Spring continues... and the caretakers of the patios of Córdoba take care of it
In this land where master's degrees in popular botany are the dear grandmothers , a legion of caretakers and yard caretakers keep covering flower walls, floors and balconies . We have asked them to tell us all the secrets (and tricks) to create the magical and ultrasensory atmosphere he of the courtyards of Cordoba in any corner of our house.
“The patios are spectacular this year, but this May we are going to enjoy them on our own ”, he tells us on the phone Araceli Lopez , a patiera from the traditional San Basilio neighborhood , the epicenter of the festival and the patio contest in the capital (suspended, for now, until September) while she sweeps the litter from one of her patios, the one on Calle Martín de la Roa, 2.
This courtyard, popularly called "the courtyard of the wall" , it is the only one that preserves part of the wall of the old Alcázar inside and is embellished with more than 400 pots , not counting the 200 that you have on the balconies and the another 400 that they have in another of their famous patios, that of Saint Basil, 40.
With this number of plants, it is understood that the transfer of pots these days requires an almost exclusive dedication of the whole family, an activity that does not stop, despite the lockdown , but rather on the contrary, it increases these days there is more time to take care of the patios.
“The tradition of plants in my house has been something as natural as going to buy bread” Araceli comments. "We have been working on the patios for days now, before the explosion of color in spring." Everything is for in May, the month of color keep on shining bursting geraniums, red and maroon carnations … shining on the white walls, whitewashed conscientiously, of Cordova.
Who takes care of the patios of Córdoba?
Your daily ritual could not be more appetizing. It sounds like rain in the desert now that we are not moving from home: “Every morning, my daughters and I have breakfast at 9:30 in the patio and then we go to work. We are painting walls, transplanting plants … At 2:00 p.m. we stopped, had a vermouth and each one went home. Although as I am very persistent, here I am again (in the patio) because it seems that it is going to rain and I want to collect the litter from the ground before it happens”.
SECRETS OF A GOOD COURDOB PATIO
But if there is a backyard that you have received all the prizes received and for having in the province , where tradition takes root very strongly, that is Anselmo Córdoba's courtyard , who answers the phone from Rute, a top location for patios. “ You catch me in a hustle and bustle in the patio , with a mask and everything ”, he comments between laughs.
His yard has won 5 times the Contest of Patios, Corners and Bars of the Subbética Community and 4 times the Contest of Patios, Corners and Bars of the province. He better than anyone, since the Olympus of the Courtyards of Cordoba , and as an expert in competitions of this type, he tells us what are the secrets that a good Cordovan patio must have.
1. Better with old plants
“The secret is not in planting many new pots”, reveals Anselmo, “but in keep a geranium with four or five years , whole, old, crooked, one of those that at the end presents a beautiful flower bow. This geranium is a much more representative icon of Córdoba than a plant that came out of some nurseries a fortnight ago”. It is clear, the age, also of the plants, in this of the patios, he says.
Courtyard of Anselmo Cordoba
2.Where you put a geranium, a carnation or a gypsy...
For example, the Reventón Granada carnation , “a typical carnation from the Subbética of Córdoba”; pelargonium , the semperflora begonias , the queen earrings , the papyri (also called umbrellas ) “that look great especially in small lakes, ponds, or in fountains”; the coves , the varieties of succulent plants characteristic of this climate "which do not need much water and can be placed on sunny walls", explains Anselmo... " These are the species that most represent the Cordovan patio”.
3.Let it be clean as the jets of gold
It is also highly valued exquisite cleaning . You have to keep the walls spotless so that all that lime shines white against the color that each one wants to choose for his pots”, tells us this patio caretaker who inherited this passion from his great-aunt.
Balconies Priego de Córdoba Neighborhood of the Villa
4.Festival of Colors of the South
“Three colors are essential for me: indigo , typical of the south of Córdoba; the albero ; and the color red ocher , which is that color that the Alhambra has on the outside”. But he also provides contrast that some potsherds are not painted to highlight the mud. “In Subbética we have own pottery , in the city of Lucena, a very old pottery. They are iron manganese glazed pots and a very peculiar shape that the potter creates. It is a spectacular white clay clay that has nothing to do with other industrial clays from other areas of Spain”.
4. Of aromas, the Cordovan understands a lot
The more Cordovan identity, the better . That is already clear to us. But it is also a maxim that must be followed in terms of aromas. For example, you can not miss the aroma of orange blossom, of orange and lemon trees , trees with a lot of charm and very present in all (or in almost all) Cordovan patios: “It is that taste of Julio Romero de Torres, of oranges and lemons. It is not the same to have a lemon tree as a weeping willow, which looks beautiful in a swimming pool, but in a Cordovan patio, of course, "says Anselmo.
