Between tortoises

After the motorway, the village roads are calm. We pass only a few cars. After HisarKöy, the only notable traffic is this young tortoise travelling at right angles to our direction. Of course, our 8 year old had to go and look, and help it. Gülnar bends down to look at it. "How can I pick it up?" ... That's not on the Ministry of Education curriculum! By the end of the day, both girls were feeling comfortable enough to explore and try new experiences. We'd even worked through a tick encounter, one on each child. Step one: do not panic! For a tick, a human is only another giant creature they could feed on. They're not very choosy; tortoises, cold blooded, often have ticks nested in the softer folds of skin. The 8 legged arthropods take their time, wandering around looking for the best place to settle - unlike the rapid "hit and run" strategy of mosquitoes. Kids in the village are so used to ticks, they flick them away without further thought...

Our first stop is Çiftlik Mahallesinde, the nearest farm to Güneşköy. Over generations, animal (sheep, a few goats, and some cows) husbandry has been the main focus, with enough crops to feed the family. From 2010, they began larger scale vegetable production, all organic - for sale at the two weekly organic markets (Ayrancı and Çayyolu). Today, a constant flow of relatives and friends calling to share food and chat give plenty of opportunity to update connections after 11 months and 3 days: we heard about work, homes, children... and the next wedding, to be in Antalya. Seda is thrilled with her new shoes from Oktay. They match her "çinti" trousers. İlay joins her for a fashion parade.

When we got to Güneşköy, each one of us could focus on whatever caught our attention. Five hours to explore and discover; I showed our visitors points and places of potential interest. In the glass house, the roses are blooming bright red, and the mint patch is green. Someone must be watering them. The rest is dry. It's not yet excessively hot, but there is not water, so we sit outside. Duygu had plenty of time to talk with İlay. We'd known each other since she was my first Genetics student in my English prep school class. "What had kept us still in such warm contact?" I had a list of many things I wanted to check, only a few got done.

When the kids started looking for something new, I took them to Room number 3, which I've always called the "Education Room". Filled with materials and specimens, books and boxes, piles and bags spilling over with twigs, sample boxes, and intriguing objects, it needed some tidying - smaller creatures had been there in our absence. Over the two decades, I've accumulated quite a range of treasures. The girls squeeled with delight: "The Games Room/ Children's Room". What a compliment!

Even from afar, the characteristic shapes of Scabiosa rotata fruits stand out: white dots shining in the sun light. Each geodesic sphere combines translucent papery cups, each with a seed at the centre. Is there an advantage in being so bright, or is that simply an outcome of the strategy to optimise chances for each seed in its inverted parachute-like structure? Once the seeds are ripe, they'll be carried by the wind. Such forms have worked for millions of seasons, without need for human assistance, maintenance or resources. No waste either... Now that I've learnt how to use iNaturalist, I took about 100 photos, and later (once back with İnternet access) I submitted records for 40 specimens; where possible complementary views, showing different characteristic parts of a species are uploaded to the same specimen. Güneşköy is still an Internet-free zone. When I started systemativally recording flora over 15 years ago, there were no apps for citizen science. I now need to get down to uploading 2008-2024 photos; quite a mamoth task...

A tree that used to give large plums has disappeared, dried out and removed. But the Neem tree is doing well in poor soil: one of the trees that thrives in arid climates. I couldn't open any water valve; no water flowing from any tap. Everywhere is bone dry. All nitrogen contributions have to be done directly into the soil. In 2020 Celal sowed Neem tree seeds someone had given. Under his care, they grew well. The tiny saplings have parsley looking leaves, but taste nothing like them.

The most invasive of trees, Ailanthus, also known as the Tree of Heaven (in Chinese) or Smelly Tree (Kokaragaç in Turkish), has been spreading along the lowest terrace for years: the rich alluvial soil was brought in 2016 when the foundations for the 14th and 15th pillars were being excavated in the Balaban river bed. Now the single tree, growing in poor landfill soil below the viaduct, has started to sprout at the edge of the viaduct. I counted at least 7 young saplings, a couple already strong. This is bad news...

Ailanthus leaves are covered in tiny hairs, soft and velvety to touch. The fine leaflets of new leaves are orange-red, turning to green as they grow wider, longer and bolder.

Behind the glasshouse, a flat area was cut into the wild rocky slope in 2021, to be able to receive a set of photovoltaic panels - part of a project that was never realised. Without any organic matter, the raw mineral surface will only suit certain species. Wild almond, Prunus amygdalus orientalis, is doing well, claiming its space and already about 40 cm tall. Stipa grass has recently appeared, waving its long gentle heads gently in the breeze.

Games can be played anywhere. Can a few pebbles or stones become a tower? And can you work out how to include your little sister?

We'd started the day with a young tortoise. In the evening, as we did our last tasks, İlay pointed to what I thought was a rock. This old creature was so well weathered, its scutes (the individual "nail-like" plates that make the shell pattern) crinkled over the years, it was hard to see. No, the lines of a scute do not tell a tortoise's age, unlike tree rings. This one is an old female. I wonder what you'd tell us about the last twenty years on this land. How would other species evaluate the two decades since Güneşköy began to transform this section of land?

Eventually we left Güneşköy, but still had something to do before leaving the valley: I showed Gülnar how to pick the flat plates of tiny five petalled cream coloured flowers, snapping them where the stalk joined the branch. Back in Ankara, these became a lemon flavoured syrup, and were dried for tea next winter.

At sunset, we drove on the ring road back towards Ankara. İlay driving left me free to take photos. Around Kıbrısköy (Cyprus Village), fields are still ploughed, sowed and harvested, giant concrete spines are protruting from behind the hill. Certain stretches of horizon are now barricaded with luxury tower blocks. Each probably is sold "with a view of nature", until the next developments block their view with even taller structures, all the while encroaching further on the nature they claim to value.