Mini Eggs, Hairy Men, and Fall Garden

The fall equinox just past, and our summer is officially over, although the warm temps and sunny days have far from ceded. We are long overdue for some rain, but are taking advantage of the nice days to do some labor of love.

We just put in our fall garden-- hand-plowed (double-dug) beds enriched with our first batch of homemade compost, Paloma poop, and some fermented leafy anti-bug juices. Before planting, we built a fence around the beds with "costaneras" (leftovers from the sawmill up the road) to keep the chickens and dogs and cows out!

And our old friends Minera and Fazera (the giant white oxen) were back (with our neighbor Claudio) doing some work in the yerba mate.Over the elephant grass and through the woods, in the cart we go!

We collected tons of elephant grass to use as fodder, and to dry out for use as matter for the compost bins and to experiment with in our adobe brick mix. And of course, there has been the usual goings on... egg collecting from our chickens (we get lots of different sizes) and we are building them a new larger coop right now. And milking Paloma... who has tamed down enough to get about a gallon (4 liters) of milk every morning. She behaves herself so long as we give her a heap of elephant grass to distract her. Meanwhile, Suki is growing so big and strong, and so tame that she nuzzles up to just about anyone--even Amanita the cat! We have just about finished the last details of the cabin (I know I keep saying that). Most recently, we built an inside staircase out of a fallen hardwood tree--- it is ten thousand times better than that pokey pointy ladder we were using for the past few months! Now we can get up to our look-out tower bedroom with style (and ease.) Other news... the mystery jungle plant is here again, this time with an inside view of fruit and seeds. Not the Kiwano, as some folks suggested. What could it be??
And Marcelo has shed a layer of long curly hair and is back to his clean-cut disguise... he can now meditate in hair peace.

This photo is actually from way before, but it has good, goofy memories in it. Us and our beloved volunteers, who help make this project and homestead possible, and fun! Thanks everyone!

Yoga, Stick Bugs, and Chickens

The last of our summer garden has been harvested (mmm... pumpkins and squashes!) and we are just about to start digging our fall beds. We are getting to know the land better now, and have a good idea of where the plants will be happiest with plenty of sunshine this winter. Hopefully, we can put in a little greenhouse over the beds too.

Anybody know this mystery plant (the photo below)? The seeds were given to us at the annual provincial seed exchange, and the plant and fruit are wonderful vining delicious delights, but I have no idea what they are called! Any help out there??

The Yoga Platform is in use! We have a roof, a floor, an entryway, some stairs up, and a few half-walls showing the gorgeous jungle all around! There is still some fine-tuning to do, like shelving, a door, painting, and sanding, but so far so "AUM-y".

The stone-adobe bathroom is still in process, with the stone foundation walls almost finished. Next we will put up a temporary roof (to protect the structure from afternoon rainstorms) and start on the earthen and recycled bottle part of the walls. !!

Chicken update... 5 new little hens and 3 big ones were donated to the farm recently, which brings our total chicken population up to 14 (not including the 2 newly hatched chicks which "disappeared", either at the paws of a curious kitty or in the jowls of a lurking jungle lizard. . ) Since the little white chickens are tree-dwellers, it´s hard for us to find their eggs. Occasionally we hear the "BAK-BAK-BGAWK!" egging call and can track down their nests. Hopefully the 3 new big chickens will be more faithful to their coop and make our egg-harvesting easier!

The well hole is also coming along. We hit a layer of hard rock, and then stared at it scratching our heads for a few days. In the meantime, while reading one of our books, we came acroos the ingenious idea of lighting a fire in the well, then once it was really really hot, throwing cold water over it to break the rock (poor man´s dynamite?). So, we tried it... and it worked! It´s not magic and poof! easy now, but we can chip away and get big chunks, and have even hit a porous layer and water started to seep in from the sides! So, we´ll keep digging and maybe light another fire... slow going, but it´s coming.

The rain of late has brought hot, humid days, refreshing evenings, and tantalizing rainbows. Look closely at this one--- it´s a double!

Fried Grasshoppers and Mushrooms

The rainstorms are starting to come again, bringing us much needed moisture and cool breezes. Mushrooms are sprouting, and tiny flowers abound. I think we have two flower seasons here, one in the spring with giant blossoms, and another now, late summer, with tiny orchids and bromeliads and itty bitty delights opening near the ground and in the trees.

