The Organic Traveller
Sunday, 26 December 2021

Kerala: Eco homestays

The following reviews origin from my last visit to Kerala in 2016 and all updates since have their source in remote contacts.

Near Kochi (Cochin)

South of Kochi, directly situated at the backwaters in the village of Kumbalangi you'll find Gramam Homestay, a quiet, eco-friendly homestay which allows you to escape busy Indian city life. Its sustainably kept coconut garden by the water makes the surroundings for an old, nicely restored spacious farmhouse equipped with two twin beds and fans. The openness of the house allows you to experience all the noises of a tropical night. An outdoor bathroom attached to the cottage provides you with a roofed Western toilet and handwash as well as two showers under open sky. You'll stand on natural stones within some small bushes, and the used water from the shower percolates through the sand beneath the stones. Warm water is heated by the sun on the rooftop.

Breakfast (homemade Kerala food and/or prefab toast/"cereals") is complimentary, and lunch or dinner in the eating room next to the kitchen of the main house where your hosts, Jos and Lyma, live can be arranged on request. Some of the veges used in cooking may be "nadan" (i.e. from home gardens kept the traditional way without use of industrial chemicals), but there is no emphasis on organic food or drinks. Staying in the cottage you however have a kitchen at your disposal. An off season cottage night for two is Rs. 4000 (the two extra beds Rs. 800 each), but if you are on budget there are also two cheaper rooms in the main house.

Jos will happily arrange a tour on a punted boat, a visit to a shrimps farm, or a car with driver for you. For our trip to Abhayaranyam wildlife shelter with its elephant camp and well-kept botanical gardens he arranged an organic breakfast (Rs. 600) at a friendly brahmin family's of teachers who showed us around their traditional house, well and organic garden where we learnt about nutmeg, macis, Indian basil, curry leaves and other spices (as well as some useful Malayalam phrases).

Dewalokam, Thodupuzha

Near Thodupuzha

Far bigger than the aforementioned ones – almost a simple hotel with 11 single and double rooms – is the farmstay of Dewalokam Organic Farm, run by a friendly family of teachers and their staff from neighbouring villages. The farm has been a family estate for about hunded years, and after serving as a rubber plantation for the last generation, todays owners Jose and Sinta have been reconverting it into an almost self-sustaining organic farm following circular principles. While the entrance to the modern, though traditionally built main house is opposed by a spacious park, the land around the houses are now being used as spice, coffee, cocoa, vegetable and fruit gardens interspaced by some fish ponds. Chickens, ducks and turkeys range freely in the Souther-Eastern part of the gardens next to the cow, buffalo and sheep sheds. The cows' mock is collected and fermented in an underground tank producing fertilizer and the gas burnt in the kitchen stoves.

As we were lucky to observe during our stay newborn lambs are kept together with and fed by their mothers. All the cows were born on the farm itself, and none of the animals was deprived of their horns.

The double rooms in the first floor of the main house are simple, but spacious, clean and light, with an adjacent dressing room next to (Western) toilet and shower. There are more rooms in the adjacent older house. A night for two comes at Rs. 10,000 (8,000 off season) including four meals a day and activities like yoga in the morning, walks in the garden and in the vicinity, or cooking demonstrations. The house and the rooms are always adorned with fresh flowers.

The swimming pool is filled by fresh (rain) water, and you can also have a swim in the river. Jose and Sinta will also provide you with well-maintained bicycles for a village tour.

Most ingredients in the home-cooked meals (North and South Indian, with a continental style soup without spices to start lunch and dinner with) come from the farm itself (if you travel with children: The french fries are prefab and not organic). Guests usually are served seafish instead of fish from the ponds as the bones of the latter may be an obstacle, but if you insist you will be served a truly locally sourced fish curry. You may also purchase spices grown on the farm.

A side note: Before you start criticising any of the aforementioned places for burning paper and plastic waste on their land hesitate a minute and think about what you were going to do without communal waste collecting and separating facilities which generally are not available in rural areas.

