Another facet

The Prince of Ylliriel shows another facet of the life in the countryside in Amchit, in the fantasy garden of Ylliriel. There are a lot of beautiful little creatures, but there are also snakes, from time to time. Today the Prince of Ylliriel had to kill two snakes of one meter length each, and that is the first time it happens. Usually, since when the Prince and his family started living all year round in the countryside, he has to kill between 4 to 6 snakes per year, mostly in the warmest months of the year.

There is a lot of wilderness around, green hills, and deep green valleys that becomes a river in the winter, and this is from where wild animals come. The cats can take care of the smallest snake, of 20-30 cm of length, but they can only scare the largest ones (of 1 meter length). The law that forbids hunting in general allows however to kill snakes when they are in a garden. The Prince doesn't like to kill any form of life, but for safety reasons, it is better to keep snakes away.

The structure of videos is a bit haphazard, as the cellphone of the Prince bugged many times, and he thought he had lost the first video, therefore repeating himself slightly in the other videos that were taken afterwards.

The Prince does not like to film himself or to display himself, in general; it is not in his character to do so. But to respond to the unfair accusations and harsh words he was victim from, he has no other choice but to show who he truly is, to those who refused and still refuse to have a half-an-hour conversation with him, time that would be sufficient to convince them that he is a good, fair and loyal person. 

The Prince buries snakes, and wishes for them the best in the afterlife (as he does for each and every form of life). Perhaps in the other world, snakes are fairer creatures who live in peace with human beings and other animals, without presenting any threat. 

Forza Fiorentina!

The Prince of Ylliriel explains why he supports the team of his heart, la Fiorentina, who is right now playing a very important final! 

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An update: la Fiorentina lost, unfortunately.

But there is a motto in Florence that says "Meglio secondi che ladri", or "better to arrive at the second place rather than be thieves". ¨

In conclusion, la Fiorentina ends at a honest, second place. It is disappointing, but the beauty in sports (and in life) is also to accept to lose elegantly. 

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Lo spirito Fiorentino

 

This is what my classmates wrote about me in 2009, my last year at the Grand Lycée Franco-Libanais, when I obtained my French Baccalaureate. This text appeared in the annual publication of the school.

It is my brother who sent it to me today, because there is a mention to la Fiorentina, the soccer team we both support.

Tonight, in five minutes, the final game of the European Conference League will start, in between the Fiorentina and a Greek team, the Olympiakos, in Greece. La Fiorentina is rather a small team so it's a great achievement to be in final. It's been since 2001 (23 years) that la Fiorentina does not win a competition, and at the time it was a minor one.

Therefore, all what I have to say now is Forza Fiorentina, Alè Viola! I will later post a video that I recorded today where I explain my passion for the Fiorentina. 

I will not watch the game myself, but either my brother, or my twin soul, will communicate to me the results. Because even my twin soul has been converted to the violet colors, as the Fiorentina has a very special history...

"Que le meilleur gagne..." whether la Fiorentina loses, or wins, it's already a great achievement to have reached the final!

But I hope to see la Viola win!

The first tiny pumpkin fruits

The pumpkin vines I planted three, two and one months ago started flowering and producing tiny fruits, a few of which I took in picture. As the summer arrives, the pumpkin vines will grow, and their fruits may reach really large sizes, and quite decorative shapes!

My brother and I often make a joke. A lot of people our age (who are in their 30s or 20s) go to the gym in order to remain fit, and take "proteins" to have muscles, which is really bad for the health. 

But in reality, the honest work that needs to be done in a garden, is even better than going to the gym. It's free, healthy, useful and interesting. Digging, sawing and moving stones and soil for instance, are very intense activities that I practice on a daily basis. Having a garden is a beautiful thing, but even a balcony, or a shared little piece of land, can produce interesting yields when planted intelligently. 

The Prince of Ylliriel speaks about love

 The Prince of Ylliriel speaks about his true love...

