Disclaimer: These are my personal views and do not represent any organization or professional advice.

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 22:05:19 +0200

Day 1135

Dear Diary,

This morning was special. Mum baked the first sourdough loaf of the year and having been months since I last had bread, I was overly keen to have some. It's hard to keep the starter culture alive over the Winter so we simply stop eating bread until Springtime when the weather warms and we can get it started again. She made it the usual way, wholegrain emmer flour, starter culture, walnuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and salt. Instead of our usual Winter oatmeal I broke my fast with a slice of fresh warm bread topped with wholegrain tahini and local honey, an illegal combination. When tahini and honey are mixed they emulsify and form a thick and sticky paste reminiscent of χαλβά. With this bread, I know that Winter is over and Spring is near. We're expecting many volunteers from April onwards and I'm busy getting things ready. In fact, I'm happy to write that we're almost all booked out through to Christmas! The first of two yurts is almost ready and I'm putting it through a test in the seemingly endless stormy weather we've had of late to ensure it stays solid and dry. I'm also building a table out of recycled wood big enough to accommodate an absurd 14+ people! For lunch we had a raki-glass of our wine and leftovers of my favourite dish, γίγαντες. We soak the beans overnight, boil them and lastly add them to a sauté of our olive oil plus copious amounts of onion, leek, garlic, dill and tomato paste before baking it in the oven. While it's amazing fresh and hot, it's one of those dishes that becomes even better eaten cold the day after. It amuses me that we've had this bottle of wine open on the table for nearly a week now and it's still good. This last vintage withstands oxidation well. Since the 1st of March I've stopped the exercise bike and started running everyday again. I missed it, and honestly, hate the monotony of pedaling indoors. Today's run was one of those runs where I feel light as though I'm floating. I wore my usual get-up, shorts and a hoodie or t-shirt, no shoes. It was cold, the rain was pouring down, the landscape saturated and full of puddles and I was flying. The second yurt I expect will arrive by courier tomorrow so I'll be spending part of my day, likely in the rain, clearing/leveling the area and setting it up.

—Dylan Araps