Confirmed closed as of 2022

(Temporarily?) closed

Their website was gone, their phone number no longer operating, and they did neither answer e-mails nor Skype messages. Finally I got an automated answer that they were closed due to monsoon repair and would reopen in August. We tried to call again from India mid of August 2016, and still the phone was gone. So some doubts may be raised whether the following eco retreat in Varkala is still operating:

Mind you, there's a place with a similar name, the "Eco Bohemian Masala" which tries to fool tourists into believing it was the aforementioned eco stay. Don't fall for it – according to Tripadvisor posts it seems to be a place to be avoided. If you happen to actually stay at the real Bohemian Masala, let me know.

2021-12-26 18:00:00 [Kerala, Alleppey, Alappuzha, Kochi, Cochin, Thodupuzha, Varkala, organic, accommodation, farms, cycling, covid, corona] Link

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Thursday, 04 November 2021

Nuremberg: Organic and partially organic restaurants and eateries

Each year Nuremberg plays host to what probably is the world's most important organic trade fair, Biofach, and the city has been wisely using the publicity that comes with the event. If you happen to be in Nuremberg around fair time you will see several communal events around organic food and agriculture. In 2016 the city organized an organic gourmet week during which participating restaurants and eateries offered fully organic gourmet meals at fixed prices even when they otherwise do so only partially. Visitors and citizens could download communally sponsored discount vouchers for these meals. Thanks to efforts like this Nuremberg has become a city where the extra effort to find organic lunch or dinner is comparatively small.

Engelhardts

Asian

Love Asian food? Although there's an abundance of Asian kitchens in Bavaria, it's hard to find the few that are using organic ingredients. So take your chance and dine at Engelhardts located in a beautiful lane of St. Sebald. The hotel restaurant of the family-run boutique Hotel Elch it serves 100 percent organic Thai and Laotic-style food, naturally also as a room service. Note that the place is closed on Sun- and holidays.

French

The first address in town is a cosy, almost 40 years old organic creperie, Ye'chet mad in the Südstadt neighbourhood. The audience is dominated by students, artists, theatre and cinema goers, professionals in art and culture and those interested in the resulting atmosphere. Many combine a visit with a movie in the adjacent arthouse cinema. You will be served a huge variety of fully organic whole-meal crepes, pleasantly thin, both sweet and savoury, as a main course and/or dessert. French salads, soups and appetizers round up the menu.

Franconian

A five minutes brisk walk from tube station Friedrich-Ebert-Platz you will find an organic pub of old, the Frankenstube. As you might expect they serve rustic local dishes, but there's a long list of vegan and vegetarian versions. Indeed, the vegan cabbage roll served with a hearty tomato sauce and pasta was very tasty, and not bland at all. All organic dishes are clearly marked as such on the menu but you should be aware (especially when it comes to meat dishes) that the ones without the bio keyword are conventional fare. The beer isn't organic (nor are the cakes), but the wine is. The place seems to be a favourite among locals, crowded even on a weekday evening.

Engelhardts 2.0

Ever wanted to try the Franconian speciality of Schäufele? When I discovered the newly established fully organic restaurant Engelhardts 2.0 at the Hauptmarkt the day after its opening I did not notice at first that they also offered this and other meat-based dishes. Italian-inspired vegetarian sandwiches and yummy vegan Austrian "Mehlspeisen" (sweet and filling flour-based desserts which also can be eaten as a course of its own) like the Kaiserschmarrn and the Dampfnudel yeast dumpling were visible and welcome after the guided walk around the monstrosities of the Nazi party rally grounds at that cold October afternoon in 2021.

The new sister of the Engelhardts hotel restaurant with its open kitchen and clean bistrot appearance (to know that this location had been a McDonald's before explains a lot of the interior design) felt very new that day, indeed: The service was friendly but still a little slow and unconfident, and we were forced to have our vegan latte in one-way paper cups as the glasses got broken in transport. Since the latte was made with oat drink without asking I got the impression of a vegan restaurant which the place is not. A closer look at the menu showed a happy mix of regional and international soulfood, preferably made with local ingredients, and I'll most certainly give it a second try during my next stay in the city.

