Rooftop Garden Quick Tour

When deciding where to locate a vegetable garden, the most important consideration is sunshine. You can fix bad soil, you can fix a steep slope, but you can't fix a lack of sun. And the entire front yard of our "casita" is shaded by a giant ficus tree.

This giant ficus tree shades our  whole front yard.
And it is doing one heck of a job on the sidewalk, too!

Pepe's Ladder

The only "full sun" spot was on the roof. But to get to the roof, I had to first build a ladder. Sarah has a bit of a fear of heights, so if I wanted to lure her up there to visit my garden, I had to build the ladder tall enough to extend beyond the roof line, and make it narrower at the top. That way she would have something to hang on to while she inched her way around the ladder onto the roof, and again when she inched back onto the ladder to climb down. Just to keep it interesting I made the rungs all slightly crooked and varied the spacing. I call it my Mexican ladder. Our neighbor, Pepe, was so impressed with the ladder that he asked if he could buy it from me when we head back to the states. He calls it my American ladder. But I couldn't accept money for it, so it will have to be a gift.

Container acquisition

Since there was no soil on the roof, I would have  to grow in containers. That sounds like a simple enough solution - in the states, we would just drive down to the garden center and buy everything - from soil to seeds to containers - all in one trip. But not here in Mexico (at least not without breaking down and going to Walmart, which I refuse to do). Here you have to kind of just start asking around for each item, and follow any leads. We found crates at the November 20th (Street) Market, bought bags of soil from a guy we happened upon outside the Pochote Market, bought waste baskets at the Chedrawi store. Sarah has a friend named Mica who is also a little nutty for growing veggies. Mica and I followed every lead for veggie seeds or seedlings that we could find. I bought lettuce seeds from a woman at the Pochote Market, whom I have not seen since. We found an American woman who advertises seedlings on FaceBook, and I bought strawberry and green pepper seedlings from her. I found a dried out climbing bean on my way to El Pedregal one day, and stopped to collect all the bean seeds. We found an actual organic seed rack in the back room of a coffee shop, and I bought tomato, pepper, and herb seeds to share (all labeled in Spanish, of course, so I really have no idea what I am growing).  Herb plants are easier to find - they are commonly sold at markets, potted in black plastic bags. Bill and Carol, a couple from Canada, gave us a tour of their rooftop garden system, and sent us home with cherry tomato and squash seedlings - as well as a much better idea of how to build "wicking beds" (planting beds that include a water reservoir below that wicks water up into the soil above). Some of our garlic started to sprout, so I added some of that to the beds, too.

But enough of introductions, let's start the tour!

…we're on the roof! 

As we step around the ladder...

The trellis is made from "cariso", a  bamboo- like weed that grows alongside the creeks and ditches. PVC pipe allows me to refill the reservoirs beneath the beds.  The scale of the trellis is a bit ambitious given we only have another 3 months here. But I am optimistic, and ready for growth! The next-door neighbor, Raul, from on top of his roof, commented that he thought the garden looked attractive, and that HE'D like a garden like mine on HIS roof, so I offered to help him build it (keep in mind, this transaction occurred in Spanish, so I am actually not sure what I agreed to!).

Center crate: Cherry toms, beans and squash in the back,
lettuce in the front

Left crate: twin wicking beds of strawberries,
beans, swiss chard, garlic and tomatoes

Right crate: twin wicking beds of squash,
beans, tomatoes and garlic

Every good garden needs a security system...

The neighbor's dogs keep watch day and night,
but mostly they just bark indiscriminately. 

…an irrigation system...

A drip in the water filter provided enough water for the garden
so that I didn't need to haul buckets up the ladder -
until, that is, the water guys came this week,
and the leak seems to have stopped :-( 

…and a compost system to make use of household food and yard scraps.

Rigo, the gardener, saved the garden clippings,
Pepe, the neighbor, loaned me his drill,
and I modified a couple of trash bins.
The tire helps with "turning the pile"

Simple design: plastic basket inside plastic bin
allows me to control air flow.
A daily inspection tells me when I need to add moisture. 

