Lali Lali, Wheat & Barley, How Does Your (Parents') Garden Grow?

Well, there are more than 50 things grown on their patch of a few hectares of eastern Georgia:

grapes (biggest crop), tomatoes, cucumbers, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, onions, nectarines, coriander, bell peppers, hot peppers, corn, potatoes, cabbage, tarragon, basil, flat parsley, dill, watermelons, honeydew melons, various peaches, apples, various cherries, sweet purple plums, sour tqemali yellow plums, pears, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, carrots, beets, garlic, wheat, grass for hay, aubergines, quinces, zucchini, pumpkins, lettuce, mustard greens, leeks, mint, boxwood, bay leaves, persimmons, apricot, mulberries, sunflowers, beans, fennel, shallots, tobacco, and several things I know only in Georgian: shindi, qurma, kotskuri, kruzhuna, alucha, unabi, chanchuri and konduri. Whew, a lot of work!

More: They make or have made their own: cheese, yoghurt, bread, wine, arak, jams, compotes, liquers, churchkhela (walnut strings dipped in thickened grape paste), sour plum sauce (tqemali), tomato sauce, pickles, hot sauce, sour cream, butter, flour, sunflower oil and vinegar!

They also raise or have raised: cows, chickens, pigs, rabbits, guinea fowl, ducks, geese, bees...

Al in all, just a typical busy Georgian country home.

Ushguli, July 2007 (top to bottom)

The videos from the Svaneti walk are over... but I still have many more clips from later trips and other locations. Here are three to begin a new series from the crazy trip of July '07 - 3 vanloads of Georgians and I, 27 hours instead of 14 to reach Ushguli, a week staying there, a couple of TV interviews.

Top - our 240-litre wine barrel being unloaded in Ushguli. It took 2 hours in Zestaponi en route to arrange the acquisition of this little gem. Couldn't be bought before we left Tbilisi! Oh no!

Bottom 2 - a new friend helps out an elderly local lady with the hay.

Svan Surfing, June 2007 (top to bottom)

"So what did you do this summer, Tony?"
"I tried my hand at Svan surfing. You know, in Svaneti. With Jeff B, who was walking through the province with me in June."
"Svaneti?! That's high in the Caucasus Mountains of the Republic of Georgia!!! The only water there is... like, the raging Inguri River, and a few mountain lakes! There's no surf to be had anywhere in Svaneti! What ARE you talking about?"
"Just watch the videos, willya?"

"Ohhhh... I think you should've called it Svan waterskiing, myself."
"Yeah, whatever."

Farm implements, Ladreri, May 2007

A sled - used all year round for transporting heavy loads - and a "thing for working the ground", pulled by a beast of burden, as described by this non-specialist.

Natural frames, Etseri, August 2001

Across the road from "my" home in Etseri is this ruined, abandoned house which gives me very mixed feelings. I hate the thought of some family leaving it after perhaps generations, moving south to find better work and an easier life away from Svaneti. An all too common story, the net result of which will be the extinction of the Svans, absorbed into the Georgians, impoverishing the world. On the other hand, I love finding frames which are part of the photograph. This house has not only been a sad sight for me, but also a rich site to explore and benefit from. Even this bonus - coming from others' misery - is a conflict. But it hasn't stopped me from making the pictures, in every season, colour and black & white, every time I go.

Hiding in the woodpile, Etseri, Svaneti, May 2001

As I recall, I took this shot soon after the sacrifice of the ram, and it seems to be about some of the other animals cowering away in fear that they will be next.