Pumpkin flowers

One of the most delicious products of the garden right now are pumpkin flowers. And I am very proud of that, because pumpkin flowers are not well-known, and it's hard and expensive to find them on the market. Thanks to the innovative raised-beds I build, already by the end of May the daily harvest of pumpkin flowers is abundant (and it will keep on increasing in the next weeks and few months). There are "male" and "female" flowers on the pumpkin vine. The "female" flowers produce the pumpkin fruits, while the "male" flowers are visited by bees. Therefore I only cut the petals belonging to the "male" flower in order to allow the plant to produce pumpkin fruits while consuming its flowers (and its green leaves). Pumpkin flowers are very nutritious and can be eaten raw, or grilled/fried, or they can be used to color and perfume soups, rice, etc. or even to cover a pizza, instead of the tomato, when pumpkin flowers are available in great quantity.

Underneath you will see the pumpkin flowers I harvested yesterday, on Sunday. The pictures are a courtesy of my brother and my father, taken in our family garden by the sea.

And those are passion fruits flowers, of vines I planted four years ago from a seed, and taken care of since then. The pictures are taken by my brother. Soon, in one month of time, the passion fruit season will start. 

In front of the barnhouse at dusk

The Prince of Ylliriel speaks in front of the barnhouse at dusk and shows the progression of his pumpkin plants in his newly built raised beds. The pumpkin leaves are already four or six times as large as his hands, and provide a delicious greenery to cook as spinach with a bit of olive oil, lemon and salt, or to make in soup.

The little creatures who dwell in the garden

The Prince of Ylliriel speaks about the raised beds he builds in the garden by the sea in the first two videos. The third and fourth videos are about the little creatures that dwell in the garden, and in particular the cats the Prince takes care of. This part is dedicated to the mother of the Faerie Princess (Annelies Broeders) as the Prince knows that she too loves animals. The Prince wishes very much to have a direct contact with the mother of the Faerie Princess, because she is a very important person for him.

Literary heroes

I will now try to answer the question Annelies Broeders asked me, about the literary heroes I associate the most with.

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I think that you suspected my answers already, as you've read those books as well: some, you made me discover, while others, I gifted you some years ago. 

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For some obvious reasons!

- The Count of Monte-Cristo (by Alexandre Dumas): Edmond Dantes is a young, honest man, in love with the beautiful Mercedes (Mercedes is the name of the woman who is promised to Edmond), destined to become captain on a ship. However, some people are jealous of the honest success of Edmond, and they accuse him unfairly and cause him to be imprisoned in a castle on an island (l'île au château d'if). Nobody accepts to hear Edmond Dantes, and he cannot prove his innocence from the underground cell where he is trapped. It's useless to cry and shout and fret, and Edmond decides to evade from the prison where he is. It will take him years to dig a tunnel, and during these years he will learn a lot of things, coming in contact with another prisoner who is a knowledgeable Italian abbot who is also a scientist and a chemist. When Edmond Dantes finally escapes, he discovers the woman he was promised to married one of the persons who betrayed him. Dantes goes in hiding, on another island, and changes his identity, using all what he learnt from the abbot. He becomes the wealthy and mysterious Count of Monte-Cristo and returns to the place where he lived. Nobody recognizes him. And there, he starts taking his revenge on those who betrayed him and unfairly accused him, but at the end he regrets doing so. At the end, the Count of Monte-Cristo understands that having justice is fair, but taking his revenge doesn't make him happier. 

Yet, the idea of a wronged person, an innocent, who endures terrible sufferings during years, and manages to obtain justice through quite original means, is very interesting. 

- Cyrano de Bergerac (Edmond Rostand): you know why already. For those who don't know Cyrano, I advice you to read it. Cyrano falls in love with the beautiful Roxane, and as both love literature and poetry, he writes her letters and poems, that he however does not dare to send him under his name. So he writes her under the name of another, and it's only at the very end Roxane understands that Cyrano was writing her the beautiful texts and letters she received, but unfortunately it is too late. This book made me cry a lot too.

- The Prince Raoden in Elantris (by Brandon Sanderson): the Prince Raoden is thrown into Elantris, having caught the elantrian syndrome. In Elantris each hurt, each blow you receive, does not heal. So Elantrians have pain everywhere in their body and their soul. They have troubles to keep their sanity. The Prince Raoden is however determined to find a way out, and to understand why the town of Elantris that used to be fair and beautiful has become such a cursed place. With the help of the Princess Shaollan who falls in love with him, and of a few other friends, he manages to heal of the syndrome he has, and to make Elantris return to its former fairness and glory. You made me discover this book, and this writer.

