Blog

(for reading this article it is recommended to put on the Spotify playlist “Anatolian rock revival project”) My summer in a saying: kervan yolda düzülür (organising the caravan on the road). A summer of being on the move, going with the flow, exploring, and absorbing it all. There was a hike through Turkey’s south that… Read more: Advanced connection classes on the Anatolian hike revival

Time for a holiday. When bad sleep and nightmares haunt, work becomes overwhelming, and productivity dwindles, it’s clear signs of an empty battery. I am grateful for the opportunity to recharge by taking some time off. Disconnecting was essential, and spending time in a tent was all that was needed. While my last explorations and… Read more: Co-existing with Cretean creatures on island hikes

Last autumn, at the end of my PhD, I made use of the freedom that brought the time just before my defense. I was able to finish last needed tasks remotely so that together with a Maroccan friend we decided somehow spontaneous to go there. It was only few weeks after the country was hit… Read more: On goats munching on Argan trees when in Marocco

Closing the loop: Animal and vegetable farming can still be combined – a Galician lighthouse farm Somewhere between A Coruña and Santiago, in the deep green heart of Galicia, there is a farm that keeps its nutrient cycles impressively closed and follows quite remarkable practices for soil health. I had the task to go there… Read more: The Galician queen sows on 2m of food residues

The ultimate buscavida berry (bon vivant, in German “Lebenskünstler”) You belong to no one; you grow where you please. Your determination to thrive anywhere is unstoppable; you are nearly impossible to control. You possess the ability to defend yourself. You lure others with your sweet fruits making them aid you in your propagation, your proliferation.… Read more: Black Forest’s fascinating fungi and the buscavida berry

After spending a month on La Palma, it was time for me to move on. The viewpoints there seemed a bit limited; I’m not sure if there’s a correlation with the island’s size. Ferry timings were inconvenient, with a ship leaving at 4 am. This time, I prioritized sleep over moral obligations. Loaded with a… Read more: Adventures around the agaves on Gran Canaria

La Palma and its treasures The patience-teaching silent-retreat ferry Why book an expensive room when you have a good sleeping bag and mattress? Just bring your sleeping mask; it was a bit bright. Also, bring some patience; the journey from Cadiz to La Palma takes a while. I ran out of food and didn’t want… Read more: The fire island: Mango treasures and the loss of beautiful pines

While most of my articles are more on life around me, this article is on the life in me. So often, I forget about this ongoing process, this force without which I would not be. This force that was ongoing since 3.85 billion years without a stop. That was given from one generation to the… Read more: Sprint for life: escaping an avalanche 

You enabled life on the edge, you created one of the most vulnerable ecosystems with niches adapted to a rough life up in great heights. But these life communities are loosing its elders, its life blood. Silently you are disapperaring. Silently you are fading into grey rock deserts. You will be one of the first… Read more: Greying out: the whispering of the vanishing glaciers

My PhD brought me not only to Spain but also to Italy through a 2-year stay at the European Commission’s research center at the Lago Maggiore. The resesarch centre there is a quirky little European bubble nestled around the lake, bringing prosperity but also some outside influence that wouldn’t typically reach the Italian countryside, a… Read more: On safeguarding toads across the road

When woofing in Puglia harvesting olives, meeting farmers loosing their family heritage, loosing their beloved trees to Xylella, a bacterial pathogen fast spreading in the South of Italy since 2013. While the lure of the beautiful, remote mountains in Northern Italy is undeniable, there is also this restless, productivity focused Milano-influenced, and a bit overcrowded… Read more: Mourning the dying olive trees in Puglia

Two years of gardening in Italy: From first harvest joys to being gardening burnt-out Gardening. As a child/teenager, I connected gardening mostly to some unnecessary, expensive, artificial looking ornamental flower planting. It seemed to be that classical housewife activity, a last resort activity when this void life did not offer any alternatives. This view deterred… Read more: On hosting wasp spiders in my first tomatoe djungle

Encounters with some incredible beautiful colours of life on the Lykken way indulging in wild carobs, forging new friendships that transcended language barriers, marveling at hatching sea turtles, engaging in discussions on Quantum Theory with a Danish author, embracing the role of the melon girl, experiencing the thrill of almost losing and then miraculously finding… Read more: Turquise Turkey treasures: from Fethiye to Kas

What was on your plate for your last meal? Food concerns us all: we all eat, and we all make food decisions multiple times per day. While for some people these decisions are made subconsciously, others spend a lot of time and energy understanding food chains, planting, and preparing food. Growing up surrounded by vast… Read more: From the front of climate change – the daily gamble of farmers 

Just with the onset of Covid, I finished my Masters. The pandemic postponed my PhD leaving me with lots of time and less options to run away. Sometimes being stuck and bound to a place is not the worst that can happen to you. This gave me the chance to slow down and to stay… Read more: Reconnecting with home picking strawberries

It took me four years to process and I believe I have only begun to grasp the myriad perspectives, colors, smells, and diversity I encountered during my time in India. This article mostly talks through pictures, because words would not be able to capture all those colours… Apart from telling here bits of my India… Read more: Of heirloom seeds, farmers’ stories & Sari-struggles in India