Lilac Colored Glasses

The more I’ve ventured out into the areas surrounding Gent this past week, the more I’ve come to the conclusion that every Belgian, deep, deep down on some semi or unconscious level, wants to be a farmer.

And while I realize that sounds like a sweeping generalization…well…it is…but it is SO true, I swear!

At first I thought it was just a gardening fetish. CB told me that having a garden, even in cramped city living (a.k.a our house) is very important to Belgians and I noticed on my own how many more houseplants live inside the homes here. Except ours cause I tend to kill them.  But really, there are flower shops all over the place, plants in every window and a general appreciation for nature and green, growing things.

Of course, there are large patches of farming and agriculture between the cities here, but this week I noticed a definite…blending of suburban life and aspects of farming. It started with my trip to Merelbeke on Tuesday for my first cleaning job. The neighborhood I was in was semi-rural and the woman I was cleaning for had a dog, a cat and 2 chickens and a rooster out back in a coop.

Hrm.

CB once told me, following a conversation with 2 of his friends that live in Lochristi about getting chickens for the yard, that some people prefer chickens over a composter. In other words, while we have a composter in our tiny little garden, many people with large yards in the villages outside of the city keep chickens to eat the scraps.

Okay. I guess that make sense.

Then on Wednesday I went to St. Denijs-Westrem and the house I worked at had a relatively large fenced in area next to the yard. And in that fenced in area?

Two loud mouthed sheep and several lambs.

Ahem.

So I brought this to CB last night and he said that some people purchase extra land as an investment for their children for the future but in the meantime they buy sheep or some other livestock to keep on it.

But I didn’t see a fulling mill anywhere, so I really have no clue why these people chose sheep.

But today? Today totally made my mind up for me in regards to the Belgian inner-farmer.

This morning I went to a home in Drongen that was set back about a half mile from the main highway. Not only did I walk by a field of cows on my way, but the woman I cleaned for had a backyard fenced in with two black labs, a goose and at least 2 chickens.
The sheep were in the front yard.

Also, let’s look at the Dutch lexicon and see how many words include the word “boer”(farm) in it:

1. boer (which also can mean a country dweller or provincial person, a bumpkin, a burp, slang for man, a jack (like in playing cards)
2. boerderij
3. boeren
4. boerenham
5. boerenkermis
6. boerenkost
7. boerenbedrog
8. boerenbond
9. boerenkinkel
10. boerenbruiloft
11. boerenlatijn

And there’s about 45 more according to Van Dale Dutch-English dictionary.

See? Even the word “farm” is so utterly ingrained into the Belgian existence that more than 50 different vocabulary words originate from that word.

So in conclusion, I can only tell you that Belgians have the farm, farm, farm, farm down in their hearts. down in their hearts to stay!!

Click here or here if you’re confused by the title

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