Work is coming along fine, inbetween the rain, that is. But what else is new... this is a subtropical jungle after all.

The Yoga Platform is starting to take shape. We got it framed up, then roofed it, adding natural skylights.

Now we are putting the floor, which are boards cut from the fallen trees on the land. Multi-colored and gorgeous! Also, good energy for yoga and meditation.


And, of course, we are progressing with our Adobe Bricks... at least one day a week we devote ourselves to this rewarding task, which will one day make up the buildings we are dreaming.

Some like it dirty...

As for dreamed structures, we have started the foundation for the stone and adobe bathroom-shower house. We´ll keep working on this too...

Small creatures update... Suki, the calf, is growing bigger and stronger everyday. A beautiful, full-bellied heifer who is starting to taste grass and sniff curiously at the chickens... but she still doesn´t venture far from big mama Paloma.


Amaneeta is becoming quite a naughty, but oh-so-cute little kitty, hiding in backpacks and pockets, swatting at Lulu, demanding lap-naps, etc.

And Lulu... dear Lulu... eating gargantuan amounts of food, and always ready for more. She´s starting to grow into her belly, or rather, her belly is growing longer legs now. A good farm dog.. maybe?

So we had this invasion of grasshoppers, and one of our volunteers, in a moment of enlightenment, suggested that if the bugs are eating our food, then we should eat the bugs... so, we did. He fried us up some grasshoppers and garlic in a bit of oil... and to tell the whole truth, they were delicious. Not a regular menu item at Mama Roja, but not a bad treat for curiosity´s sake.

This one´s for the family... wanting proof that their other daughter is fairing well in the subtropics of the Southern Hemisphere. She is working hard, learning lots, and yes, we did feed her grasshoppers.

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Little Creatures Everywhere!

January has been a month of new life abounding... in fact, super-abounding, over-flowing, and clinging to the rafters! Luckily, we welcome it all as a opportunity to teach us about the cycles of sustainability.

So, along came Paloma´s little calf on the 15th, wobbly legged and brown! We´d been waiting for her since the end of December, and Paloma had been showing all the signs for a while... And alas, sometime after a gargantuan dinner of elephant grass and river water, she birthed Suki into the world. Just like that, easy and natural, alone in her milkshed under the twilight and jungle night noises. We woke up the next morning and there she was, Suki, already licked clean and nursing. It is a gorgeous and wonderous thing...

Paloma is a wonderful mama...

...and over-flowing with milk. She gives us about 5 liters per day, which we make into yoghurt, cheese, ricotta, butter, cream... and we are learning more recipes!

We have also added a kitten (called Amanita) and puppy (called Lulu) to our menagerie of creatures. They keep us on our toes, or rather, one of them is usually on our toes. They both just love to play and play and play. Sometimes even with each other.

And, as expected, Rambo-Rambeax is jealous and acting like the grumpy uncle, having taken over their sleeping box and claimed it as his own.

Aside from the husbandry of animals, we have been quite busy with lovely odd projects and constructions. Our Yoga Platform is on its way...

The Yoga space is in the forest, slightly raised off the ground to allow for air passage and breathability, and will be made mostly from the hardwood we harvested from fallen trees on our land. It should hold 12 to 16 people in full on sweaty asana practice.Other constructions: our volunteers built this beautiful earthen and stone staircase down to the dipping hole in the river. Now we can get in and out of the bath without muddying up our feet!

On the subject of water, December was a rather dry month for our neck of Misiones, and lots of wells went dry. Ours was still okay for our drinking and cooking consumption, but we were afraid that if the dry spell continued or occurs again int he future we would be out. So, we talked to some locals and found out about this ¨Water Diviner¨who could help us find the source of our water where we should dig a well. We did, and she came, and she felt for water all over our land with a branch of Guayabira tree and iron needle. The branch and needle pulled her arms toward the magical water spot beneath the earth. She found lots and lots!
So, we started digging. She said that at 4 meters we would hit a gorgeous spring of water and always have it fresh and abundant. The new spring is actually the mother-source of where we currently take water, being just slightly uphill. So far, we´ve made it about 3 meters, fairly easily, but now are taking our time with the last meter of solid rock!

Also, we are continuing to make Adobe bricks, which we figured out dry much better and stronger in the shade (the sunshine is super strong here and cracks them if dried directly in full sun.) We are planning to build a stone and adobe bathroom and shower house soon.

Bonus photo... Weird Bug on Adobe Bricks.