Jr. Herbal Apprentice

Today was a different day for me.  Today, Victoria, an 8 1/2 yr old from Willits joined me for a few hours to learn about herbs.

Her mother called SLI inquiring about an herbal class, but the one we host isn't until October, and a full day adult-focused course on plants probably isn't the best fit for a 3rd grader.  So, I invited Victoria down to hang with me for a few hours this morning to look at plants, pick a few and learn a bit about herbal medicine.

First, we headed out to the garden.  I showed her a few different plants but she was really excited about the edible flowers and all the lettuces growing in the garden.  So, we made a salad - at 9:30 in the morning. She picked borage flowers, mustard flowers, wild radishes, squash blossoms, broccoli greens, purslane and of course, some lettuce.

While we prepared the salad, we made some herbal tea.  I have a bunch of dried herbs in my collection. Victoria opted for a blend of dandelion root, rose petals and lemon balm.  Good choice.

I have to say, one of the cutest things she said, which was no more than an hour into our session, "I'm having fun!  Can I come back?"  Aww :)

After our morning snack, we headed back out to the garden to look at some more plants and pick a few to make a salve.  In case you're not familiar with salves, it's an herbal infused oil mixed with bees wax to solidify it.  Pretty basic, but great for topical wounds, cuts, scrapes, bruises, etc.  It really just depends on what herbs you put it in.  For our recipe, we used yarrow, plantain and calendula.  Now, I would generally always recommend using dried herbs for oil infusions, but since we were strapped for time, we used them fresh.  We heated them in the oil for a while, drained the herbs, added some bees wax and viola - salve!

Victoria with her salves: Peppermint & Tangerine scented

When we finished all that, we headed back outside once more to check out the mulberries, currants and raspberries.  We spent the rest of our time snacking.  Not atypical for a day at SLI.

mmm, Mullberries

Have you ever had a mulberry?  I hadn't either.  Until now.

They look like blackberries, except longer, more narrow and they grow on a tree.  No, that wasn't a typo - they are berries growing on a tree.  A big tree.  Nature is full of surprises.  The first time I saw it, I believe the words "what the ...... seriously?!?" came out of my mouth.

We have a few huge mulberry trees growing on site, and they are fruiting at the moment.  Trouble is the tree is SO high (I'm guessing ... 30 feet?  I'm horrible at estimating, but you get the point) so we can't get to most of them!  We've been harvesting what we can within arms reach, standing on a bench, and also off the ground.  The ones off the ground have a sun-ripened taste ... kinda like fruit roll ups.  Tasty.

While harvesting the other day, the song "All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel ... " popped into my head.  But, I think that's pretty normal when you're harvesting mulberries.

We've talked about putting a net down on the ground to catch the ones that fall.  Another' to do' and our list is so long - we'll see if that happens.  For now, it's been a frequent snack of mine, and the other interns.

Baby Goat

We've been having a little trouble with our littlest goat.  She's the runt of the group, and the mom has somewhat disowned her.  It was pretty sad to see - the mom bucking her out of the way when she'd try to suckle, or shewing her away from the greens we left for them.

After being rejected, we noticed that baby had stopped eating altogether - she wasn't eating the greens we'd give her (keeping the mom distracted so she wouldn't step in), and she wasn't as perky as she used to be.  She was also looking unhealthy - somewhat emaciated.  Not good.

Apparently this is very natural.  In the wild, mothers (of many species too, I imagine) know the little one won't survive, so, facilitating natural selection, they reject them.  It's pretty sad to see.  But, since these are our goats for the foreseeable future, we stepped in and decided that this goat is going to live, if we have anything to say about it.

We consulted a local goat expert who said she needs to be drinking milk and confirmed she was not doing well.  She brought us a bottle, and was able to feed her 4 oz of whole cow milk during her visit.  At baby's age, she should have taken in closer to 10-12 oz.  Her stomach had shrunk from not eating.  

We've now incorporated bottle feeding into our daily ritual.  We all have designated times of day to feed the baby.  It's really quite cute.  At first she was resistant, and it required 2 of us to feed her (one to hold, one to man the bottle), but once we got the right kind of milk (goat's!) she took it much more easily.