They also provide identity popular aromatic plants . “Near the kitchen of a Cordovan patio there are always aromatic plants for the preparation of traditional stews: thyme, mint, marjoram, lemon verbena, bay leaf …”. To get them, the yard caretaker recommends "pulling neighbors, especially in the towns." If there is no other option, you will have to go to the nurseries. “We must not forget that the first courtyards of Córdoba, in addition to what the Roman patios were , are these Arab patios that they filled with medicinal plants , but also for perfume the food . Physicians such as Abulcasis or Maimonides narrate in their works the number of plants they had in their homes to make drugs. Most are wild aromatic plants that can be found in the Sierra Morena and the Sierra Subbética of Córdoba, such as chamomile".
Courtyard of Anselmo Cordoba
5. Dust off old wooden furniture
It's time to get rid of all that old furniture: old rush chairs, or the bacon pots, also made of wood, because "although they can't be in the patio all year, These are days to enjoy these artisan objects , manufactured in neighboring Castro del Río. This is how we nail down the issue of identity down to the last detail”, Anselmo Córdoba tells us. Y if you have a good botijo , “it is also time to take it out, fill it with water and hang it next to the lemon tree”.
6.That the musicality of the water is not lacking
We must not forget the importance of the presence of water and its sound . Many of the Cordovan patios have some other fountain or pool . That water tinkling It is vital to generate the magical atmosphere of the Cordovan patio. In addition to the function decorative, refreshing and recreational that the Muslims gave the water (the sound or the game of reflections fascinated them); it was also used to collect water for irrigation.
7.Smells like local stew (and if it's with a wine taster in hand better)
If, in addition to this set of harmonies, you are cooking something marvelous in your kitchen with a local wine, with an oloroso Montilla-Moriles , for example, and your patio does not smell like fast food "That guarantees you a sure prize!" Anselmo concludes.
Or, much better, with a catavino in hand. "This is how you fully enjoy a patio," explains Charo Jiménez, while preparing his in the heart of the Sierra de Montilla, the one of Lagar de la Primilla , which is part of the so-called Patios of Bodega de Montilla-Moriles . “It is not the same to just visit the patios than to enjoy them while savoring a Fresh wine from a jar in the patio of the winery or cellar”.
TRICKS OF GRANDMOTHERS TO HAVE A FABULOUS PATIO
But if we go to the tricks, to those grandma's little secrets to have plants that neither in Jurassic Park , one of the regular winners of the patio competition in the province, in the town of Cabra, Maria , recommends us “ reserve the most tender of the winter cold ”. to their Of her 88 years she represents all a generation of women who elevated the courtyards of Cordoba for her dedication in body and soul to her plants, her other family.
La Primilla Winery
For her, who moves with a crutch, although this does not prevent her from spending two or three hours every morning pampering her plants, “Her patio gives her life” , her daughter tells us. “I help her move her potsherds because there are more than 300 the ones she has between the patio and the front door. But yes, watering them won't let me , because she says that she knows very well which one gets more water and which one less”. It is the following secret: know each of your plants as if you had given birth to them.
For Anselmo, a fundamental trick is make a good subscriber during the month of January . He makes his own organic fertilizer : “When people ask me what I do with mine, I encourage them to make their own fertilizer. The one I make is based on palomina . I ask the priest to let me sweep the church tower every day and I bring two bags full; I put them in water, in a bucket, and I manage to make my own fertilizers. Fantastic and very cheap”.
Consuelo, almost 80, from the traditional neighborhood of La Villa de Priego de Córdoba , tells us that what works best for her is having the patio impeccable throughout the year. Her husband, now retired, is the one who helps her move the hundreds of potsherds she has . “My patio is known by the jasmine one, because I have a very beautiful jasmine, with many geraniums and a palm tree in the center. It's a pure show”.
And if we seek advice from one of the best-known yard caretakers in the entire province, Juani, from Iznajar , responsible for more than 700 pots from the charming Patio de Comedias , and to whom you usually find handing out homemade sweets among the tourists who pass through her door, the advice is clear: “Plants need a lot of love” . She against all odds has been giving it to him for years. “This year I have painted all the pots with my husband, blue, which is the color of the area, because of his Arab heritage. It is precious. I am very sorry that no one can come to see it.”
Maria, from Cabra, in her patio
Surrounded by this unconditional love that plants and patio caretakers profess in the province of Córdoba, she grew up Thomas , another yard keeper who has his own yard next to his store in the neighborhood of La Villa, in Priego , where you usually run into some neighbors with the traditional cane from which a can hangs to water the highest pots, or climb stairs to clean and water them.
He explains to us how this old hobby of the neighbors in the villages has changed. His mother, the popular Trini, from San Antonio square , she was known as such because she took care of the hundred pots that were displayed on the facade of the Plaza de San Antonio. “ For my mother, pots were her second family . They were all different and she gave each one a name. At that time, each neighbor had her own collection and among them they exchanged postures (cuttings), they looked at each other's facades and you heard them say: I don't have this one. Look at this other one, how beautiful you are… Now people go straight to the florist and buy them . But before if you had a nice old geranium it was a treasure. My mother had one that she called the 500 pesetas . She named it that way because a man always came to her and wanted to buy a plant like this for that price”.
They were different times. maybe they'll come back…
Square of San Antonio de Priego de Córdoba