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Budget holidays
Farm weekends
Healthy soil = healthy food = healthy people
This photo is from the event "Free time, or tailor made optional activities." that takes place on "Sunday", during one of the programs of Agrion Terra Farm, in Crete.
Description of event
For today, Agrion Terra suggests a trip to one of the best natural beauties of Crete. The Cave of Melidoni, in Melidoni village. A workshop where nature sculptures... in the dark...

The cave is about 1,800 metres northwest of the village and is of interest because of the archaeological findings which are displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Rethimnon. The cave was also the mythical home of Talos--the giant bronze protector of Crete used to circle Crete twice a day, warding off its enemies. Legend says that the sorceress Medea removed his protective thorn and he bled to death.

Melidoni was the site of a sanctuary dedicated to Hermes Talaios during the Classical Greek period.

The cave is also associated with a tragic historical event that occurred during the Turkish occupation. Three hundred and forty men, women, and children sought refuge in it and refused to surrender. The Turks lit a fire at the cave's entrance and all the people inside were asphyxiated. There is a plaque commemorating these lives lost in 1824 along with a communal tomb in the cave.

Sunday
08:00:00 Harvest your breakfast.
Come to the farm, early in the morning, and participate in the collection of the ingredients of your breakfast. Milk the goats, harvest vegetables, collect the eggs from the chickens.

Agrion Terra Farm is surrounded by extensive olive orchards, vineyards and vegetable garden. We will find the goats under an olive tree and milk them; "visit" the chickens and collect fresh eggs; walk through the vegetable garden and harvest vegetables. Or... we will simply follow Stelios and watch his way of doing it!

08:30:00 Breakfast
All breakfast ingredients are home made organic products. Breakfast includes: Bread, cretan rusk, two types of cheese, yoghurt, honey, two types of marmelade, butter, eggs, various vegetables, fresh orange juice, coffee. Coffee is conventionally provided.

You may enjoy your breakfast and still join our morning activity, since they take place at the same location, in Agrion Terra Farm, in Adele village, in Rethymnon. Today our morning activity is bread kneading and baking.

09:00:00 Bread kneading and baking
We prepare the dough and knead it for forming loafs to bake. We put them in the oven and bake them. Just baked warm bread is a unique delicacy!!

Stelios has his own way of making bread baking a wonderful experience. He mixes various kinds of herbs and kneads some loafs especially for us. Kneading the dough is one of the most important steps in bread baking. This step more than any other will determine the outcome of the bread. Stelios will tell us all the tips and warnings for proper kneading. Overcome yeast anxiety forever! Plunge your hands into the dough and see how easy it is to mix and knead bread that is successful every time. Learn how different ingredients affect the outcome of your loaves, and eat your hand-made loaf of the easiest bread you’ll ever bake!

10:30:00 Botanical tour, medicinal herbs.


Before noon we join Marianna, our professional herbalist and botanotherapist, in a tour around the area of Maroulas. This area offers stunning views, ancient ruins, abundant herbs and wildflowers, including many endemic herbs.The flora of Crete is at its best in Spring, after the rain showers of the early season. Crete really looks green, and hundreds of flowers, plants and herbs start to blossom. There are 130 species of wild flowers and herbs endemic to Crete.

12:30:00 Herbal remedies.
Introduction to the teas made out of Cretan herbs that grow in the wilderness, or even sometimes cultivated in the garden.

After our botanical walk, Marianna first takes us to her workshop, where we admire the work she is doing with local herbs. She explains how she extracts essential oils, the use of each oil... just everything you want to know. Marianna, our professional herbalist and botanotherapist, performs herbal tea preparation. She explains how a number of common health problems, such as the common cold and indigestion or headaches, malaise, etc., can be treated successfully with the use of herbs thus avoiding taking medicine that can have unpleasant or annoying side-effects. Furthermore, as she explains, even for more serious ailments, under the guidance of the competent physician, herbs can play an important role in the patient’s cure and relieve from the symptoms. Among the diseases and ailments normally treated by botanotherapists are allergies, arthritis, infections, circulatory problems, liver diseases, gynecological problems (relating to menstrual cycle), skin diseases, stress related problems (headaches, insomnia, palpitation).

