Mujer Energia

On Friday, June 11th- Those who could, came together to create more progress in the jardin - adjusting the rows that had been started… interesting thing was- only women came. 3 mujeres took tool to soil and carved out 7 tilled rows & 2 untilled- & a back walkway for easy access to composting materials. The work was difficult and each of us had to stop a few times and drink water, trade tools, readjust ourselves.
 

The great thing was that we all knew what had to be done clearly and moved forward from there. We conversed and caught up on 'sister time', but still took time to ourselves and quietly took notice of the Earth, the amazing soil, the wind, birds, and treasures the ground still had to share  with us.

It was good female energy & I believe it's left a balanced and steady calm over the jardin..esp because the men had first taken on the endeavor.

We finished just as the Sun began to cast nightly shadows on everything.. And we saw our silhouettes standing strong against the red casita that separates our plots. 

Paz.

Carving Space

I wrote this 6/6/10- the day after we first went out to the jardin- to my fellow garden workers. i humbly share pieces with you:

It felt so good to be out in the garden again. I think that the time the jardin had 'off' (not being used and covered with grass/leaves/etc) helped it survive over the extremely crazy winter we went through here in Houston. My home lost cactus and aloe vera plants to the freeze that we had enjoyed for many years- it was cold!
Anyway, I think the soil looked great once we were done uncovering both areas.
The heat now is what is immense. Thank you Jess & Mate for bringing water to share, Amber for the Gatorade, and Myra for the PB & J Sandwiches. Coming together and sharing what we have with full knowledge that it will be reciprocated ~ but with little care if it will be, is part of what communal working is about. We want to be there, we want to grow, we know what's to be done to make it happen- and that, to me, is a huge part of what drives the work and the onda of the jardin. The details of that- we leave to conversations in the jardin.

Please lets keep in mind that the Sun is heavy now & that has the potential to create sunburn, excess sweating, headaches, wetness, discomfort, dehydration, and thus, frustration. The beautiful thing about this is that it can all be prevented by taking proper precautions while we are working. You know your body better than anyone, so work with this in mind.

Another thing I thought to share is the fact that most of the people involved are conscious, revolutionary thinkers. We are most definitely all people that know that the energy we exhibit is the energy that will exist in all the things we are manifesting constantly (every day, hour, min, second) - on several levels at once. Everything we feel & do in the garden is felt by Tonantzin/ Mother Earth. Of course, because we have our hands in her.

We maintained this ideology & onda (feeling/mood) in the Jardin great last year- It's an amazing thing and I know we all felt it again when we saw the soil. When I picked weeds and broke apart land, it wasn't just so that we could plant food, it was also because as I physically did those things, I was mentally breaking down to rebuild, giving action to the words that I use & the things that I discuss, working on social living/relationships with friends I trust with mySelf, partaking in creating balance in the Universe, and creating a space for people of color that does not rely on 'the powers that be' to decide whether I can eat, coexist, and live.

All of these thoughts came to me while we worked and when I came back in the afternoon to the plots to reflect.
I'm excited about the next phases and cannot wait to see the maize standing tall again soon!


Peace y Tiahui!!

Dirt in my fingernails..

This past Saturday was the very first day I worked in the Jardin since last summer. It has been a long time, lots of things have changed in the yarda and in life for all of us. Having the opportunity to work in the garden is beyond words for me at this point. There is a beautiful vibe that was created through last year's trial and error experiences, I hope that we can keep the onda of the jardin that way this year and move forward from Saturday into what we plan on being a Jardin of love, commitment y comunidad.

Dreaming of A Green Christmas & An Even Greener New Year!

Houston weather has been cold and rainy these past few weeks. It's made it hard for me to even want to step outside, preferring the warm glow of the Sun to the harsh stabs of the cold- at times freezing temperatures.
Yet, this past weekend, I peered out of my back windows at home and looked out to the plot of land that we used to plant the corn just a few months back and it took me to that sunny and growing time. More importantly, it got me thinking about the things that will grow out of the land once the weather is better and we can all gather together again to make growth happen- all in the spirit of self-sustainability & green goodness!

