Another U3A guided walk

Another great day was had by all as we strolled around the park in the company of delightful visitors from the U3A.

Volunteers explained the history, geology and development of the park, as well as our role as volunteers, in the training room at the Casa Forestal, following a brief introduction by Jose Manuel.
We rounded off the morning with a group lunch at Felisa restaurant on La Mata boardwalk, who  once again provided us with ample delicious food and wine.

Update

Visitors to this site, please note we no longer meet on the second Thursday, but on the first Saturday of every month (high summer excepted) at 10.00 a.m., and the location has changed to the Park Headquarters - the Casa Forestal, the white building at the park entrance. The Wine Growers' association building no longer exists!

Cooking with traditional ingredients from our area

Some of us recently attended a fascinating talk by Jose Manuel, expertly translated by Jenny, in the kitchen of Torrevieja's Central Market. There was a demonstration by the chefs from Las Jarras, a well-known La Mata restaurant, followed by a delicious lunch when we tasted the dishes we watched being made. Notice of this talk was sent out by Jean Paul Mulero, the liaison officer for foreign residents; do look out for future events.
I for one learned a lot about the benefits of a Mediterranean diet, and picked up some great tips such as how to de-pip a pomegranate in seconds, and how to grate juicy fresh tomatoes to make home made tomate frito. Yummy, and very healthy!
The first thing we learned how to make was a traditional salad with dried fish called capellan, capers, onions and tomatoes among other ingredients. This was followed by a fabulous vegetable paella and a really tasty pud of fresh pomegranate in wine sauce. Guess what my next guests will be having for lunch?!

New signs

New signs in our park reflect the handiwork of our members. Well done to  everyone involved. Your time and skill is much appreciated by all of us!

Vine planting at La Mata

The morning of the 14th at La Mata saw several members of the Volunteers waiting for action with gardening tools at La Mata information centre and we all set off along the vine route heading in a northerly direction until we got to a plot which had been prepared with furrows for the planting.  The two maintenance men then started digging holes to show us how.  The holes looked about a foot deep and the same square.  Some branches were then cut off the existing vines and the ends had to be hammered flat to encourage root growth, then they were planted in the holes and stamped in.  Apparently no watering is required, we just hope for the winter rains to do the work.
Jose Manuel explained that there was great excitement when they realised they had these vines which are unique to La Mata and the only others are in the Seed and Plant Bank in Madrid.  As they have not been modified in any way they hold they original flavour from about 150 years ago.  
This plot used to reach right down to the sea, one of the men’s grandfather used to have them, but now we have buildings and the N332 instead.
Jose Manuel made it very clear that it is up to us to look after this planting and in 3 months we have to go and learn how to prune them.  As time passes we have to prune them again and learn how to choose the strongest stems for further growth.  In 3 years we may have a harvest!  Tapes were put round the stems with the names of all the Volunteers present so we have a personal interest in them.  This is very much “our baby”!
 

Our award

At the monthly meeting of the Volunteers of La Mata (Rutas y Caminos de la Sal), the members were shown the plaque and heavy glass award with which the group were presented at the recent Coastrider award ceremony.  It is the Graham Knight Citizenship Award.

The group were very pleased to have their work in the Natural Park recognised and hope to continue looking after this area which is so important to Torrevieja-La Mata.

Breaking News!!

We have just won The Coastrider Lifetime Award for our volunteers group!
Keep an eye on the newspaper and on http://objetivotorrevieja.es/ for photo and more details
Congratulations, everybody!

new signs

This week a group of the Volunteers of La Mata, the Asociación de las Rutas y Caminos de la Sal, met to erect the new signs which a small working group have been making. The writing and pictures had first to be etched with a machine which the volunteers paid for from their own funds, the wood and varnish were provide by the Park. Some of the group have spent every Saturday morning since September working on this task. A total of 42 signs were finally ready to be put in place and the difference in old and new was immediately obvious. It is hoped that by these means the public will be encouraged to follow the rules of the Park, so as to keep dogs on leads, very important at this time due to nesting birds, and to respect plants and animals and not to leave rubbish when they visit the area. The group would welcome more members to join and help in keeping this lovely Park looking at its best.

La semana pasada un grupo de los Voluntarios de La Mata, la mayoría Británicos – la Asociación de las Rutas y caminos de la Sal – fueron al Parque Natural para poner en su sitio las señales preparadas por un grupo pequeño de los mismos. Tuvieron que grabar las letras y los dibujos con una máquina que ellos mismos compraron de sus propios fondos. El Parque puso a su disposición la madera y el barniz. Algunos del grupo han pasado trabajando en esta tarea todos los sábados por la mañana desde septiembre de 2013 y finalmente están listas 42 señales. Se notó inmediatamente la diferencia entre las viejas y las nuevas. Se espera que con estas medidas se pueda animar el público y que los visitantes al Parque sigan las normas, como llevar a los perros con correa, lo cual es muy importante en esta época por las aves que nidificar en el suelo; también que respeten las plantas y animales, y que no dejen basura cuando van de visita al Parque. Los Voluntarios darían bienvenidos a cualquier persona que quisiera venir y ayudar en el trabajo de cuidar este Parque tan bonito.

Another group which may be of interest to our volunteers

The 'Asociación de Amigos de los Humedales del Sur de Alicante' - AHSA for short -  are interested in the protection of our Natural Parks etc. They have a website www.ahsa.org.es and emailinfo@ahsa.org.es 

Park News

For those of you who can read Spanish, here's some news about our park  from 'Objetivo Torrevieja'.


http://www.objetivotorrevieja.es/

Copy and paste the link into your browser. The first page that comes up is not what you want, so key 'parque la mata' into the search box Buscar. If you don't understand the Spanish you can use Google to translate - and have a good laugh at the English version it comes up with!

Antonio's photos are there. Click on Antonio Saez, then on the main photo and you'll be able to see his fabulous bird photos

Thanks to Peter for the link.

We now meet at 10.00 a.m. on the first Saturday of the month at the Park Office in the Casa Forestal at the entrance to the park. Visitors welcome.