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It feels like Zambia.  Yesterday the temperatures reached the highest point (32C) for that date since 1906. Did they have global warming then already? But I doubt western Canadians believe in global warming, not after last week’s snow!

The farmers around here are busy making hay and silage. On my walk this morning I strode by heavy stands of wheat heading out, canola fields with only the odd wilted bloom left, barley beards waving in the light breeze. It feels like July in Alberta.

The farmer’s market in Baden feels like both Zambia and Alberta. At 8 a.m. Saturday morning stands of fresh vegetables and flowers line the narrow city street for several blocks. It smells of fresh bread and peony bouquets.

Brightly coloured vegetables on the farmer's market in Baden, Switzerland. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

The first customers check for the freshest rhubarb, crispest lettuce medley, while vendors set up their wares on neat tables. Except for the setting, probably not a lot is different from the farmer’s market in downtown Edmonton, where Johanna and Harold Huising used to set up ‘shop’ every Saturday morning during the growing season.

What reminds me of Zambia? The bright array of fresh produce, much of it locally grown. Families that work together, a child helps her parents set up the crates for vegetables. The pineapples, mangoes and avocados that fill one stand. The crowds that begin to fill the street.

But, there’s no bargaining done here. The streets are clean without the smell of garbage nearby. The tent roofs covering the stands are clean whole canvas sheets. Prices are higher than in the grocery store (in Zambia most shop at the open market because it’s cheaper).

Whether I am in Zambia, Switzerland, Alberta or anywhere else, there is something about the local farmer’s market that always fascinates me. The array of fresh foods, especially the ones I don’t usually use, makes me want to go home and start cooking. The dark velvet sheen of Eggplant, the prickly leaves of cactus, the creamy striped bulbs of fennel, or shiny golden zucchini cry to be chopped into exotic dishes.

Roadside market stand on the way to Lusaka, Zambia. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Obviously I’m not the only one that feels like that. By 9:30 a.m. it’s hard to pass through the street in Baden. No different than Kitwe, Zambia or Edmonton, Alberta.

“Fresh cut flowers for U-pick”.  We often drive by this sign and the carefully laid out flower beds behind it. Every time I wonder if people really do put the money into the cash box, and how the whole business works.

Anni and Gerhard Bollinger were working in the flower beds today as we drove by. On a whim we decided to stop. The Bollingers are friends of ours from many years ago. We enjoyed a good visit among the flowers and I brought Grandma a lovely bouquet of pink and white daisies and blue cornflowers.

Gerhard and Anni Bollinger and I with Grandma's posy. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

The U-pick flower business is a side enterprise. Anni and Gerhard farm 28 hectares (70 acres), most of which is in crops such as wheat, canola, barley, sugar beets and corn. The flowers grow on 0.60 hectares (a little over an acre) at the side of a busy road.

Many smaller farmers in Switzerland have a side business to generate some cash flow. Another example is the Enderli family who grows the asparagus I wrote about last week.

Tulips and daffodils start the season off in April and it continues until November with frost hardy asters and gourds. At the moment things are slow until the perennials come into bloom. Then it will be a bright display of color into late fall.

Anni thinks that one third to one half of the flowers are picked without being paid for. So, does it still pay to operate the U-pick? “Yes, it does generate a good income”, Anni tells me. “But sometimes I do get angry.” Such as when people try to rip out the whole bush of peonies, and wreck the bush in the trying.

“Some people will pick a posy of flowers and demonstratively leave it lying in the path”, Anni says. That’s not just theft, that’s vandalism and hurts doubly.

There’s no electric fence around these flowers and no guard. But the stories remind me of the ones I heard from Zambian farmers. I guess people are people all over the world!

Anni and Gerhard Bollinger operate a flower U-pick along a busy road. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Anni somewhat understands theft in Africa – she feels poverty drives people to steal. But she has no sympathy for her clients.  If they can drive up in fancy cars they don’t need to steal. “You have to be able to deal with that though”, she says, “or you’d have to quit.”

Some do quit. In Switzerland many products such as apples, potatoes, even bread and eggs, are sold off farm – often out of the open garage or shed – on a trust basis with a cash box. Farmers are complaining of more and more misuse.

