- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

This week we have had to say goodbye to Rosi. It has been two years since she first came as a volunteer. She then went on to be Gardens Assistant for a year and a half. We are all going to miss her very much, it is the end of an era, particularly for the gardens team. She will be the new Grower at Norwich FarmShare (norwichfarmshare.co.uk) so look out for some seriously tasty veg coming from there! We wish her all the very best of luck and hope she will come and visit us soon.

Sunseed News

Kitchen roof

By Communication Coordinator on

March 4, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

Today we will finish completely the roof of the detached kitchen we’ve been restoring during this last year.

Tools and materials for the rendering.

Sergio and his first rendering!!

The “Mortero Monocapa” with marble dust, very easy to apply.

Hoy terminaremos el tejado de la nueva cocina en isabellas

Sunseed News

Lucia´s Story

By Communication Coordinator on

February 28, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

I guess you people are expecting a long recounting of all the things that happened to me during my six month stay, some sort of big walk down Memory Lane, but I won’t do that.

I’m going to tell you a different kind of story.

And so here it goes, here’s how Sunseed changed my way of viewing life…

There is a point in life in which you may feel like you are not going anywhere and you don’t have anything to give anymore: that usually means that you really need a change. That’s the situation I found myself in a few months after graduating from college, more than a year ago.

At that time, when thinking about my future, I used to get really scared – sometimes I would tell myself I wouldn’t even get a real one. Now I’m not afraid anymore. Now I’m aware of what I can do. Now, when that word comes to my mind, I can actually see one and it’s thrilling, it’s exciting but most of all, it’s real.

I literally landed in Sunseed last June with no expectations or plans or anything of the sort; I only told myself to keep mymind and my heart wide open and ready for anything because I thought it would be the best and most sensitive approach. Well, after half a year, I went back home with so much more that I’ve bargained for or that I would ever imagined or dreamed of gaining.

Also, I arrived with a friend and left on my own; according to some weird logic of mine, I got to experience twice as much and consequently, I have gained double because it felt like living two different “lives”, one over the summer and the other in autumn, with two completely different mind sets that gave me the opportunity to experience things in different and marvellous ways.

During these six months, I have met so many people from every corner of this strange and beautiful world, each one of them with their own life and personal background, and every day I feel blessed and lucky to have shared even just moments with all of them. Because when you meet these people, see them coming into your life, staying for a while and sharing their time with you and then leaving, people that you learn to call friends and even family, you have the chance to dive into this endless ocean of humanity, appreciating even the smallest things, and then you come up to the surface feeling richer, refreshed, wiser and with a bigger heart each time.

Seeing as I have been working mostly in the gardens, now I tell you this. Imagine yourself as an onion, or if you wish – something else equally made of layers. Each one represents something that you think it’s important in your life. Once you get to Sunseed, you find yourself slowly stripped of all these layers, because you gradually discover that a lot of what you needed before is not essential after all, and the only thing that remains is the core, the centre. It represents who you really are, what you really want and what you are capable of. This place has the amazing power of showing you your real potential, your true nature in a simple way. You find out that at the centre, at the core of it all, there is just you and nothing else.

On a more personal level, I have to say that all the experiences I have had at Sunseed made me go through some serious emotional transformation, and because of it I had the chance to discover a part of myself I didn’t even know it existed. I have always felt like I was made of stone because of my supposed incapacity to connect with my feelings. Now that this part of me finally came out, it almost feels like a Pandora’s box has been unlocked and with it, all these deep and enveloping sensations. It might sound scary and new – in some ways, at least for me, it is – but I have to thank Sunseed for letting me reconnect with a side of myself I have always thought I didn’t possess and for showing me something I thought it was forever lost.

So, dear Los Molinos and my dearest Sunseeders all, remember that I will always keep you in my thoughts and my heart and be forever grateful because you showed that a different way of life is always possible if you really want it, because you are an example of how you can have so much more in life with a lot less to worry about, because you have been a home and a family for me for a long time, because you sent me back home with an incomparable personal and cultural baggage.

This, in the end, is my short story for you.

Someone that I hold very close to my heart once told me that life is like a book. Each experience or moment of your life is a different chapter and every time you finish one, it doesn’t mean it’s completely forgotten. It’s still there, for you to go back to and enjoy with a smile on your face anytime you wish to.