13:30:00 Lunch


We end our noon tour at one of the most exquisite traditional small tavernas, owned by Michalis; where few small tables are crowded on a small balcony with a beautiful view over Rethymnon plateau. We share a light lunch that Michalis prepares for us featuring local wild herbs.

15:00:00 Free time, or tailor made optional activities.
This is YOUR time! Free to swim, or settle down and get lazy!!! The more active ones will have the opportunity to participate in fascinating excursions which are organised outside the premises of the organic farms, accompanied by experienced professionals. We will be happy to arrange all the details fof you.

For today, Agrion Terra suggests a trip to one of the best natural beauties of Crete. The Cave of Melidoni, in Melidoni village. A workshop where nature sculptures... in the dark...

The cave is about 1,800 metres northwest of the village and is of interest because of the archaeological findings which are displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Rethimnon. The cave was also the mythical home of Talos--the giant bronze protector of Crete used to circle Crete twice a day, warding off its enemies. Legend says that the sorceress Medea removed his protective thorn and he bled to death.

Melidoni was the site of a sanctuary dedicated to Hermes Talaios during the Classical Greek period.

The cave is also associated with a tragic historical event that occurred during the Turkish occupation. Three hundred and forty men, women, and children sought refuge in it and refused to surrender. The Turks lit a fire at the cave's entrance and all the people inside were asphyxiated. There is a plaque commemorating these lives lost in 1824 along with a communal tomb in the cave.

18:30:00 Cheese making at home
The way people on Crete produce their cheese is different from the industrial way. That is what makes it so special! Traditional recipes... traditional and exceptional taste...

Stelios in Agrion Terra Farm makes his cheese the way his mother taught him. Using vinegar or salt, yeast or "other secrets"... we are going to find out... anyway... The secrets of how to make your own cheese are revealed!

Once you taste the cheses of Crete –myzithra, graviera (local gruyere) or tirozouli- you definitely want to have the recipes for your files! In Agrion Terra Farm we provide you with all the information you need to make many superb cheeses. Each recipe is explained with simple step by step demonstrations. You will be surprised at how easy it is, and how little it costs to make your own cheese and yoghurt at home!

19:30:00 Dinner.
It is time to savour the delights of Crete in a place that we have choosen especially for you. Dinner includes the highlights of the delicacies we have been introduced to during the day. Sorry guys... beverages not included...

Dinner tonight takes place in the traditional small taverna of Tassoula, in Aghia Paraskevi. In its course we taste five different kinds of cheese -Feta, graviera, myzithra, tirozouli and ladotyri. We discuss how cheese is used on Crete in cooked food, in salad and fresh. How many ways do Cretans have for using cheese???... You are about to discover! All recipes, of course, are available for copy!!


This is the detailed schedule of the days included in the current program.
Saturday
08:00:00 Harvest your breakfast.
08:30:00 Breakfast
10:00:00 Wild greens and vegetables. Collection from the wilderness.
12:00:00 Wild green and vegetables. Post harvest handling and cooking.
13:00:00 Lunch
13:00:00 Accommodation
14:30:00 Free time, or tailor made optional activities.
18:00:00 Food preservation at home.
19:00:00 Dinner.

Sunday
08:00:00 Harvest your breakfast.
08:30:00 Breakfast
09:00:00 Bread kneading and baking
10:30:00 Botanical tour, medicinal herbs.
12:30:00 Herbal remedies.
13:30:00 Lunch
15:00:00 Free time, or tailor made optional activities.
18:30:00 Cheese making at home
19:30:00 Dinner.
Photo Gallery of this Event

Photo Gallery of this Program