For Anni and Gerhard it’s still a good business. They enjoy the work together. They’ve been growing flowers for 15 years now, and as long as it makes them money, they plan to continue. Like the Africans, they take the bad with the good and move on.

Today we’ll enjoy fresh green asparagus for lunch. It’s asparagus time in Europe. Most good restaurants have a special asparagus menu during the season- creamed asparagus soup, asparagus with smoked ham and cantaloupe.  This vegetable specialty can make for an expensive dining experience!

A large sign directs potential customers to the Enderli farm for fresh asparagus. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

The Alsace, France produces mostly white asparagus. These are grown under the soil, in ridges to prevent sunlight from reaching the spear. Flying over the area 10 days ago, we saw the fields covered in white plastic. They are cut every day, with special knives. Many feel white asparagus is the queen of vegetables.

Switzerland produces both white and green asparagus. Asparagus are green when grown above ground, the sunlight producing chlorophyll which makes them slightly more nutritious. They are also less fibrous, and need less peeling. Personally, we feel they have more flavour and prefer them to the white varieties.

The Enderli's acre of asparagus is in full production. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

The ones we’re having for lunch came from a local farm. The Enderli family, who operates a typical mixed farm in Hallau, Kanton Schaffhausen, grows .40 hectares (one acre) of green asparagus. A big sign along the road ‘Frischer Spargel’ points to the farmyard. If no one is around, ring the bell in the open garage and someone will come running.

In weather like this – warm and moist – the asparagus are cut every morning and evening. We know we’re getting fresh ones! The Enderlis harvest between 18 and 30 kilos per day. The season will last until mid June – about six weeks.

Asparagus tips are sold for 20 Swiss Francs per Kilo, SFr.14/kilo for Grade A asparagus (the big fat ones) and SFr.10/kilo for second Grade (the thinner ones). The Swiss Franc is just slightly above the Canadian Dollar.

This asparagus field is in its fourth year of cultivation. Asparagus is a perennial plant, and picking starts in the third year, meaning this is the second harvest for the Enderlis.

I bought a kilo of Spanish asparagus at the local Coop for SFr.9/kilo, but there is no comparison to the taste of the ones I buy from the Enderlis. It’s worth it to pay more for local and fresh!

The Enderlis sell asparagus directly from the farm, out of their garage. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

This delicatessen plant doesn’t just grow in exotic countries like Spain and Switzerland, or California. My mother grew her first asparagus in the mid seventies, in Cecil Lake, northern British Columbia. She still has a good harvest from that patch every spring.

Asparagus grows just as well in my garden in Westlock, north of Edmonton Alberta. It’s easy to grow, the first vegetable in spring along with rhubarb and spinach. Serve with smoked ham, slices of cantaloupe and fresh baked bread and you’ve got the finest menu out of France!

Someone here in Switzerland asked us, “How does it feel to be home?” Where is home? We still pay our taxes in Canada, our younger son and my family lives there, and that’s the only place we own a house. We spend more than half the year there. Our older son and wife, and Robert’s family lives here in Switzerland, as we did for many years before moving to Canada in 1991.

Through the wild flower meadow we see the village of Schleitheim with a patchwork of fields surrounding it. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

I saw a group of African women in Chitenge dress (traditional African dresses) on a street in Zurich and felt a wave of homesickness.  The day before a group of African men walked before us and life felt a little more normal for a moment. I realize that Zambia has become home of sorts too. We are getting good at making home wherever we are, I think. At the same time there’s a feeling of being somewhat rootless.

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Erich Walter spreads the grass to dry better - hay fields are usually pretty steep. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Robert and I hike along the hills of Schleitheim to take advantage of the beautiful spring day. From our vantage point at the top of the Staufenberg, the village of Schleitheim below us – population approximately 2000 –  nestles along the creek between the hills. A patchwork of grain fields, in all stages and colours spreads out around it.

Schleitheim is grain farming country. We walk along barley fields that are heading out already; beside knee high deep green wheat fields.  The heady scent of canola in bloom fills the air. Barley, wheat, canola and peas are winter crops in Switzerland. Canola is seeded late August, barley and wheat in November. The harvest will begin with barley in late June, wheat and canola in July.