Me imagino que estáis esperando un largo recuento de todas las cosas que me pasaron durante mi estancia de seis meses, algo así como un largo paseo por mis Memorias, pero no voy a hacer eso. Os voy a contar un tipo de historia diferente. Asi que ahí va, así es como Sunseed cambió mi forma de ver la vida… Hay un punto en la vida en el que puede que sientas que no vas a ninguna parte y que ya no tienes nada que dar: eso normalmente significa que realmente necesitas un cambio. Esa es la situación en la que me encontré unos meses después de mi graduación, hace más de un aňo. En ese momento, cuando pensaba en mi futuro, solía sentirme asustada – algunas veces me decía a mí misma que no tendría uno de verdad. Ya no tengo miedo. Ahora soy consciente de lo que puedo hacer. Ahora, cuando esa palabra me viene a la cabeza, puedo verlo y es emocionante, es excitante pero sobretodo, es real. Yo literalmente aterricé en Sunseed el pasado junio sin

expectativas ni planes ni nada por el estilo; solo me dije a mí misma que mantuviera mi mente y mi corazón abierto de par en par y listo para cualquier cosa porque pensé que sería lo mejor y la actitud más acertada. Bueno, después de medio aňo, volví a casa con mucho más de lo que he pedido o lo que nunca hubiera imaginado o soňado ganar. También llegué con un amigo y me fuí sola; de acuerdo con una lógica mía un poco extraňa, conseguí experimentar el doble como consecuencia, he ganado el doble porque sentí que vivía dos “vidas” diferentes, una durante el verano y la otra en otoňo, con dos formas de pensar completamente diferentes que me dieron la oportunidad de experimentar las cosas de diferntes y maravillosas formas.

Durante seis meses, he conocido a tanta gente de cada rincón de este extraňo y hermoso mundo, cáda uno de ellos con su propia vida e historia personal, y cada día me siento afortunada de haber compartido hasta los más sencillos momentos con todos ellos. Porque cuando conoces a estas personas, les ves venir a tu vida, quedarse un tiempo y compartir su tiempo contigo y entonces marcharse, personas a quienes aprendes a llamar amigos e incluso familia, tienes la oportunidad de bucear en este océano infinito de humanidad, apreciando incluso la cosa más pequeňa, y entonces vuelves a la superficie más rico, fresco, sabio y con un corazón más grande cada vez. Viéndolo como lo he echo, trabajando más que nada en los huertos, ahora os digo esto. Imaginad que sois una cebolla, o si lo preferís – cualquier otra cosa que también tenga capas. Cada una representa algo que pensáis que es importante en vuestras vidas. Una vez que llegas a Sunseed, encuentras que poco a poco te vas desprendiendo de todas estas capas, porque gradualmente descubres que mucho de lo que necesitabas antes no es esencial, después de todo, y lo único que permanece es el corazón, el centro. Eso representa lo que realmente eres, lo que realmente quieres y de lo que eres capaz. Este lugar tiene el poder asombroso de mostrarte tu verdadero potencial, tu verdadera naturaleza de un modo sencillo. Descubres que en el centro, en el corazón de todo, solo estás tú y nada más.

A un nivel más personal, debo decir que todas las experiencias que he tenido en Sunseed me llevaron a través de algunas serias transformaciones emocionales, y debido a eso tuve la oportunidad de descubrir una parte de mí misma que ni siquiera sabía que existía. Siempre he sentido que estaba hecha de piedra por mi supuesta incapacidad para conectar con mis sentimientos. Ahora que esta parte de mí finalmente salió, parece casi que se ha abierto una caja de Pandora y con ella, todas estas sensaciones que me envuelven. Puede sonar aterrador y nuevo – en algunas cosas almenos para mí lo es – pero tengo que agradecer a Sunseed por ayudarme a reconectar con una parte de mí que siempre pensé que no poseía y por mostrarme algo que pensé que estaba perdido para siempre. Así que, querido Los Molinos y a todas mis más queridas personas de Sunseed, recordad que siempre os tendré en mis pensamientos y en mi corazón y que estaré por siempre agradecida por mostrarme que un modo diferente de vida es posible si de verdad lo quieres, porque sois un ejemplo de cómo puedes tener mucho más en la vida con mucho menos de qué preocuparte, porque habéis sido un hogar y una familia para mí durante mucho tiempo, porque me enviásteis a casa con un bagage personal y cultural incomparable. Esta es, en fín, mi pequeňa historia para vosotros. Alguien que tuve muy cerca de mi corazón una vez me dijo que la vida es como un libro. Cada experiencia o momento de tu vida es un capítulo diferente y cada vez que terminas uno, no significa que está completamente olvidado. Sigue ahí para que vuelvas y disfrutes con una sonrisa en la cara cada vez que así lo desees.

Sunseed News

Rendering

By Communication Coordinator on

February 27, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

A few months ago we started the works on isabellas main house where the old compost toilet was near to completion now the walls are getting a new look!

