Harvesting peas at Sol Feliz
It is the time of year when we can FINALLY enjoy the fruits of our labor! The peas are coming into maturity and are at a stage when they can be picked for fresh eating. Peas, locally know as alberjon, … Continued
Maintaining chickens at Sol Feliz
This is the “after” picture of today’s activity. The picture above shows our chicken house that has been cleaned of all the old manure that had been mixed with sawdust from the last time we cleaned out the coop. We … Continued
Composting at Sol Feliz
Today we gathered at Sol Feliz to get started on our composting process for this season. First we cut down all the alfalfa and other biomass in the South field of Sol Feliz. We have been irrigating this field and … Continued
Trial and error with aquaponics
I checked on the Grow Dome yesterday to see how the system was running. It was not as dramatic as the loss of fish, but I entered the Grow Dome and found about half of our plants dried up and … Continued
Another round of cultivation at the school garden
Today three of us met to hoe weeds at the Parr Field Garden Project. Our crop plants are bigger now so the job is easier with less danger of accidentally weeding our crops. Nevertheless, it seems like every weeding episode … Continued
On Acequia irrigation 2014. Part II.
Exactly one week after my last irrigation last Thursday, I was given the water again. The Mayordomo warned me that the water is running low and I replied that I am thankful that we even have water, last year at … Continued
Aquaponics goes live in the Grow Dome
We did not create blog-posting updates for all the trial and error we experienced over that last month or so in trying to get this aquaponic system going. We have had about three failures and learning experiences about getting the … Continued
Final presentation to summer camp program
It is bittersweet to finish a program like this. I only came to this school three times, but in those times I got to know many students by face and by name. The program will end this Friday and we … Continued
On Acequia irrigation 2014
Today is Thursday and the Mayordomo (ditch boss) of my acequia (community managed, gravity-fed irrigation ditch) called me yesterday and asked if I wanted the water. Even though I had the water last Sunday, I decided to take advantage of … Continued
Cultivation at our school garden
Unlike yesterday’s workshop on cultivating weeds in the garlic patch, today’s effort was a walk in the park! The weeds at Parr Field are so small that weeding them is easy to the point where a stir-up hoe is all … Continued