Burgers

Shabby chic with cartoon and neon elements make the environment for Auguste (formerly "Klein-August") in Sankt Peter south of the railway tracks. Unusually for a burger grill it's not self-service but a family-friendly pub popular with women. The kitchen closes at 10 pm (on Sundays at 9 pm). Some beer and soft drinks are organic as are the burger buns which are made from spelt, the meat and the currywurst sausage. They have a good selection of vegan and vegetarian burgers, too. The name of the place changed from Klein-August to Auguste when the bigger Auguste restaurant in the Künstlerhaus K4 next to the main train station had to close due to ongoing reconstruction work.

Vegan

If you prefer pizza or a totally vegan place (also serving burgers) head for the Veganel pizzeria and eatery in the Gostenhof neighbourhood. Aside the pizze (with plant-based cheese substitute) and burgers you can also have stews, pasta, bowls, cake and more in pleasant no-frills surroundings. The ingredients are all organic and to a great extend grown in the greater region and seasonal. There'a also choice of wheat and soy-free dishes. Unlike other eateries this one is open for dinner.

Ceased to exist

The following places shut down and where replaced by other, not organic ones. So don't be confused when you find references to them on the web:

2021-11-04 19:00:00 [Nuremberg, organic, vegan, vegetarian, lunch, dinner, French, Franconian, German, fastfood, burgers, pizza, restaurant, trainstation, hotel, accommodation, covid, corona] Link

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This work by trish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For commercial use contact the author: E-mail · Mastodon · Vero · Ello.

Tuesday, 07 September 2021

Hamburg: Organic Altona and Ottensen

Leaving the train at Altona station does not bring you to the heart of the city but to the vibrant neighbourhoods of Altona (to the East) and Ottensen (to the West) offering a great choice of lively (partially) organic places. None of them are very posh as the distinguished bourgeouis citizens usually live and roam elsewhere, and there's a good chance to mingle with locals.

Schanzenstern

Where to stay

As long as you are satisfied with a basic yet clean and well-kept hotel room head for the Schanzenstern. The name derives from its original location in the Sternschanze neighbourhood, but even though the hostel moved to its current location surely fifteen years ago references to its old address haven't vanished from the net completely. Most rooms are equipped with bunk beds, and you are well advised to book in advance especially if not travelling alone. The entire building is painted in clear basic colors, orange and blue the rooms, yellow the hallway. Since rain water is used for flushing the toilets its colour can be explained easily, and the soap dispensers in the bathroom are filled with liquid organic hand wash. If you're travelling by bicycle there's a locked shed where you can store it safely overnight. The hostel also has a handful basic three-gear bikes to rent, at a price tag of 10 EUR per day, not to go fast, but well suited for the sett surface streets around.

The hostel's 100% organic breakfast buffet keeps open daily from 7:30 to 10:30, but is not included in the price for the night. For additional 9.50 Euro you can order it until late the evening before. The restaurant also serves organic lunch on weekdays, and there are board games and journals to spend the time with.

Zeit für Brot

Bakeries

Breakfast and lunch alternatives are located within five-minutes walking distance: For one there's the Zeit für Brot ("time for bread") artisanal show bakery next to a branch of the Denn’s organic supermarket chain in Ottenser Hauptstraße (The chain has a second supermarket nearby which also serves snacks at their self-service cafe.) Through a window you can watch the Zeit-für-Brot bakers at work while buying German bread, fresh from the oven. If stepping by for a coffee or another non-alcoholic drink, a pastry, cake, savoury snack, or a light lunch (all organic) queue with the other customers and place your order at the till. When the pandemic restrictions are over you may again find a place at one of the tables inside and enjoy the gorgeous smell of real bread together with your snack. For the time being you have to be lucky to find a spare seat outside under a sunshade also sheltering from the occasional rain shower.

Zeit für Brot outdoor seating

The place serves El Rojito coffee, and this is always an excuse to come here.