The preparation of the mix using natural cement.

Nacha and Dimitra working hard with the rendering.

Many volunteers participated in the rendering, here Anna and Carlo.

Hace unos meses empezamos las obras en Isabellas donde estaba situado el viejo compost toilet estamos muy cerca de terminar la parte de atras y ahora le estamos dando un nuevo look

Sunseed News

Wheelbarrow stretcher

By Communication Coordinator on

February 14, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

We had a shortage of loading devices in the project so we prepared these weird wheelbarrows that can carry our compost to places difficult to reach with a normal wheelbarrow. We used a half barrel that was discarded from the gardens dept. and the wheel of a broken wheelbarrow and we experimented with a wooden wheel for another. The wooden wheel turned out to be more sturdy and easy to wheel. We are still collecting parts for building more “carrimillas” to be use in the project.

The second “carrimilla” we built using the wheel of a broken wheelbarrow.

The first one built with a wooden wheel

Gardens: Gardens vs Wild Boars

By Communication Coordinator on

February 11, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

A little while ago, on a chilly Wednesday morning, we ventured down to the (not-so-)New Land to work on the polytunnel. Looking over the area, something seemed amiss. The beds looked in disarray. The boars had gatecrashed our gardens once again. That realisation makes for an awful feeling; your stomach drops in disbelief, anger and sadness. So many hours of hard work and care destroyed in a night of rampant worm-hunting by our furry neighbours. The amount of rooting and digging is impressive, they are uncontrollable rotovating machines. A second (and surprising) feeling hit me. That of relief. And I realised it was because we are not wholly dependent on our garden produce. As an educational project, we grow to teach as well as feeding the community. But not being totally self-sufficient, we supplement with local food. For our neighbour, Jackie, who has an organic farm nearby, the situation is different. It is her livelihood. Her land was also heavily damaged recently and therefore her veg boxes were unusually sparse. I can only begin to imagine how horrific this must have felt. For now we are re-ordering and re-planting. Whilst we do have decent anti pig fences, there are additional areas which need to be patched. Boars seem to dislike chard and calendular so perhaps it would be safer to monocrop these instead! The boar wars continue… Before:

After:

Gardens: Mychorrizal production bed

By Communication Coordinator on

February 11, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

Mychorrizas are a type of fungus which form a symbiotic relationship with many plants. The fungi partly live inside the plant’s roots and partly in the soil. The plant provides the fungus with sugars and other products of photosynthesis, and in return the fungus increases the efficiency of the roots by increasing their surface area, apparently up to 1000 times! You can take soil which contains mychorrizas from underneath a well established tree, but as we do not want to have to keep digging around trees we have made a space where we can breed our own mychorrizas. A technique of doing this is by using a ‘trap crop’. Step 1: Dig a pit in the ground (if you only want to produce a small amount you could just use a plant pot).

Step 2: Line the pit with plastic to stop too many plant roots going into the surrounding soil. Make some drainage holes in the plastic.

Step 3: Dig up some soil from underneath an established tree or shrub (here we used a retama plant) which should contain mychorrizal fungi. Take it from a depth of around 20cm.

Step 4: Mix the soil from the tree with the soil you dug from the hole and also with some compost and return this mix to the pit.

Step 5: Sow seeds of plant from the legume family (peas, beans, clover, alfalfa etc) and the grass family (corn, millet, grazing rye etc). These two families make relationships with different kinds of mychorrizas. Water regularly.

Step 6: Let the plants grow for at least 10 weeks and then cut them down to ground level. Step 7: Wait for a week or so after cutting for the fungi has time to produce spores, then dig up the soil and chop the plant roots into small pieces (5mm should be fine). This mixture of soil and plant roots is your mychorrizal innoculum. Step 8: To use the innoculum, place some in the bottom of your planting hole when transplanting or place some at the bottom of a seed tray if you are sowing seeds.

Gardens: February Harvest

By Communication Coordinator on

February 11, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

Today we harvested 17 kilos of luscious produce from the gardens. A variety of veggies: purple carrots; peas; beans; broccoli; spinach; spring onions; romanesco; purple and golden beetroot; corinander mizuna; lettuce and komatsuna.