- Gilbert Markham in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (by Anne Brontë): Gilbert Markham falls in love with the mysterious and sensitive Helen Graham. Their story and their romance always made me think of ours, as you already know. The landscape of the British countryside painted and described by Anne Brontë in the book, and the characters of Gilbert Markham and Helen Graham resemble to ours. This is why it is the first book I ever gifted to you, while you still were in Lausanne. Even before meeting you, reading that novel had made me think of you. To me, you were as mysterious as Helen Graham. 

You asked me what are the five literary heroes I associate the more with. For now, I've given you four names. I still need to think about the fifth. Right now, my mind is dry after a long day in the garden. 

The Prince speaks from the sea shore

In a very unique video, the Prince speaks directly from the sea shore...

Introducing the concepts of cash crops and display garden

The Prince of Ylliriel introduces the concepts of cash crops and display garden, from the garden by the sea...

Speaking from the lowest part of the garden

The Prince of Ylliriel speaks from the lowest part of the garden, close to the valley that becomes a river during the winter. Then he also speaks from the top of the barnhouse to show the wind that was blowing in the tall trees around.

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Faerie Princess, I will answer your question tomorrow. I need to think about which literary hero resembles me the most for a bit longer. On a side note, I just saw the hedgehog: I hope he will bring us some good luck! 

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A new raised bed for a little papaya tree

The Prince of Ylliriel presents the new raised bed he built to plant a small papaya tree he made sprout from a seed, as well as several other plants he planted around. 

In the Fantasy Garden of Ylliriel, almost all plants and trees are planted from seeds or slips, in a nursery the Prince takes care of. A lot of persons who have gardens buy trees and plants that are already grown: that solution is easier, but the Prince finds more value in making the plants grow from seeds himself, as at the end, he usually obtains plants that are more adapted to the microclimate of his garden. 

Also, the Prince in his early youth collected flowering plants, that still adorn the garden with their flowers. He thus has hibicus and bougainvillea trees of many different colors, a few of them are shown underneath.

There are many more flowering trees, shrubs and plants that are starting to blossom, but the garden is quite large, and the time of the Prince counted to photograph them all. All these trees and plants, the Prince made grow from slips, around fifteen years ago, and now, these little plants have become large trees and shrubs, the Prince has taken care of and watered for more than a decade.

You can discover more pictures of the grand garden of Ylliriel on https://yllirielfantasywriter.wordpress.com/

You can also read about the Prince's resolve to correct the unfairness he was victim from on https://justiceinylliriel.wordpress.com/ 

The Princess of Ylliriel (Annelies Broeders) has always been the Prince's inspiration to plant beautiful flowers and a marvelous garden. Even before meeting her, those seeds and slips he planted were already dedicated to her. Because, in the Prince's eyes, the Princess is as beautiful, mysterious and fair as the most enchanted garden. She is a book he can never get tired to read, the most beautiful novel ever written. She is the fantasy heroine of his life. The Prince firmly believes in his Princess, and will always believe in her. He knows her real worth, and her real potential. He knows she will one day bloom like the most beautiful of roses. 

The Prince of Ylliriel speaks about water

Today, the Prince of Ylliriel speaks about water and cedar trees.

In agroforestry and permaculture projects it is recommended to use water from three different sources, in order to build a more resilient ecosystem. The Prince shows how he intuitively built a resilient system in the garden, using:

- the drinking water sent by the State on a daily basis that fills the garden's main water tanks

- the irrigation water sent by time to time through the network of canals connected to the Adonis River (Nahr ibrahim)

- rain water collection from the rooftop of the barnhouse in another smaller water tank

In that way, the garden is entirely autosufficient in water...

Also, the Prince of Ylliriel never throws anything. That is why he reuses plastic bottles either to build pots and greenhouses, or he fills them with rainwater, keeping them as an additional safety for the warmest and driest week of the year.

On a side note, the Prince speaks of the most appreciated mineral waters in the Kingdom of Ylliriel (Mount Lebanon), that come from natural springs on the Mount Sannine and the Mount Tannourine. The Mount Sannine is visible from the coast, capped in white for many months because of snow. The Mount Tannourine is hidden behind other mountains, but it is a beautiful place with one of the largest Cedar forests, and a vast natural reserve around. The Prince visited Tannourine some years ago, and he was greatly impressed by the solemnity of the silence that reigned there, on Mounts that sometimes disappear in fog, when a cloud erases the landscape, to later reappear under a glorious sun. The Cedar Forest there seemed a place in between the land and the sky, belonging in part to Earth, and in part to Heaven, and the fields of wild flowers around contributed to the beauty of the place. Tannourine also counts charming villages with very ancient houses and churchs, and breathtaking grottos, with picturesque waterfalls. 