Patches of brown are the corn fields, seeded a few weeks ago and just emerging. We find Grandpa Herman Fischer with a hoe in the sugar beet field, going after the stubborn weeds that evaded the spraying. When we farmed here 17 years ago, we still had to thin the sugar beets by hand, walking through each row with the hoe. Now beets are seeded at the right distance.

The average field size is between three and six acres. Some are less than one acre, others up to 25. I eye one handkerchief sized field; calculate how long it would take me to cut it with the John Deere 9600…

Grandpa Herman Fischer takes the hoe to stubborn weeds that have evaded the spraying on the sugar beet field. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Below us Erich Walter is one of the first to cut hay. His wife is raking down the grass by the steep spots along the path, by hand. Erich will pick it up with the machine as he drives by. In many hay fields the wild sage blooms profusely in dark blue, white daisies and some yellow flowers accenting it. These fields are not fertilized, and there are special subsidies paid for not cutting the fields until after the flowers have bloomed.

Not just bees and butterflies benefit from the wild flower meadows, but everyone out for a walk as we are. The Swiss do a lot of hiking – we meet quite a few even on this ordinary Monday afternoon.

Flying over a country you really see what’s going on down there. As we passed over France we were amazed at the amount of canola the country grows.

The bright yellow of canola dominates fields in France. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Bright yellow dominated much of the patchwork of fields below. Robert thinks that about a third of the fields are seeded to canola.

I did a little research on the web and found some interesting facts in a Statistics Canada report. In 2006 the countries of France, Germany, Poland and England together grew around 13 million tonnes of canola. That’s four million tonnes more than Canada, which produced nine million tonnes. Those four countries are only part of the European Union. China alone produced 12.2 tonnes that year.

The UK is the fourth largest canola producer in Europe. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

And I thought Canadian farmers were the Kings of Canola! Well, I know better now – I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

I also learned that the word Canola is derived from ‘Canadian Oil’.  The name was given to it when researchers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba came up with the first food grade oil from rapeseed. I feel better again about being a Canadian farmer. (Check the facts at www.statcan.gc.ca)

Canola fields brighten up the Swiss landscape. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

We talked with commercial farmers in Zambia about canola. South African farmers grow it, but Zambians don’t. Dr. Davies Lungu, professor of agriculture at the University of Zambia in Lusaka, earned his doctorate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In discussions with us, he’s wondered if Zambian farmers couldn’t also grow canola.

One farm manager thinks a reason it hasn’t taken hold in Zambia yet is because wheat economics compare very closely to canola.  Wheat is a predictable crop to grow and the market is there. The price of wheat locally is taken from the price of US wheat landed in Zambia. That gives it quite an edge on the world wheat price.

Even if canola is deemed economical, research needs be done to see what varieties would produce well. The markets and infrastructure need to be developed. So I don’t think yellow will dominate the Zambian landscape all too soon.

May is the most beautiful time of year in the Swiss village of Schleitheim. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Canola fields are blooming in Schleitheim, Switzerland. Today was over 20C, sunny and clear. The last apple trees are a frothy white and the hay meadows resemble wild flower gardens. This is the most beautiful time of year to be here.

I’m going to London to see the Queen…we haven’t seen the Queen, but we did see Buckingham Palace, which was disappointingly normal close up. Like the guide

Canada has its own gate beside Buckingham Palace. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

book says, many of London’s important buildings are not very pompous from the outside. We know the Queen wasn’t home because the Union Jack was flying. The Queen brings her own flag with her when she’s there.

There was nothing disappointing about Westminster Abbey! Last night we took in the Evensong service in this magnificent house of God. It

This magnificent church is the spiritual home of the Queen and her family, and probably most of the influential people of the past British Empire. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

was a very moving experience – to worship with others from all around the world – the old church fathers watching over us in the form of statues and gravestones. So much history is contained within these walls.

Most of the important men and women of the British Empire would have come here to worship at some time or other. We’ve just come back from one of the African colonies, and saw some of the issues firsthand that colonization brought there, complete with some of the cultural interpretations of Christianity that weren’t always helpful. I thought of how each culture, each generation interprets God in their own way.