New to me since we came to Mexico is "lombricomposta" - worm composting. I started my own bin almost three months ago, and I haven't killed off the workers yet. These "California Wigglers" were bred in the 1970's, in California, to feed on food scraps,  multiply quickly, and provide rich worm manure. It's fun to have pets that you WANT to poop!

Here's one of my workers inside the basket
with plenty of food. 

Some of the workers escape from the basket
into the bin from time to time,
but they somehow find there way in again
when they get hungry

With only three months left here in Mexico, I am not sure we will get much in the way of vegetables, or compost for that matter. But I am having the time of my life. And I am hopeful that someone - if not Pepe or Raul, or Rigo, or Carol and Bill, or Mica - will be happy to take all of this off my hands when we leave in March.

Aracely

The atrium to my new coffee shop.

Maybe she could read my mind. I was just thinking about holiday giving, what I wanted to do besides toss some pesos in the myriad cups being held out by hopeful accordianists. I was thinking about how much more gratifying it was when I looked the person in the eye and wished them a good day as the coins tumbled into the cup. I was wondering how I could do something that felt more personal. Or maybe she sensed that I had a computer in my backpack, an iPhone in my Fossil purse and a healthy dose of privileged guilt. Whatever it was, Aracely had my number. When this little girl saw me she immediately discarded the cup, walked up to me and asked me in Spanish to buy her some new shoes. I told her I could give her some money but I couldn't buy her shoes. Maybe it was the big brown eyes, or the rubber band holding one shoe together, or my misguided idea that I could make her happy. By the time Randy came out of the coffee shop (where we had just spent $3.00 on a chocolate bar) I had caved in. He was skeptical. He offered his opinion that there were better ways to help, that I was getting into a potential mess, etc. But, in his usual kind and indulgent way with me, he agreed to go along.

Tis the season to spend money, right?

In the meantime, Aracely's sister, Angela, had excitedly packed up her accordian and agreed to take us to meet their mother, so we could tell her we were taking her kids to the shoe store. After all, even though these girls were completely unsupervised on the streets of Oaxaca, they were only about 6 and 10 and we thought it wouldn't be a great idea to take them anywhere without at least telling the adult in charge. They took us a couple of blocks, to a group of women and children sitting against a building. I asked who was the mother and if we could take the kids to get shoes. A woman who looked very happy about the whole thing identified herself as the mother. I can't imagine how it must feel to not be able to provide the basics for your kids or how it would feel to have a complete stranger offer to do it. And if felt weird, suddenly to be that stranger.

Decorations around town...

We started off for the shoe store, suddenly with a brother also in tow. Things started going downhill pretty fast. Now, all three kids needed new shoes and there was plenty of pleading, crying and gnashing of teeth, but I held firm on buying only one pair. This, of course, pitted the siblings against each other and soon there was pushing and arguing added to the mix. By the time we arrived at the zapatería, the brother was on the floor in agony over the whole thing.

Aracely picked out a pair of pink Barbie tennis shoes. I didn't even try to steer her to something more appropriate. As I paid, the saleswoman gave me some suckers and I thought this might lessen the blow to the brother and sister. On the contrary; they were done with suckers and immediately ran off without a word, without a thanks, without a backward glance.

What had I expected? We had totally different goals.  I wanted a connection; Aracely wanted shoes. I saw her as a specific person I could help; she saw me as a wallet. I should've known better than to mix giving with an agenda. It wasn't her obligation to make me feel good.

At the lending library in town there is a list of local kids in need this holiday. You can choose a name, buy the requested gift (one was for "milk and cookies"), wrap it, and drop it off. No agenda, no strings, just giving. We're headed there now.

A scene from one of my favorite creches around town
featuring an elephant, a turkey, and baseball players.

Happy Holidays, however you celebrate!

El Pedregal

Visitor Entrance

I first became interested in El Pedregal when my wife, Sarah, and I were planning our first visit to Oaxaca in February, 2012. We were researching places to spend a Sabbatical once the kids were all out of the house in a few years.  I was ready to go anywhere that had a Permaculture project where I could volunteer. We had used previous vacations to visit Cuzco, Peru (too smoggy and too far from the US), San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Costa Rica (in both cases, too many gringos). When we arrived in Oaxaca, Mexico, Sarah knew right away, in the taxi from the airport to the hotel, that this was it.