From the second rooftop

The Prince of Ylliriel speaks from the rooftop of the house. Each available surface is used to plant, but not only! The Prince built glass constructions to produce homemade raw salt, and to dry fruits and tomatoes naturally, with the light and the warmth of the sun. 

On another note, the bitter orange jam is ready. The three kilograms of bitter oranges filled four large jars, and the yearly production is of around twelve jars. I promise that for each person who will be kind and loving toward the Princess of Ylliriel (Annelies Broeders), there will be a special jar!

Underneath the largest tree of the garden

The Prince of Ylliriel expresses himself in a series of five non-profession, spontaneous videos, underneath the largest tree of the garden. 

The quality of the videos is not always great and the environment is noisy at times as there is the passing maritime coastal road nearby this section of the garden. The aim of the Prince however, is not yet to communicate all what he has learnt and discovered with a large public, but rather with the few friends who believe in this story, and with those who have wronged him, preferring to hide behind their prejudices rather than giving him a chance to speak. 

Now, encouraged by The Princess of Ylliriel, Annelies Broeders the Fair and the Wise, the Prince has decided to speak, and to stand up for his rights, his ideas, his convictions, and hers. 

The Prince challenges those who put his words in doubt to come visit him in the Fantasy Garden of Ylliriel, and to leave the past behind. 

Speaking by the sea

The Prince of Ylliriel speaks by the sea...

The sea's vicinities offer several interesting edible wild plants that can also be cultivated such as capers, maritime fennels (its leaves are naturally salty!) and wild asparagus.

The sea shores also offer a lot of objects and waste materials brought by the storms that can become very useful in a permaculture garden. The Prince of Ylliriel has made it as one of his hobbies to go on beaches after storms and to collect all sorts of materials that can be recycled in order to build new paths, raised beds, etc.

Showing the garden through the Prince's eyes

In a series of four short, non-professional videos the Prince of Ylliriel shows the section of the garden by the sea he takes care of. The images aren't always clear, but what matters is the message behind them. 

A great diversity of plants, trees, shrubs and vines is showed, all planted by the Prince, and under his regular care. 

The philosophy of the Prince, when he starts taking care of a new garden, or a new area within an existing garden, is to build narrow paths of stones in order to prevent wanderers from walking anywhere else. The paths of stone allow to structure the garden. Later on, in the places that receive the most sunlight, the Prince builds raised beds. Close to these raised beds, he plants small fruit trees that will slowly grow, while the vegetables and fruits sprouting in the raised beds will thrive in the meanwhile nearby. This is how after four years of intensive care, the garden's section that the Prince shows in his videos looks like a highly productive orchard, providing a great diversity of vegetables, fruits and salads. 

The garden at dusk - Melting snow

In two short, spontaneous videos with a really low image quality, the Prince of Ylliriel shows the garden at dusk - not much is visible unfortunately, but the mood and the melody of the garden change as the night falls, and the Prince wished to share that mood with those who are interested, and those who are directly concerned by the affairs of the Kingdom of Ylliriel. 

Indeed, some people dared to doubt of the reputation of the Prince, and of the Fantasy Kingdom where he dwells. And therefore the aim of the Prince is to show these people that their prejudices and false ideas were wrong from the start. 

It is the Princess of Ylliriel (Annelies Broeders) herself who asked the Prince to defend himself, and stand up for his rights, and hers. It is the Princess of Ylliriel herself who day after day supports the Prince in this endeavor, and makes all this possible. 

Being a very peaceful person, the Prince knows that a garden displaying beautiful trees and bountiful fruits, vegetables and salads is a middle ground where all the actors of this tale can agree to meet, and make amend of their respective mistakes. Could those persons see the garden with their own eyes, and agree on meeting the Prince, an immediate bond of trust and appreciation would be created. 

According to the Princess of Ylliriel, that will one day happen.