We often blame later, but I believe they were operating within what was deemed right at their time. I am more understanding of the ‘mistakes’ we condemn the colonizers for, knowing we too make mistakes in good faith that we have done the best we knew how at the time.

There are many beautiful parks in London, such as Hyde Park near Buckingham Palace. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

My personal ties to this church are watching on television the very pompous wedding ceremonies of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, and later Prince Andrew and Fergie. Both marriages are over.  In some way it seems to mirror the once thriving, far reaching British Empire.

Tamils demonstrated on Bankers Holiday, May 5, for peace in Sri Lanka. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

As the priest read out of the Bible, from the Prophet Jeremiah of the future promises of peace and security, Tamils from Sri Lanka were demonstrating nearby under the statue of Churchill, for an end to the war in Sri Lanka. Lord, have mercy on us.

As Canadians, we have close ties to London, to the Queen, to the British Empire. At every corner I meet the history stories out of my school textbooks. London is fascinating!

This email will go from the Lusaka airport. Tonight is the last time I will really worry about mosquitos biting my bare legs at the restaurant. No more malaria fears for awhile!

Vivienne waters her vegetable garden before hurrying to her job as director's secretary. She has planted part of the garden using the conservation farming method. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Vivienne is watering her vegetable garden as we drive away from our ‘home’ this morning. She is a lively picture in her bright Chitenge wrap and head scarf. Half an hour later she will look the perfect director’s secretary. She planted the tomatoes and cabbage using the conservation farming method. It is always exciting to see people put into practice what we helped them learn.

The wheat is going into the ground at this time, following immediately on the soybean and corn harvest. I find it interesting that farmers in Zambia seed wheat at the same time western Canadian farmers do. A cool season crop, wheat can only be grown during the cooler dry season and with irrigation. We see one field that is already nicely green, the irrigation spray reflecting the afternoon sun. Nearby small farmers are stooking their corn, so it can dry out in the field.

Women accost us with their wares as we stop at a roadside market. Markets are piled high with water melons at this time of year. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Eva is travelling with us to Lusaka. She wants to bring some fresh vegetables to the family she is visiting so we stop at a roadside market. The stands are piled high with watermelons. They should sell well on a hot day like this one. Eva and I wonder who will eat all those melons!

Corn stalks are piled in stooks to dry out better. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

I don’t feel at all like this is our last day in Zambia.  Everything is so normal, even leaving.

I’m packing again – clothes, shoes, books, my chai tea, and souvenirs as gifts for family and friends. I found some beautiful pottery at a local market – espresso cups and tiny smaller than doll-sized tea sets. Two elderly men often came by our doors bringing wooden and silver jewelry. Guess what I’ll give for Christmas this year? And can I go by a shop displaying Congo cloth without at least stopping to look?

I'm wearing the Ku-omboka Chitenge Mr. Mate gave me as a farewell gift. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

The chair of Bukuumo Cooperative, a Lozi, gave me a beautiful bright red chitenge cloth displaying ku-omboka symbols. The ku-omboka feast among the Lozi people is one of the most important traditional festivals in Zambia. I feel honoured. Most women wear this cloth wrapped around their hips like a wrap skirt, usually over another dress.

Bagenda came to visit this morning, bringing two hooked rugs she made. They are works of art with intricate designs. She also brought screen prints of paintings from Emmanuel Nsama, an accomplished local artist we came to know.

These gestures touch us. We pack items, but mostly we pack memories. I’ve often had to remind myself these past months that we come here because of people, not projects. Projects are only the means to an end.

As we prepare to leave, many tell us how grateful they are for what we gave them – sometimes a loan, a gift of money, knowledge or exposure. Mostly I think they appreciate that we gave of ourselves. We are touched by their kind words and gestures.

We’ve often been frustrated, and even yesterday had an incident that made us wonder why we come here. But as we leave, we remember the many little things that have encouraged us and the friendships we leave behind. We know that in some small corners of Zambia, we have touched lives and made a little difference. It is enough.

Everyone asks us when we are coming back. We don’t know. But there are projects we have started, things we want to see develop. Despite the setbacks, I think we will be back.