Sunseed News

Improving mediterranean biodiversity in the Arboretum

By Communication Coordinator on

February 7, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

After restoring a stonewall in the Arboretum, it remained a clear area where we have recently planted Mediterranean plants. We have planted one Pistacia lentiscus (Mastic) that it can be found in north facing slopes and close to gullies around our valley. We have also planted another plant from the same gender, Pistacia terebinthus (Terebinth). And finally, two Laurus nobilis (Bay leaf), in terms to provide the kitchen with bay leafs for cooking. Mastic, Terebinth and Bay leaf:

First, we selected the spots for the digging and planting depending on the proximity to other plants, the wall next to the parcel and the dripping irrigation system that it had already been laid around. Some weeding was needed in some spots too. In each hole, humanure was added as fertilizer. Once planted we have surrounded and secure each of the plants with stones taken from the site and safeguarding the dripping irrigation system stays in placed next to them. The wall restored last year has been used for planting Sedum sediforme (Pale Stonecrop), and also for seeding Capparis spinosa (Capers) looking forward to harvest some this year.

We prepared a substrate with one basket of soil and one basket of “Humanure”, the manure from human ‘s faeces. Then we watered abundantly.

Before sowing the seeds, they were soaked in lemon juice to help the germination and develop a good percent of growth.

After this germinative treatment, we sow the seeds mixed with our substrate making balls to fill the gaps on the wall.

In the same way, we planted the plants of Pale Stonecrop. We used the same substrate to fix them on the wall and to protect their roots.

Both plants, Pale Stonecrop and Capers, are found in our valley in rocky soils with very low requirements of water,…perfect choice to encourage drylands biodiversity in the Arboretum!.

Después de la reciente restauración de un balate en el Arboretum, el departamento ha decidido revegetarlo con plantas mediterráneas locales. Hemos plantado una Pistacia lentiscus (Lentisco) presente en laderas de humbría orientadas al norte y cerca de barrancos y cárcavas en el entorno de nuestro valle. También hemos plantado otra planta del mismo género, Pistacia terebinthus (Cornicabra). Y por último, dos Laurus nobilis (Laurel), con el objetivo de dar un uso culinario a sus hojas. Lentisco, Cornicabra y Laurel:

En primer lugar, se seleccionaron los puntos para la siembra y plantación en función de la proximidad a otras plantas y el sistema de riego por goteo ya establecido anteriormente. En cada hoyo, se añadió “humanure” como fertilizante, abono proveniente de las heces humanas. Una vez hecha la plantación se protegen las plantas con piedras para mantener la humedad y fijar el riego por goteo. La pared restaurada el año pasado, se ha utilizado para la plantación de Sedum sediforme (Uña de gato) y la siembra de Capparis spinosa (Alcaparras), con vistas a cosechar algo de alcaparras este verano.

Hemos preparado un sustrato con mitad de suelo y mitad de “humanure”. A continuación se ha regado abundantemente.

Antes de la siembra de las semillas, éstas se empapan en jugo de limón para favorecer su germinación.

Después de este tratamiento pregerminativo, sembramos las semillas mezcladas con el sustrato haciendo bolas que permitan rellenar los huecos entre las rocas del balate.

De la misma manera se ha procedido a plantar las plantas de Uña de gato. Utilizando

el mismo sustrato, se fijan las plantas en la pared asegurándonos de que queden sus raíces bien protegidas.

Ambas plantas, Uña de gato y Alcaparras, se encuentran en nuestro valle en suelos rocosos con muy bajos requerimientos de agua,…una elección perfecta para fomentar la biodiversidad vegetal de climas semiáridos en el Arboretum!.

Gardens: Hot bed

By Communication Coordinator on

February 7, 2014

- Category : Sunseed News

- Tags : 30th Anniversary, advocacy, african fridge, Agrosyntropic

A hotbed is a traditional method of using heat produced by decomposing organic material, such as manure or compost, to start seedlings off early in spring while it is still cold outside. There are various different ways to make a hotbed for different purposes and in different environments. Here is how we made ours: Step 1: Take six bales of straw and make them into a rectangle, mark out the hole in the middle on the ground. Step 2: Move one of the end bales and dig out 20cm of soil from the hole and put it aside (the top 20cm is the most fertile and contains the most beneficial soil life such as bacteria and worms) Step 3: Fill the hole with layers of manure, dry leaves, straw and urine. It is important to use manure that is as fresh as possible, as this will produce the most heat for the longest time. The urine helps kick start the process as it is rich in nitrogen which feeds bacteria, which in turn produce the heat. We used roughly three wheelbarrows of manure to one barrow of dry leaves and straw. The hole should be filled to 20cm below the top of the bales. Step 4: Put the soil (taken from the bottom) mixed with some mature compost on top of the manure to fill up the hole. It will bulge over the top to begin with, but will settle down onver time as the manure rots down and the soil compacts. Step 5: Wait for the temperature to rise and then sow seeds when the temperature has stabalised. It should produce heat for one to two months so ours should stay warm till mid March.