Follow more of the Fantasy Garden of Ylliriel's daily adventures and pictures on: https://yllirielfantasywriter.wordpress.com/

Life path and idealism

In a series of seven spontaneous, non-professional videos, the Prince of Ylliriel exposes his worldview, and explains his choice not to work as a traditional engineer, but rather to write books and novels while designing and building an agroforestry ecosystem. 

Indeed the problems that the world currently faces cannot be resolved by science, technology, or engineering according to the Prince of Ylliriel. The current challenges we are facing can only be resolved by adopting new ways of thinking. Writing books is a way to touch the heart and the mind of human beings. A very strong and touching book can forever change the life of a reader. 

Part 1/7

Part 2/7

Part 3/7

Part 4/7

Part 5/7

Part 6/7

Part 7/7

In his videos, the Prince of Ylliriel (Erik Zakhia) mentions four published books:

- The Manual of Seed Saving (Andrea Heistinger)

- The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

- The Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson) 

- Harry Potter (JK Rowling)

The Prince of Ylliriel also makes a reference to Annelies Broeders who is co-writing with him several books and fantasy-historical novels. You can visit the webpage of Annelies (The Princess of Ylliriel) on this link: https://anneliesbroeders.blogspot.com/

Speaking about the practice of Agroforestry - 15th of May

The Prince of Ylliriel shows yet another area of the garden planted with sweet potato beds, strawberries, fennels, stevia, artichoke, wild forms of dandelion and other salads, wild asparagus, watercress, parsley, and many small and taller trees.

He explains how he used the practice of coppice in the garden, to increase the amount of available sunlight, cutting some of the non-productive trees to mid-height, in order to keep those trees alive, and to use the foliage they afterwards produce in order to enrich the soil of the new raised beds. This practice respects the environment and the life of trees, while contributing to create a more complex and resilient ecosystem.

Also, traditional gardeners remove wild herbs to either plant grass, or some forms of cultivated vegetables and salads. The philosophy behind the Fantasy Garden of Ylliriel is to understand and recognize the value of each wild edible plant that sprouts, protecting those edible species in order to make them thrive. Indeed, wild plants will, during the coldest and rainiest months of the year, provide abundant and delicious green leaves to be consumed in salads, for free and with little effort, at the condition to know, recognize and protect them.

Turning bitter oranges into candied fruits - 14th of May

The Fantasy Garden of Ylliriel is always productive, and has many harvests of different kinds to offer every day. 

Today, Tuesday 14th of May 2024, the Prince of Ylliriel harvested a large salad (generously covering the need of a family of five persons for two days), two large bowls of mulberries (the season just started), some ripe strawberries, a basin of basil turned into pesto, and three kilograms of bitter oranges. The video below is mainly about the preparation of bitter oranges into a jam, or candied fruits, that the Prince of Ylliriel himself prepares. 

Needless to say that everything in the Fantasy Garden of Ylliriel is entirely natural and organic. 

Speaking from the garden - 11th-12th of May

In a series of short, non-professional, spontaneous videos*, The Prince of Ylliriel (Erik Zakhia) shows a few areas of the garden he takes care of, explaining what agroforestry and permaculture are about, in simple words and images. 

The Prince of Ylliriel is going to try to do such videos on a regular basis (once per week for instance) to show the progression of the most thriving parts of the garden, while progressively exposing his vision about plants and agriculture. 

You can read more about The Prince of Ylliriel on https://erikzakhia.blogspot.com/ (where you can find on this link his curriculum vitae told as a story) and on http://www.theprinceofylliriel.wordpress.com/ (A Fantasy-Historical Novel) where you can read more about the books he is co-writing with Annelies Broeders. You can also discover more posts about the Fantasy Garden of Ylliriel on https://yllirielfantasywriter.wordpress.com/

Saturday 11th of May: in front of the barnhouse / in front of the pond

Sunday 12th of May: in the garden by the sea

Nota Bene: the videos are taken on Erik's cellphone that is quite old (for environmental reasons The Prince of Ylliriel does not replace his electronic devices as long as they work); moreover, Erik chose to do these videos in a spontaneous manner, without preparing and writing a script beforehand, as agriculture and gardening are also spontaneous disciplines. Erik perceives the planting of his family garden in an intuitive and creative manner, never limiting himself to what he hears or reads, but instead always trying to experiment, in order to shape his garden in quite a unique way. 

Erik cultivates his family garden in an entirely organic way, making no use of chemical and biological products.