Alpacas, Argentina, Austin...Oh My!: I'm in Love With Barbara Kingsolver

This week at Mama Roja....!

4 new interns (Carolina, Jax, Francisco, and Heather) arrived! With the extra hands we got the rest of the tree cleared out of the river so that we could get to the waterfall. We’ve also continued to get down and dirty with plastering, finishing the second layer on the living room, and putting a first layer of plaster in the bathroom and kitchen. Then on Sunday we had quite the surprise when former intern Skyler showed up with a bunch of his friends who are on exchange in Buenos Aires. It was amazing to meet everyone, and for a day we had SO many hands working on the house that we powered through plastering the whole outside back wall and a bunch of the side! It was energizing to work with so many people, all eager to learn and (literally) get their hands dirty, and to see the house transformed in front of us!

Being at Mama Roja and having so many stimulating conversations and fantastic books and documentaries is really helping me to round out some of my ideas about sustainable living, and it’s positively challenging a lot of my assumptions about the way the world works and why. One of the ideas that has come up a lot is the idea of need versus want, and why is it that we want some things that we don’t actually need? Where do our wants and needs come from? Are they based in our values systems, because of who we are or what we stand for? Or has a system that operates entirely on consumption convinced us that we should want particular products? One thing is for sure: If we don’t keep buying it, they can’t keep selling it. I think something that I will take away from this is greater confidence and understanding that if I want to live my life by my values, then that includes the products that I choose to buy and consume. It’s something that I hope everyone will take pause and think about at some point: What values are informing your life right now? Where did they come from, and why are they important to you? What is your image of the “right” way to live? Did that come from your experiences and upbringing? Are there parts that have been informed by the culture of consumption? Heavy thoughts for a Tuesday afternoon!

I have also been enjoying Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” SO MUCH that I can’t even describe it in words. It is a mix of poetry and instruction manual, a story of family life and love and turkey-harvest, and an absolute inspiration for making sure that your food choices line up with your values and have a positive, local impact instead of a negative one. Hence the title of this blog post...I’m absolutely smitten with my friend Barbara. It is also inspiring me to rethink the way I think about food. For example, why IS it so important that we have salads at every meal in January and February? Why are greens, grown with pesticides at an industrial scale and shipped to us in refrigerated trucks from California, such an essential? Why is our idea of a salad so limited? Cabbages store well, and so do beets, carrots, walnuts, and apples. Grate and chop and toss’em together- isn’t that as nutritionally complete as any other salad bowl addition to a meal? Barbara (we’re on a first name basis, I feel) also points out that items that are “certified organic” don’t necessarily guarantee that they are worker-friendly and grown sustainably. They’ll be better for your family, certainly, but they’re still produced industrially and often shipped thousands of miles before they end up on your table. Ultimately, the best way to guarantee that the food that you eat is having a positive impact and is coming from a place that treats its workers well, pays its farmers fairly, and treats the land with care, is to buy your food from people that you know, CSAs, farmers’ markets, or to grow it yourself. Buying local food contributes 3 times as much money to the local economy than buying that same food at national chains. And it seems that in most places making those sorts of decisions is a lot easier than we give it credit for. So the next time you see spinach at the Zehrs or watermelon at Sobeys, have pause for a moment and think about planning ahead to the next market day. You’ll be giving back to your community, and the product is likely to be at least 10 times as tasty and nutritious!

Barbara says it all best though, and as I’m currently and forever in love with her I would highly, highly recommend checking this book out yourself. The website is here complete with recipes and more information!

That’s all for this week, but here’s a recipe from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle- it’s not quite seasonal for now but keep it in mind for July/August as the tomatoes are ripe and ready, or perhaps in winter if you’ve dried your own!

DRIED TOMATO PESTO

2 cups dried tomatoes

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

¾ cup olive oil

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

¼ cup dried basil

4 cloves garlic

2 tbsp balsamic or other good vinegar

½ tsp salt

Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add a little water if it seems too sticky, but it should remain thick enough to spread on a slice of bread.

Jungle mushroom additions to our soup

Stinging nettle grows berries that are delicious to eat!

Marcelo, the hard core chainsaw operating jungle man. We cleared this tree and now have access to the waterfall!

Carolina, one of the new interns, on the "path" to the waterfall. Good thing she's wearing that raincoat!

Ashley and I in our stealth poses.

This flowing waterfall sponsored by the recent rain at Mama Roja! Thank you!

Aubrey and I hanging out at the work site.

Mad chopping skills for some polenta delight.

Kitchen antics.

A snake that visited the chicken coop! It was later found in Kimberly and Marcelo's bathroom, just chillin'.

Starting ingredients for a plaster mix: sand and clay.

Cow poop is another essential, for the tiny processed fibres it contains and the enzymatic action which provide binding properties and weather resistance. To use it, we get to break it up in tiny pieces by hand.