Saturday morning we fly to London, to a different world. We look forward to spending a few days there, getting out to the countryside and seeing what farmers do in England. It is new territory to us. We’ve never been past the airport in England. We’ll let you know what we find.

We spent the weekend in Mpongwe, staying overnight with Pastor Jessy and his wife Loveness. There is no better way to get to know people than to live with them. This couple has been so helpful to us in learning to understand African culture.

Meeting with Mpongwe farmers - many of whom are women. The loans will be divided equally among men and women. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

Pastor Jessy was a manager on the second biggest farm in Africa for many years. He now operates a small farm of about 30 acres using one small tractor but planting by hand with his family. He has been to Brazil and Sweden, so he has seen some of the world. He often reminds us how important exposure is to knowledge.

The Mpongwe church district has had an agricultural loan with us for two years. Together we felt we were ready to take the next step: to give individual loans to farmers.

Robert in discussion of the loan details with the farmers, translated by Pastor Jessy. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

We offered them an additional 20 million kwacha (about $5,000 Cdn), which will be divided among 10 churches. They will each give four members 500,000 kwacha for the coming farming season. This will enable them to buy fertilizer and seed for about one acre. It sounds like little, but for a hoe farmer it is quite a piece.

We tied the loan to conservation farming methods, stipulating that each loan recipient must cultivate one half acre using conservation methods, and one quarter of that must be in a crop other than corn.

We want to encourage them to adopt better methods of farming and include crop rotations with legumes. No one had a problem with this. Two women have just completed a one-week training seminar in conservation farming at Masaiti Farm Institute and four more members will go in August.

Another stipulation is that the loan is to be divided equally among men and women. Empowering women is important to the leaders, especially to Pastor Jessy. He is a model with his own family. He shares a joint bank account with his wife, and the business is registered in joint names — something almost unheard of in rural settings.

Village girls come to check out the Mzungu - (white) woman. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

The meeting on Saturday with the leaders was an encouragement to us. Minutes were read from the last meeting, corrections came from the members and all took part in the discussion. Pastor Jessy has come far with these village farmers. We went with one idea in mind and came out with another due to the input of the members. That is healthy. We look forward to seeing how this project will go.

Zhita asked me to buy seeds for him because a nearby lodge wants to buy vegetables from him. He would like to expand his garden but doesn’t have money for seed.  I told him the story of Eva and her friend.

Eva Sanderson beside her double blooming poinsettia. Poinsettia bushes begin to bloom around Easter and continue blooming for about eight months. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

An elderly woman asked Eva Sanderson for help. She was destitute and had six grandchildren to feed. Her children had died. She wanted to grow vegetables but had no seed. “What village did you grow up in?” demanded Eva. In the villages it was the practice to preserve seed for the next planting.

Eva gave the woman some of her own seed and the woman grew a large garden from it, began to prosper and now keeps her own seed.

I encouraged Zhita to let a few onions, Chinese cabbages, carrots and tomatoes go to seed so he would not have to ask again. I also gave him 50,000 kwacha (about $12) for seeds.

Then Zhita took me to his house. He had something to show me — his savings box. He heard Mama Phiri tell her story about how it helped to have money in a sealed jar so it wouldn’t be spent. He made a square wooden box with an opening in the lid just large enough to push in money. The lid was nailed down tight. He cannot take out money without destroying the box.

This Zambian farmer has learned an important lesson about saving. In the box is the renovation money to rebuild his house, which collapsed in the last rainy season.

These little steps forward encourage us. They don’t sound like much but they signify a change in thinking.

I get a daily e-mail with a quote for the day. One was “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” So said George Bernard Shaw.

Eva Sanderson propagates as much of her own seed as possible. Beside the seeds is her solar dryer. (Photo by Marianne Stamm)

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The Bukuumo Co-operative ladies invited me to a special lunch today. There were no grasshoppers served. It is the beginning of grasshopper season. Lister says she looked all over the market, but there were none to be had. It’s too bad. I really was curious to see what they taste like.

Grasshoppers are supposed to be very tasty fried with salt — crisp and a bit oily, and a very good source of protein. They can’t be worse than snails, which are so nicely described on the appetizer menu as escargot.