Alpacas, Argentina, Austin...Oh My!: A Snake in a Tree Summons the Rain

This week at Mama Roja was a busy (and hot) one! We have been continuing to work on the house at the top of the hill, working on the garden, learning reiki and how to make soap and challah (Jewish braided bread). Throughout it all we’ve been praying for rain, as the heat and drought have continued and the water levels have sunk lower.

We’ve spent a lot of time in “the pit” digging up clay-rich soil for earthen building and carting it up the hill. After doing some finishing touches filling in cracks around windows and doors, we started learning how to apply plaster and aesthetic design to the finished walls. The mud mixes consist of clay for binding and stickiness, sand for strength and structure, and a fibre (in this case pine needles) for tensile strength. You can use soil from your site, wherever you are, after you figure out what its make-up is. Then you can add either more clay or more sand to achieve the mud mix you’re looking for. Mud used to install windows and fill in gaps has more pine needles, while mortar has a bit less. The first layer of plaster also has a bit of fibre in it, and the second and subsequent plaster layers have no fibre and are more for aesthetic appeal. However, if you have a fibre that adds a texture that you like the look of, such as rice husks, you can put that in the plaster as well. So many possibilities! Mud can also be added to wooden houses to provide insulation. Plaster lasts a long time if you have a good roof, and only needs to be touched up every couple of years if it's in direct sunlight or getting brushed up on a lot by animals or people.

We’ve also been in the garden and learning more about bio-intensive and bio-dynamic gardening techniques. Bio-intensive gardening is basically gardening in a really intensive (hence the name) manner in order to achieve greater yields from small spaces- hence it’s perfect for urban gardens. This week we planted carrots, cucumbers, garlic, beans, peas, and other vegetable delights, as well as “ninja sunflowers.” The rules for ninja sunflowers are that no one can see you plant them, they must remain secret until they sprout, they must be in the sun, and you must use ninja techniques to put them in the ground.

We had a reiki workshop this week to learn how to do reiki (body-energy work and healing) on ourselves and others. We also learned how to make soap (so easy!) and some delicious challah.

When I get home, I would like to hold a couple of workshops to share my experiences at Mama Roja, and more in-depth ones regarding sustainability, soap-making, earthen building, etc. Let me know if you would be interested in attending one of these, or if you would like me to present a workshop to a group that you belong to or to your family or friends. For example, I could give a workshop on easy ways to make your life more sustainable, and why it’s so important. I would like to share what I’ve been learning with as many as people as possible, and I’d be happy to tailor presentations to what the group wants to learn!

For now, here’s the recipe for our most successful soap-making venture if you’d like to try it:

Farmer’s Soap

3 kg clarified tallow/fat (not pig fat- we used beef fat)

0.5 kg caustic soda (lye crystals might work as well)

3 litres of water

Cut up the fat and melt it in a double boiler. Boil the 3 litres of water and put it in a metal bowl. Add the caustic soda TO the water (NOT the other way around, and the bowl must be metal). Use good quality, pH neutral water. Don’t touch the soda, the water/soda combination, or breathe in the vapor- it’s not super dangerous but it’s very alkaline, so just be cautious. Slowly stir the caustic soda/water combination into the lard, always stirring gently in the SAME direction the whole time, or it will curdle. When it becomes thick like a cake batter, pour the soap into your molds- you can use plastic cups, yogurt containers, or the bottoms of square tetra packs. After the soap is in the mold, you can add exfoliant materials such as oatmeal, coconut, or sea salt. You can also add citrus rind, flowers and herbs, and last but not least put in any essential oils you would like to add.

Allow the soap to dry for 10 days before removing it from the mold and allowing it to dry for another 10-11 days. Then you can use it and it’s good for 6 months-year! I added oatmeal and peppermint essential oil to mine and I love it.

To share this week, I have the very interesting short, “The Story of Stuff,” which describes exactly how our consumer-based society has come about and where the stuff we own comes from and goes. It’s only 20 minutes long and incredibly eye-opening!

Link to The Story of Stuff! Click on the link to watch it now!

Also this week, we started watching The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. It’s based on his book by the same name, and it details how a number of important plants have traveled the world and affected economies and changed lives. We watched the apple (sweetness) and the tulip (beauty) and still have marijuana (intoxication) and potatoes (control) to go. Super interesting and really well put-together.

Watch it online here for free! PBS also provides lesson plans and further information.

A Nation of Farmers by Sharon Astyk and Aaron Newton

I started this book on the plane and finished it on the farm- it’s a very comprehensive look at the sustainability crisis and how the simplest and most profound way to combat it is a return to the land, armed with contemporary knowledge.

“What is needed to [sequester carbon] is simply a commitment to return organic material to the soil and to cease rototilling and plowing to disturb it. [...] Instead of tilling, we would plant directly into mulched ground. This keeps the carbon sequestered. As levels of soil humus rise over the years, more atmospheric carbon would be removed.

Every one of us with any soil can do this- your tiny backyard or your giant farm can reduce the impact of global warming that we’ve already created. And by growing food and living locally, you can cease putting food-related greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Growing our own food may be the single most important way any of us can preserve the plant from climate change.”

Here on Earth by Tim Flannery

I started reading this book before leaving for Argentina and unfortunately didn’t have time to finish it, but it’s AMAZING. It’s basically a history of humanity and sustainability, and where we are now in terms of our resources and ways of life. It’s so well-written with a huge scope and wonderful execution. If you’re wondering how we got to where we are now as a species and where we might be going (don’t worry, it’s written from a positive and hopeful perspective), read it!

This week ended with several fabulous events. The first was a snake encounter in the compost, where a snake and myself looked each other in the eyes from about 6 feet away before it slithered off and exposed its true length of about 2m. It proceeded to climb several trees quite handily and then slither off (photos below!). Following this event (deemed the “coolest snake encounter ever experienced at Mama Roja” by Kimberly), the rain finally arrived! And the interns danced and bathed in the rivers while the rain poured down gloriously, and there may have been some streaking complete with superhero towel-capes. To finish a beautiful day was a perfect, gigantic rainbow, and a subsequent drop in temperature that allowed me to sleep comfortably and happy in my tent. Hallelujah!

Work session in the garden!

The bugs do their thang while the flowers grow and the interns plant.

Gardening is a blissful and delightful experience.

Karolina working the earth to make happy tomatoes.

Challah (pronounced a lot like "Holla!") is super easy to make! Ariel teaches us her Jewish bread-making ways.

Holla atcha challah!

Digging and pickaxing (or "toiling" as we've decided to call it) unearths crystals

Probably the best toiler on the farm...

Butterflies and flowers abound.

A nap in the hammock invites butterfly guests to my hand.

Butterfly friend.

Alien-spider creature we found whilst digging.

Buckets of dirt to be sifted and stomped into a plaster mix!

Butterflies gather at the "butterfly hole" for the nutrients and minerals exposed on the rock.

Learning how to plaster and listening with rapt attention.

The fall tree growing leaves in the living room.

Karolina, working the plaster to make happy walls.

Our snake visitor! Climbing a tree! SO COOL!

More snake-tree-climbing craziness. Wow.

Our community kitchen, where we prepare meals, chop veggies, make soap, chase kittens, and generally just have an all-around fantastic time, all the time.