Zanganeh
Zanganeh (زنگنه) is the name of the farm in Iran where Mahnoosh spent the summers of her childhood. In those days it was like a village. They grew most of what they ate. Sheep and goats grazing on the mountains around Zanganeh gave them milk for butter, yogurt and cheese. That childhood time in Zanganeh for Mahnoosh is filled with many great memories.
Zanganeh was the source of life for Mahnoosh’s family and the workers who lived there. There was no going to work in an office or the city, their activity was centered around making a living from the land of Zanganeh.
Here is some additional information about the place Zanganeh we have adopted for the name of our website. You’ll learn where Zanganeh is, a bit about the geography and geology, and some remembrances of what life was like 40 or 50 years ago.
Zanganeh – The Name
According to Wikipedia, the name Zanganeh may be related to the Kurdish tribe Zangana. This tribe is in Western Iran and Iraq, so it is possible there may have been people from the Zangana tribe living in Zanganeh at sometime in the past. Currently the Zangana tribe is associated with the province Kermanshah, which is a bit west of Zanganeh.
Google Earth View
This is a view of Zanganeh from the Google Earth website. Zanganeh is on the south side of Alghadir Lake, Southwest of the city of Saveh, Iran. In this Google Earth view you can see Zanganeh is a bit of a green oasis. There is a significant spring that provides cool fresh water year round.
Zanganeh on Google Maps
This map shows Zanganeh in relationship to the city of Saveh. Look Southwest of Saveh for Alghadir Lake and Zanganeh is just south of the lake.
Description of Zanganeh
Lake Alghadir is a large man-made reservoir very close to Zanganeh. It is on the edge of the mountains just west of the city of Saveh. Much of the land around Saveh is agricultural and relatively flat. But the area around Zanaganeh becomes mountainous and rocky with land suitable for grazing sheep and goats, but with limited land for farming. Zanganeh is one of those small parcels of land that has relatively flat arable land.
Zanganeh and the surrounding area is semi-arid, high elevation with few trees. The terrain and climate is similar to the Northern Great Basin in the US (Northern Nevada and Utah).
The current agricultural area of Zanganeh is about 30 hectares (or about 75 acres). With a good fresh water spring for irrigation this land has grown a wide variety of crops over the years. Pomegranates are currently the primary product of Zanganeh.
Geologically, Zanganeh is an interesting place. Some of the mountains are quite rocky with what appear to be igneous rock. There are also significant gypsum deposits on part of Zanganeh. In some areas there is also some red clay. The canyon going up the mountains from the spring are filled with coarse gravel, which likely has a significant underground flow of water heading to the spring.
Then there is a very intriguing cave. It is large enough to provide shelter for people. One can imagine a neolithic tribe using this cave as shelter some thousands of years ago. With a reliable fresh water source from the spring and not far from the river, it would be an attractive place to live.
The mountains around Zanganeh have historically been used for grazing sheep and goats. These mountains are good for grazing, but not suitable for conventional agricultural crops. When Mahnoosh was a child, there would be nomadic herders who spent summers around Zanganeh, bringing their herds and living in traditional yurts.
Life in Zanganeh
Going back 50 years, Zanganeh was a small farm village owned by Mahnoosh’s father. The family spent summers in Zanganeh where they grew most of the food they ate. They preserved food to carry them through the winter. Goats and sheep grazed in the hillsides around Zanganeh and gave them milk for making butter, yogurt and cheese.
At that time there were 10 to 15 families of workers living at Zanganeh. They raised wheat and did the threshing and winnowing by hand. Wheat was sent to a mill for grinding then was baked into bread in a tandoor at Zanganeh.
Milk from sheep and goats was churned to make butter and doogh (the liquid left after making butter). Rennet, a mixture of enzymes, was extracted from the stomachs of young sheep and goats then used for making cheese.
The fields of Zanganeh produced fruits and nuts, including pomegranates, figs, apricots, walnuts, almonds and mulberries. Vegetable crops included tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, squash, eggplants, and more. For flavoring their food they also grew many herbs such as mint, cilantro, parsley, dill and basil.
Buildings of Zanganeh
Construction in Zanganeh used local materials, primarily mud bricks and stone. Wood is not abundant in the area, so is used only sparsely for construction. The homes and other structures of Zanganeh have fallen into disrepair in recent times. Looking at what is there one can imagine a day when they were well maintained and provided a comfortable living space.
Life has changed over the last 40 to 50 years in many ways. Zanganeh is no longer the busy agricultural village of the past. Still, there are many lessons we can learn from looking back. There is a growing awareness of the value of staying connected with nature, eating fresh locally grown food and living with an awareness of how our life is intertwined with other people as well as the plants and animals around us.
Zanganeh Garden 