Not as green in this photo
as I remembered it, to be honest

Before our first visit to Oaxaca, I did my usual search on the web for Permaculture sites to visit and El Pedregal was one of the few that showed up. Having lived in wet, fertile Minnesota most of my life, I was interested in getting involved in a Permaculture project in a dry climate. We called ahead and requested an English-language tour. But I was not prepared for what I found when we arrived at the site - a strip of green against the surrounding brown hills, and a view of Oaxaca that took our breath away.

Angel and Sarah
looking over a dry corn field

Cactus was all that would grow here
originally

Note the a dry "gabian"
in the lower left above

An herb spiral uses water
and heat efficiently.

Ponds, swales and gabians
used to slow water down

Angel, our tour guide, walked us up and down the paths that wind throughout El Pedregal. He pointed out the variety of cactus planted to begin to hold the soil. He pointed out the dams, swales (ditches on contour), and gabians (permeable dam made of stone and chain link fencing) that had been installed to slow down the water during the rainy season, which runs from May until September. The area gets an ample 750 mm of rain per year, but almost all of that runs off, carrying with it what little soil it finds. Angel explained that slowing the water had allowed some of it to soak into the mountain, making it into a giant sponge. The sponge then gives back in the form of a small creek during the dry season. The goal was to get the creek to run year-round, greatly expanding the varieties of trees and plants that can be grown. The trees and plants would in turn provide organic matter, in a virtuous cycle of redevelopment.

Angel and Sarah in the "invernadero"

Bicycle power used to pump water to higher cistern

Windmill and dry toilets
on the hill above the greenhouse

Adobe buildings
made from local materials

Angel went on to show us all of the other Permaculture technologies that were implemented or planned for the future, including dry toilets, sustainable buildings made of mostly local materials, a bicycle-powered water pump, fish ponds, greenhouses. But I couldn't stop thinking about the idea that we humans, with a few simple technologies, could make the creek run year-round. And if we could do it here, why not on all of the slopes around Oaxaca, restoring the whole valley?

Fast Forward

When Sarah and I recently arrived in Oaxaca for our sabbatical, we again got a tour of El Pedregal, this time from the manager of the project, Oliver Hunkler. Much progress had been made. In fact, I was deeply disappointed to hear that the project was nearing completion - the creek ran year-round, finishing touches were being placed on the last of the planned buildings, and the objectives of the project had pretty much been achieved. I had so wanted to be part of making the creek run all year, but I was too late! 

Still, there was work yet to be done. Now that there was water, many more types of trees and other perennials were possible, but the soil was still pretty poor. So we are getting hands-on experience making the most of the materials readily available to try to improve the soil - its fertility, structure and biology - so that El Pedregal can produce a bountiful yield.  

Background

Around the turn of the new millennium, non-profit INSO (Institute for Nature and Society of Oaxaca) started talking with the authorities at the pueblo of San Andres Huayapam (near the city of Oaxaca, Mexico), to see if they could provide a site for a funded Permaculture demonstration project. Under the leadership of then-Mayor Don Pedro, there was community interest in the idea. But when the leadership changed, the new leadership was not interested in environmental issues. That was when Don Pedro offered up a portion of his land that is where El Pedregal is today.

Toward the end of the rainy season the dams are full

The translation of the name "El Pedregal" has a twist. "El Maizal" would refer to "the maize field" named for what it produced. So "El Pedregal" roughly translates to "the rock field" which is all it was good for at the start of the project. Forty years ago the steep sloping field was cleared of all trees, and soon the soil eroded off the mountain and ran off into the valley below. Thus the name, "El Pedregal."
The area gets an average of 750mm (30 inches) of rain each year mostly between May and September, and you can understand why there is precious little soil left on the slopes. But to INSO, the land looked like the perfect challenge for the project. So in 2005, work began.