Taking care of these goats has been more work than we thought!  But they're so adorable, I'm quite enjoying it.  David has really taken to them.  Here he is rocking, as Brittany has named "Little Miss" on the steps to our kitchen:

We also like to take them out of their "cage" and let them graze, aka mow our lawn for us at least once during the day.  The baby girl and little boy also roam free, which is pretty cute.  Who knew taking care of goats could be so time intensive!

Intern Village? Intern Row.

This year, the interns have taken a new approach to the standard living situation at SLI.  (Change is good, right?)   Historically, all the interns have lived in close quarters together in the Intern Village, which consists of:

Boys Yurt: 2 bunks for up to 4 boys 

Girls Bunk House: cob building tucked away in the back, suited for 3 ladies.

Community Yurt : large shared area for all interns, complete with industrial kitchen, Wolf stove and 3 couches for loungin'.

Cob Showers / Sinks: Circular cob structure with an outdoor shower, one kinda indoors, both covered with mosaic tiles, and 2 sinks.  Supes cool.

You're probably wondering where the toilets are.  Yes, we do have them and they're not too far away.    They're just not part of our little 'village.'

The branching out started when Brandon began working on Patchamama aka "Patch".  Patch is a darling stand alone cob building that is at the other end of the village.  It was built by past interns and the floor needed to be oiled so that it didn't chip over time (this happened in the cob bunk house).  He thought it was such a cool space and wondered why no one was living in it?  Good question.  

Patchamama

Inside, all moved in

Now, while the floor polishing was going on, David had his eye on the Teepee.  During the first few weeks of interning at SLI, he moved the Teepee across the property to be situated right between Patch and the Intern Village, so it was kind of his baby from the beginning.  He moved in there and has since pimped it out.  We're talking bunk beds, Christmas lights and a fire pit inside.  

Yup, that's inside the teepee - Love it!

Enter: Eric and Brittany.  As caretakers, they were designated to live in the Tiny House.  The tiny house is just what the name implies.  It has everything a house has, but it is TINY.  Not as in munchkin-tiny, but as in incredibly efficient-tiny.  When they moved it, the house was trailed over to sit under the solar array, across from the Teepee.

This new set up left the entire boys yurt to just Vaughn and the entire bunk house to just Cassie.

Vaughn's Castle

Cassies Abode

Pretty sweet deal.  

Oh, I almost forgot ... the bathrooms.  The famous mosaic and cob bathrooms:

Sinks, and entry to "indoor shower"

"Indoor" shower

Outdoor shower

New-ness

It's amazing how quickly things change around here.  I've been gone for almost 2 weeks, and there is so much new-ness at SLI.  The day I left was the first day Hopland (and the greater bay area) started to heat up.  If you recall from the June-uary post (the title says it all), things were pretty dreary.  We were afraid that instead of moving towards summer were going back and reliving the seasons in reverse!  Thankfully, spring finally sprung and not a moment too soon as tomorrow marks the first day of summer.  (Speaking of ... [shameless plug], are YOU attending Summer Solstice tomorrow??)  Anyway ... It's been nothing short of gorgeous up here, and the results of the heat are everywhere.

The garden has officially exploded.  The corn alone doubled in size - as the old saying goes, you want your corn "knee high by the 4th of July."  Umm ... CHECK.  The snap and sugar peas are abundant and our almost-ready-to-eat-but-still-a-little-sour-and-I'll-eat-them-anyway cherries are finally super sweet!  I even spotted a few mulberries working hard to transition from green to purple.

Knee high?  Neck high.

On my way to the office this morning, I walked through the Oaisis and saw that Cassie completed the garden cart.  She fixed up an old, broken fruit cart so that we could sell some of our vegetable starts.  And it looks fabulous.  Shabby chic, if you will.  We hope to sell a number of other homegrown/homemade items as well including fresh organic produce from our garden, all natural lotions and  herbal salves, tea blends, and bouquets of wildflowers.