Cafes and lunch restaurants

Another organic breakfast alternative is cosy cafe Lillisu offering 100% organic food and drinks. In addition to breakfast the women owners also serve sandwiches, filled pasta, spaghetti, soup and salads for lunch, both vegetarian and omnivore, prepared in the tiny kitchen in view of their guests. Place your order at the counter and add a home-made cake from the display. You'll be served but are expected to return to the counter for payment. Set breakfast plates are served on weekends only. Decorated in pastel colours this is also the place to buy nostalgic presents and some organic delicatessen (chocolates, olive oil, coffee, ...) as well as "Glück in Gläsern" ("happiness in jars"), (in)famous 100% non-organic nostalgic sweets many Germans will remember from their childhood, sold by the piece. As in the Schanzenstern restaurant a selection of magazines from Hamburg-based publishers are there to be read by the guests.

El Rojito

For a coffee break my tip is the cafe of a local coffee importer specializing in the coffee of South-American co-operatives, El Rojito. Not all of them are organically certified, but the driving force behind is a registered society which has been supporting fair and social working and trading conditions for more than 30 years. While pandemic restrictions apply you can have your coffee outside only: There's outdoor seating in the backyard, though not in the morning and on Sundays, and some space in front of the cafe. Their coffee is also served by the Schanzenstern hostel, and the shop sells the full range of their coffee beans as well as some other items such as organic honey.

Eiscafe Venezia

Ice-cream

For a sweet threat head back to Altona train station (where you by the way will find another organic supermarket, this time an Alnatura branch). Since 1913 there has been an Italian ice-cream parlour in Ottenser Hauptstaße, which, after world war II became Eiscafe Venezia. Today, the owners are no longer of Italian origin, but use organic milk for all of their about 20 flavours. Unfortunately the ice-cream isn't fully organic itself; the scoop goes for 1.40 EUR in 2021. Usually the cafe closes at midnight, but you may find it closing earlier on bad weather.

The place also serves Italian-style coffee drinks with organic milk from a proper Cimbali pressure machine, but I'd rather advise to take the extra meters to Zeit für Brot as their coffee is far better.

Stueckgut Ottensen

Zero waste

Package-free organic self-service supermarkets are also on the rise in Hamburg, and given the subcultural context of the neighbourhood you won't be surprised to find one here as well: Stückgut recently moved from its old address Am Felde 91 to a beautiful corner shop at Alma-Wartenberg-Platz. Apart from the usual product range common to all these groceries this one offers organic tea, fresh fruits and veges, antipasti and cheeses and a colourful range of liquid body care and household chemicals which make the shop a proper full-range retailer. There's a second branch in St. Pauli with a smaller product range, among others missing fresh greens.

More to try

Here's another organic cafe and a bakery I found during my research but did not have time to visit. I'll be happy if you'd share your impressions with me!

Closed during covid-19 pandemic

Closed

The following places do no longer exist although you might find them referenced on the web:

2021-09-07 11:00:00 [Hamburg, Altona, Ottensen, St_Pauli, organic, coffee, ice-cream, zero_waste, unverpackt, supermarkets, grocery, eatery, lunch, breakfast, cafe, hotel, accommodation, bakeries, covid, corona] Link

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Monday, 30 August 2021

Out of Munich: Organic Glonn

For an organic day out into the countryside around Munich you might as well choose a destination with plenty options for organic food and even an overnight stay with organic breakfast at the destination: The Panoramaweg Isar-Inn bicycle route starting at Marienplatz allows you to reach such an area by bike in only 30-40 kilometers. Simply follow this route to Moosach and from there to the organic hamlet of Herrmannsdorf as part of the municipality of Glonn. Don't expect a bicycle highway -- the parts of the route shared with cars have a tarmac underground, but the rest are sufficiently wide gravel pathes with occasional pitholes. Nevertheless it is much more pleasurable to go here and marvel at the moraine landscape instead of using the main roads where you may be scared for your life as cars will frequently overtake you too fast and often with too little margin. It's also advisable to have a navigation app or map with you as the signage especially within build-up areas is sometimes insufficient.