The INSO project promised three things: 1) to regenerate of the canyon, 2) to make it livable and productive, and 3) to create a Permaculture demonstration site to inspire others.

More trees and buildings, better pathways

Regeneration
The first goal, to regenerate the land, is almost complete some 10 years later. Where an eroding river once flowed 5 months of the year, a creek now flows all year long. The availability of year-round water has made possible many new kinds of plants, including fruit trees which hold out promise for a future yield, and corn fields that are in production now.

Livability and Productivity

The second goal, to make El Pedregal livable and productive, is well in sight. Construction of sustainable buildings, including dry toilets, made from renewable, mostly local materials, is scheduled for completion this winter.

Fields of corn separated by sections of perennial grasses

Agricultural productivity has been a little more difficult. What little soil is present is depleted of nutrients and organic matter. Recently, one of the ponds was dredged and the silt applied to a corn field on the property, increasing production 500%. Compost trials are under way this winter to determine which composting methods will make the greatest difference to annual (corn) and perennial (fruit tree) production. Worm compost, bocashi compost, thermal compost and aerobic compost tea will be applied and results recorded. The plan is to reduce the corn producing area (but with the same or even a higher yield) and use the freed up land for other crops.

Demonstration 

The views were just as grand as I had remembered them

The third goal, to create a Permaculture demonstration site that will inspire others, is also at hand. Groups of various sizes tour the site frequently. Another village in the area, San Pablo Etla, has decided to follow El Pedregal as the second permaculture regeneration project in the Oaxaca Valley.  "La Mesita", as it is known, has already completed "earth works" (reshaping of the terrain) to get ponds and swales in place to slow the water, and is constructing sustainable buildings.

As I look around the Oaxaca Valley, I see a thousand other potential El Pedregals. I imagine the impact of a thousand small creeks running year round. I dream of reversing the damage caused by thousands of years of agriculture.  Then I look at El Pedregal, and smile.

10 Times Bolder

"What would you do if you were 10 times bolder?" This is a question posed in the book The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. At the time I read it, I had agreed to do the choreography for Randy's rock opera, My Green Eyes, which was being performed in February of 2006. As I was not really qualified to be a choreographer, my answer to this question was "I already AM 10 times bolder!" The project turned out to be a lot of fun and the choreography was just fine. I thought to myself "There, okay, I was really bold and now I can go back to being comfortable."

En Vía is housed on the Instituto Cultural de Oaxaca campus.

Many of the women in our program are weavers.

But the question keeps popping up, like a bad penny. A big part of coming to Mexico for 6 months was to get uncomfortable, try new things, be brave. And at first, just moving to Mexico fulfilled all those goals, but now that we are immersed in it, like so many things, being here has become "normal." Yes, figuring out which bus to take can be a challenge, knowing exactly what you're eating can remain elusive, and understanding that in this culture sometimes "yes" really means "no" can be really confusing, but for the most part we are navigating things just fine.

I've had to expand my vocabulary to include
words related to dying and weaving wool.

I can also now talk about things like parasitic growth on cacti...

I'm currently working with a microfinance organization, En Vía www.envia.org as a tour guide. I was thinking I would teach English while I was here but when they asked me to take on this role instead I felt, let's say, 5 times bolder saying yes (and I didn't mean "no"). On my first tour I watched the interpreter, who took questions in English from the tourists and translated into Spanish for the local women in the lending program; then she turned the answers from Spanish to English. Because one of my goals is to improve my Spanish, I thought to myself "If I were 10 times bolder, I would become an interpreter." And today, I am 10 times bolder because I am now an interpreter. Although on my first tour last Saturday it crossed my mind that maybe I was just 10 times stupider, as two of my nightmare scenarios came true - there were several people on the tour who spoke Spanish much better than I and  I had the experience of completely not understanding something one of the Mexican women said. (I felt slightly vindicated when no one else had understood her, either.) Well, if it takes some time for me to feel confident in this role, at least I won't have to take on anything new for a while, right?

So, what would you do if you were 10 times bolder?

This little guy was plenty bold - as long as
he was right next to Mom!