The Garden Cart

My personal favorite ... or should I say addition ... =  3 goats to the property! We've got a mama and 2 kids.  They're fenced up near the intern village in the shade below a solar array, so we're keeping them nice and cool in the heat.  Not sure what the plans are yet for these guys (pets?  goat milk?  goat cheese?  Mmm all of the above please.)  No, we haven't named them yet, but if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment.  Priority will be given to those who suggest names that rhyme with Kathryn.

Mama on the right.  I think they're smiling for the camera.  

The runt of the group trying to give me a kiss

Mission Accoblished

Well, we did it.  We finished the hops teepee just in time for the wedding.  (Enter: cheers, applause!)  It looks great - super smooth with a nice dark stain.  My favorite part is the sun sculpted in the center - gives it a nice touch.  Many thanks to Miguel and all the interns for working so hard to make it happen.  In case you missed the blog post and pics of what it looked like before, take a look!

Back in Business

Niiiiice and smoooth

The bride of this wedding is actually Vaughn's sister.  She and her lovely family arrived in Friday's dreary drizzle and tied the knot as planned under the arch of Olive trees the following afternoon.  It was a small and intimate ceremony.  They started a fire in the fire pit beside the teepee and after the ceremony, David-turned-DJ in his Sunday's best mixed up some tunes in the classroom yurt for the reception.  All in all, it was a success.  It was also the first (of hopefully many) weddings here at SLI.  Congratulations Nia & Vijay!!

The Happy Couple

June-uary

Does anyone else find this weather ..... odd?  We all spent the last few days holed up in our yurts and respective sleeping quarters (a tee-pee, a cob house, another cob house, a tiny house, and a yurt) because it was pissing down rain!  What. Is. Going. On?

Here's a shot I took on my way to our community yurt yesterday:

Can you say dismal?

At one point, it was coming down so hard I thought I had been transported to Costa Rica in July, suck in a tropical rainstorm.  Rumor has it that David actually hollered out in frustration because it wouldn't let up! (In his defense, he's in the tee-pee and the rain pounding down its exterior is exceptionally loud, making for a very difficult night sleep. Even with ear plugs.)   However, things are looking up.  It's not wet today (except for the puddles scattered around the property).  We don't have to water the garden, and I got to rock my new rain boots in June. Win-win.

Cobalicious

The interns are in the middle of their first natural building project - COB!  We have a structure on-site called the Hops Teepee, though if you look closely, you won't find any hops growing.  Once upon a time it did contain hops vines, however now Olive trees reign over the teepee.

View from the outside: Interns already hard at work

The Hops Teepee is basically a circular bench made from concrete.  Growing out of the top the bench are olive trees.  The bench itself is quite worn, falling apart, and in desperate need of repair.  In a situation as dire as this, who you gonna call??!

Backside of the bench wearing away

Miguel from Living Earth Structures!!  Miguel arrived to repair the bench and teach us all about cobbing.  It's a somewhat time-sensitive project as SLI is hosting a wedding this coming Saturday.  Fingers crossed we can finish it in time!  (The rainy weather is not helping one bit.)

So ... a little bit about cob.  Cob is a mixture of earthen matter: clay, sand and straw:

Cutting up straw to mix in with our clay &sand

You mix all of these ingredients together and literally mold your structure from it. If you've ever taken ceramics in school, it's kinda like that.  (Kinda.)  Cob structures provide a lot of thermal mass, which makes homes built from this material incredibly energy efficient.  It will keep your house cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  We have a few cob buildings on site and it still amazes me how they can stay warm/cold exactly when you'd want them to be without the help of a heater or AC.  (Kinda makes you wonder why more buildings aren't built using earth.)  OK now I'm going on a tangent ... back to the Hops Teepee.

Here's David covering up some of the gnarly holes in the bench.  As you can see, it really needs to be repaired.  Definitely not fit for a wedding!

David: In the Zone

Looking better by the minute.

Here are a few shots of the bench from the inside:  Cassie working hard repairing the seat....

  .... And Miguel smoothing out the rough patches.  Looking good!  

After we finished repairing the damaged areas, we put a layer of lime plaster to smooth out the surface and is the first step in sealing the bench.  After that's done, we'll add one final layer of sealant which we can tint and use as a natural stain.  Pretty cool.  Right now, thought, we're waiting for the rain to stop so we can forge ahead.  Stay tuned!