Public transport isn't much faster -- an up to 1.5 hours affair (one-way) by public transport from Ostbahnhof station. Take a regional (faster) or urban train (S4) to Grafing Bahnhof, and continue with bus no. 440 to Westerndorf stop. You may take your bike on the train when buying a separate MVV-Fahrrad-Tageskarte bicycle day ticket, but not on the bus.

The Herrmannsdorf organic farm

Merchant and Friends

From Westerndorf its only an about ten to 15 minutes walk (or a few minutes on bike) over the fields to the Herrmannsdorf farm, founded by meat-industrialist-turned-organic-farmer Karl Ludwig Schweisfurth and now run by his family. In addition to the organic farm with pigs and chicken roaming before the eyes of the visitors the hamlet houses an artisanal bakery, brewery and butchery, a coffee roaster's shop cum cafe dubbed Merchant & Friends, a kindergarden for the employees and a cooking and practise school offering day courses for visitors who want to learn the basics of the trades practised here at the farm. There's also an organic farm market, the Herrmannsdorfer Hofmarkt with an outdoor garden café open when the weather is nice.

In the entrance area to this beautiful delicatessen store cum upmarket supermarket you'll find the market booth of nearby organic market gardener Gärtnerei Schmid. Depending on the season you may walk over to pick organically grown flowers from their fields and pay into the provided cash box.

Schweinsbraeu

The farm also has its own upmarket 100% organic restaurant, the Wirtshaus zum Herrmannsdorfer Schweinsbräu, for meat lovers definitely worth the troubles of getting here. The rustic and newly refurbished restaurant offers high-standard traditional Bavarian and Austrian cuisine based on the freshest ingredients including the farm's famous own beer and assorted spirits. The elaborately hand-written menu may be difficult to decipher, and even if you can read it you may have difficulties to understand what you read as it is deliberately flavoured with Austrian food terms. So better ask if you don't feel adventurous. It is also advised to book your table for the restaurant (ring in on your way here if you forgot to do so a few days in advance), and mandatory if you plan to come on weekends or on public holidays. The restaurant which also has an outdoor sitting area is closed 30th December through 14th January, 2020.

If you are wondering what you are going to eat stroll through the farm and greet the pigs and piglets. During the warm season you can also sit outside under horse chestnut trees: There are food stalls, but as the Bavarian tradition of beer gardens goes you may also bring your own food (not the drinks though!). For the home-made ice-cream in a cone (only available in the warm season) walk upstairs to the restaurant. A single serving comes at 1.80 EUR.

In May, before Easter and Christmas the farm gives host to its traditional arts and crafts markets. Especially the advent market is a pleasant alternative to commercial Christmas markets in town. On these days a free bus transfer is provided from and to Grafing Bahnhof, and you may book a tour through the farm or one of the workshops. There are also special tours for kids. All tours and workshops (also outside the festivals) can be booked in advance at the website.

Sonnenhausen manor

Sonnenhausen

If you feel that a day tour isn't sufficient turn to the right instead of to the left at the bus stop Westerndorf, and follow the way to Gut Sonnenhausen, an organic and sustainably driven Bio-Hotel located in a carefully and tastefully restored manor. Although conferences, weddings and other celebrations are their main business bed and breakfast guests are welcome, too.

More to try: Westerndorf, Piusheim, Oberpframmmern, Glonn and Grafing

If you’re looking for a cheaper place to stay the Schmiedhof organic farm in Westerndorf has a guesthouse where you can enjoy eggs and cheese (and most certainly also milk) from the farm for breakfast. Simply let the farmers know in advance that you wish to have breakfast.

