The Good Life

Barbara and Tom from the 1970s sitcom would have a field day in the Czech countryside.

It's all sustainable, simple and self sufficient. Back gardens are vegetable allotments, trees are there to bear fruit (peaches, cherries, apples, pears), and there are pigs and rabbits (and no they're not pets...)

But you won't find a Margo Leadbetter character here. Czech countryside doesn't mean expensive commuter properties, renovated barns, picturesque thatched cottages....or to the Manor Born...

It normally means dilapidated buildings, run down farm houses, an old pub if you’re lucky, a collection of chickens running, and trying to make ends meet.

My husband's family live in an old converted school in a village. Granddad has one flat, one uncle and family one side, and a second uncle and family live on the other side.  Their children have grown up, built houses close by and seem quite content to live the rural life, they have no desire to move to the nearest city, and certainly would never contemplate living in Prague.

We just got back from a long weekend visiting them, and even after 10 years I'm still in shock when I go.

It's just well....so.... rural.

They grow everything themselves - they have bees which produce honey

...they dry herbs for cooking and teas, they pickle and store fruit and vegetables for the year ahead.














It's like a production line, I'm always in awe.

And it is like stepping back to the UK in the 1970s, I remember my parents growing veg in the garden, and even then not quite to the same extent.  It was a matter of necessity, it was cheaper.  And Czechs more than most had to grow their own and live more off the land.  Even after the collapse of communism it's still a part of everyday life for many.

I like the fact that most Czechs, even those that live in the city, are really knowledgeable about plants and animals, they understand weather patterns and food is still seasonal.  I love the fact that if I have a cold or an ache one of my husband's aunts whips me up a homemade tea with the right combination of herbs to help my aliments.

And it's also got nothing to do with being 'new age', or following any kind of trend to grow your own, it's just more practical I suppose - and therefore they have a more symbiotic relationship with the land.

But.... it also never continues to surprise that even though there are fruits and vegetables abound, at least in summer time, strangely none of it seems to find it's way into the Czech cuisine, or sneak onto a restaurant plate!

The Good Life TV show:
http://youtu.be/iwfjCoODvbo

To the Manor Born:

http://youtu.be/_nt9cz_prjM