Wood oven, water and olives in a dry rural house

How is a wood oven fired, and how are its embers kept for the next day?

Start with the oven cold and the door open. Build a small fire of thin, dry wood in the centre of the floor, not against the walls. Almond, oak and olive wood all burn well, but olive is dense and slow, so it is better kept for the long heat after the flames die. Let the fire grow for 30 to 45 minutes. The dome will go from black to grey to a pale, almost white surface, which is the sign that the brick or stone has absorbed enough heat. Sweep the floor with a damp cloth on a long handle, push the coals to one side or into the mouth, and the oven is ready for bread, then for trays of vegetables, then for a covered pot as the temperature falls.

Keeping embers overnight is a matter of ash and air. Rake the remaining coals into a heap in one corner, cover them with the fine grey ash from the fire, and close the door most of the way. Ash insulates; a small gap lets in just enough air to keep the coals alive without burning them out. In the morning, push the ash aside and you should find red centres. Add a handful of dry twigs and the fire returns in minutes. If the oven is outside and rain is expected, the door and the chimney cap matter more than anything else, because a wet oven takes twice as long to fire.

A kitchen that cooks this way is not only about the oven. It is about what the garden gives that week, and about the water that keeps the garden alive. For a wider view of how a rural Spanish house organises its kitchen, garden and water through the year, the magazine Masía Novales covers the masia, the potager and the campo month by month, including wood ovens, olive care and dry-summer watering.

How do you prune an olive tree?

Olive pruning is done in late winter or early spring, after the worst of the frost and before the tree pushes new growth. The aim is light and air, not size. An olive bears fruit on the previous year's wood, so heavy cutting removes the crop. Work in three steps. First, remove dead, broken and diseased branches, cutting back to clean wood. Second, open the centre: take out branches that cross or rub, and any that grow straight up through the middle of the tree. Third, thin the remaining framework so that a hand can pass through the canopy and light reaches the inside. A mature tree is usually kept to three or four main limbs, with the centre open like a cup.

Use sharp bypass secateurs for thin wood and a pruning saw for anything thicker than a thumb. Cut close to the branch collar, the slight swelling where the branch meets the trunk, and do not leave stubs. Do not paint the cuts. Olives heal well on their own in dry air. In a dry climate, prune a little less than you would in a wet one, because the tree has less water to spend on regrowth. Young trees are shaped for the first four or five years; after that, annual light pruning is better than a heavy cut every few years.

How do you water a garden through a dry summer?

Water deeply and less often. A long soak twice a week pushes moisture down to the roots, where it lasts; a short daily spray only wets the surface and encourages shallow roots that fail in August. Early morning is the best time, before heat and wind take the water. Drip lines under a layer of mulch are the most efficient method, and a simple timer on the tap removes the daily decision.

Mulch is not optional in dry country. A layer of straw, dry grass, almond shells or gravel over the soil cuts evaporation and keeps the root zone cooler. Group plants by water need: olives, rosemary, lavender, thyme, sage and cistus on the dry side; tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and basil together where they can be watered properly. Grey water from the kitchen, cooled and free of strong soap, can go to established trees and shrubs, not to salad crops. In the hottest weeks, shade cloth over young plants for part of the day does more than extra water.

Where does the water of a masia come from: well, aljibe or cistern?

Three sources, often together. A well, pou or pou de mina, draws from an aquifer or a spring and usually needs a pump and a storage tank. An aljibe is a underground tank, traditionally built of stone or brick and lined with lime mortar, that collects rainwater from the roof and sometimes from a paved courtyard. A cistern, dipòsit or cisterna, is the more general term for a storage tank, which may be fed by the well, by the aljibe, or by a delivered supply.

In practice, a rural house in dry Spain runs on a chain: roof to aljibe, well to cistern, cistern to the house and garden. The aljibe is the oldest part and the most useful in a dry year, because it captures what rain does fall. It needs a first-flush diverter to throw away the dirt from the first minutes of rain, a filter, and a lid that keeps out light and insects. Water from an aljibe is fine for the garden and, with proper filtration and testing, for the house. Well water should be tested for nitrates and salinity before it goes on vegetables, and any water used for drinking should be checked by a laboratory.

A kitchen that follows the season

Cooking in a rural house in dry country is a sequence, not a menu. Spring brings broad beans, peas, artichokes and the first tender leaves, cooked quickly and often with olive oil and garlic. Summer is tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, aubergines and figs, eaten raw, grilled over embers or preserved in jars. Autumn is the olive harvest, almonds, quince and the first soups. Winter is stored food: dried beans, cured meat, squash, cabbage and bread baked in the oven while it is hot.

The wood oven fits this rhythm because it gives two heats. The first, fierce heat, is for bread and flatbreads. The second, falling heat, is for slow dishes: a pot of chickpeas, a tray of roasted peppers, a piece of lamb. The embers kept overnight extend the cycle into the next day. A kitchen built around this does not need many appliances, but it does need dry wood, a clean oven floor, and a store of jars.

Water, shade and the summer calendar

By June, the garden is in survival mode. Watering moves to early morning, mulch is topped up, and any new planting stops until autumn. July and August are for maintenance: check drip lines, clear the aljibe filter, watch olives for pests, and keep the oven door closed against the heat. September brings the first rain and the start of the olive harvest, which runs into winter depending on the variety and the altitude. October is for sowing green manure and planting garlic. November and December are for pruning tools, firewood and repairs.

The order matters. Fire the oven well and it will feed you for two days. Prune the olive for light and it will bear for years. Store water from every source and the dry months become a schedule rather than a crisis.