Glonnthaler Backkultur Piusheim

For something different take a bicycle ride to Piusheim: On Thursdays, Fridays, weekends and public holidays the Glonntaler Backkultur organic cafe cum restaurant keeps open and serves 100 percent organic lunch, dinner and snacks using the gorgeous products of their artisanal bakery as well as other locally produced delicacies like the cheeses of the local organic dairy Hofkäserei Stroblberg. Each Friday it's pizza evening starting at 5 o'clock, and if you're lucky you may step by while one or another cultural arrangement is taking place. During the warm season there's also a spacious beer garden. The bakery shop is located in the entrance area at the opposite site of the house, and on weekday mornings you may head for the bakehouse in Mühlenweg ("mill lane").

Glonnthaler Backkultur Markt Glonn

Glonntaler Backkultur also runs two Sunday-open bakery shops in Glonn and Grafing which are closed on public holidays that are Monday through Saturday. Both have in- and outdoor seating for a snack or coffee break. Next to the shop in Glonn there’s a small fair-trade gift shop dubbed Handfairlesenes. On occasions you may find it open outside the quite restricted official opening hours, so step by for handicraft and other fairly traded products.

Coming from (or heading to) Zorneding or Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn there's a good chance that you will pass the village of Oberpframmern on your bicycle route. Stop by the Maierei organic farm ("Dein Bauernhof" -- "your farm") with its 24x7 self-service shop. More products from the farm -- veges, eggs from hens of a dual purpose breed, home-made preserves, Christmas trees in December and more are available on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings when the shop is serviced.

2021-08-30 18:00:00 [Munich, Glonn, Grafing, Herrmannsdorf, Oberpframmern, Piusheim, Westerndorf, organic, fair, lunch, dinner, market, bakeries, deli, coffee, hotel, accommodation, cafe, restaurant, pizza, ice-cream, Bavarian, German, cycling, farms] Link

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This work by trish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For commercial use contact the author: E-mail · Mastodon · Vero · Ello.

Wednesday, 25 August 2021

Organic Trondheim: Hotels

To put it short: To my knowledge, there are no hotels, motels or guest houses with a dedicated focus on sustainability and/or circular economy in Trondheim, not even one offers 100 percent organic breakfast.

Before the covid-19 pandemics the hotels of the Choice chain advertised with organic breakfast items and Debio label certificates in bronce which is awarded to food places offering at minimum 15 percent organic items. In the case of the otherwise boring conference hotel Augustin at the corner of Kongens and Prinsens Gate this allowed for an organic breakfast consisting of apple juice, crispy oat-cerials with a tasty type of sourmilk ("tjukkmjølk") or low-fat milk from Røros meieriet, alternatively soy milk, crispbread with honey, peanut butter, brie and a blue-mould cheese as well as hard-boiled eggs a few years ago.

On a stay at Comfort Hotel Park at the corner of Prinsens gate and Bispegata the 15 percent mixture consisted of all organic coffee and fat-free cow milk (but conventional oat and soy milk), organic Earl Grey tea, dark rye bread and one type of crisp bread, a good selection of organic cerials, raisins, apples, orange marmelade, peanut butter, honey, and boiled eggs. The Park hotel bar's fridge next to the entrance offered organic lemonade and cola (of the "Oskar Sylte" brand) as well as canned organic iced coffee mixes, but all this might have changed in the past few years.

The city's hotel institution Britannia in Dronningens Gate, once a certified eco lighthouse reopened after years of renovation. Before that they offered a small selection of organic veges and bread at the breakfast buffet, but I cannot confirm whether this is still the case – the price tag for a night at the hotel has increased dramatically since their reopening as a pet project of the owner of Norway's biggest food retailer, Rema.

Just a few steps west, crossing Nordre and Jomfrugate you will find Hotel City Living Schøller a budget option which was recommended to me by Alicia from Portland, Oregon after reading this blog. She described her room as having "zero perfume – none on the sheets nor in the cleansers. The room felt fresh and healthy, if quite simple." The hotel provides guests with a 15 percent discount at nearby Godt Brød bakery cum cafe for breakfast, and offers a kitchen for guest use.

2021-08-25 18:00:00 [Trondheim, hotel, accommodation] Link

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This work by trish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For commercial use contact the author: E-mail · Mastodon · Vero · Ello.