage to each other with the creams they gave us. But our caravan Murtaza is also willing to make us touch every part of it. After we repaired it’s waste oil system, it’s solar accumulator is broken. We go back to Ankara to look for someone who knows how to repair it. We find Depar Solar and they help us overly. They control everything one by one and tell us what to do. And for free. Also they forgot their black electric tape and a screwdriver in our caravan. Here, we say if they are still looking for; don’t worry. They are with us and safe.
Our waste oil system is repaired but now we can not use solar power. We manage with the accumulator of our car until the solar panel’s battery is replaced with a new one. If a computer is charged with the battery of a car that runs with waste oil, does it operate with waste oil?
We thought that we solved all our problems and moved towards Elmadağ. We stopped once to check out the map and the motor didn’t start again. This time, it’s the cranking motor. But no problem. Of course there is a repairman around to solve the problem in a creative way.
Ebru
Before going into Anatolia deeper, we visit Yeşilce organic farm close to Elmadağ. We stay there just for one night but we still remember the taste of Battal’s tea which we drink in the veranda of his otantic house. And the taste of peppers which Ebru gathered from the garden.
While travelling towards Nevşehir we camp close to Kızılırmak and watch the birds flying over a tree on a small island in the river. The water flowing is very impressive. But the construction of a dam is rising which is built by the people trying to stop the water. In morning, we realize the sand rising in the water.
As there is no work in farms right now, we don’t want to stay as guests. But we check out TaTuTa everywhere anyway. When we find a farm we ask for a visit. When we arrive Kaman we called Ceviz Bağı Farm, and they invited us immediately. We drank tea, ate melons and watermelons. Hayan, who was a volunteer in the farm, guided us around and Özcan and Ayşe, who are the owners of the farms, showed us the secret parts of the farm. The oriental room, a barn that will become a museum soon… There will be traditional agriculture equipment in the fam. That we use when there was no tractor, just the oxen.
We don’t stay in Cevizbağı and pass Kırıkkale, Kırşehir afternoon. The colour we see around is generally yellow. But there are interesting places too. The underground city in Mucur is very impressive but walking inside for a long time may cause a herniated disc. Camping on the round hill near Seyfe Lake, where we write this blog, might be interesting too.
Sunflower
Our next stop is Avanos. Catching the grape harvesting season and thinking of Khayyam may be nice…