Also, came across this article about staying Green during the Holidays! Enjoy!

http://www.39online.com/lifestyle/green/sns-health-holiday-eco-friendly-green,0,5057134.story

Dreaming of a Green Holiday?

If so, try these 10 eco-friendly suggestions brought to you

by Mother Nature.
Jim Williams HealthKey.com contributor

December 2009-

"Ring, ring...Mother Nature calling, can you cut me some slack this holiday season?"

Certainly, the holidays are celebration of family and friends, a festive time filled with gift giving, decorating, tree trimming and sparkling lights. But not so much fun for the environment.

Trashing the Holidays

Americans generate 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day than any other time of the year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The food waste, the ribbons and bows, the paper, boxes and shopping bags, all add up to an extra million tons of waste each week for five weeks.

Strange as it might sound, the holiday season is the perfect time to reduce, reuse and recycle. Here are 10 ways to be celebrate a 'green' holiday season:

1. Start a "living tradition" in your family and purchase a live Christmas tree, which you can replant after the holidays. Your local nursery will be able to suggest which kind of tree is best for replanting, as well as how to acclimate your tree from outdoors to indoors.

2. If you by a pre-cut tree, be sure to recycle it after the holidays. Call the maintenance department in your city or local recycling center for instructions.

3. Cut up and use your old holiday greetings cards for gift tags next year, or kids' craft projects. If you don't choose to reuse them, be sure to recycle the cards with mixed paper and magazines.

4. Consider not sending greeting cards at all and let your fingers do the "talking." There are great many Web sites that offer free e-cards. Oh, the trees we would save!

5. Save energy by using LED lights. LED are 90 percent more efficient than traditional lights. If people replaced their normal Christmas lights with LEDs, we'd save at least two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a month. That's enough energy to power 200,000 homes for a year. If everyone switched, it would amount to an incredible amount of energy savings. Also, there are many different lighting options that are more environment-friendly, including solar powered lights.

6. Use rechargeable batteries. There's a USBCELL available that recharges by plugging into your computer. Standard rechargeable batteries are also a good choice.

7. Use newspaper, old gift bags, comics and magazines for wrapping paper. They also work for padding more delicate items and recycle paper at the same time.

8. If you have your mind set on using holiday-themed wrapping paper, try to use post-consumer and chlorine-free recycled paper.

9. Buy handmade items with less packaging such as a sweaters, stuffed toys, wooden toys, puzzles, furniture, etc.

10. Consider gifts of time such as volunteering, gift certificates for favors such as helping a friend with childcare. Or make your own gift certificates that give someone a free hour of babysitting, a free dinner, house cleaning, etc.

Green Fest Videos

 

 

Community Green Fest this Saturday!

The Emile St. Community Garden/ The Last Organic Outpost was one of the first inspirations for the Original Jardin and they are doing it really big this weekend. If you have the time (or can make the time) come out and enjoy the amazing Houston weather we are having and learn about where you belong/exist in this Green World.

Details:
Last Organic Outpost & KPFT will be hosting an event on Saturday, Oct. 24th at Emile Garden in the 5th ward. This festival is focused on to promoting green living throughout the city of Houston. We will be having demonstrations, presentations, and speakers focused on how live a more sustainable lifestyle. Music- 144 Elite, Cabo, Tom Tranchilla and Buddy Allen, DJ Sunonwater, Jerome Vielman, and many more.

We will have a Raffle and Silent Auction hosted by Houston Green Scene. There will be three stages for entertainment and educational activities! There will also be lots of family fun including free petting zoo, face painting, scavenger hunt, children’s fashion show by Sama Baby, interactive puppet show with Super Happy Funland, storytelling, NIA for tots and other small children, Sack races, art stations, balloon art, gardening activities and many more!

Green Organization and Business Participating: Houston Green scene, Houston Electric Cars, Green Cleaning products, Houston Urban Farm Belt Coalition, The Young and the Restless (Children’s resale), Massage in the garden sponsored by Dentist- Houston’s Premier Green Dental Office, Joe and Pat Greer

This event will also be promoting the efforts of 350.org INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION. Check out the www.350.org for more information.

Food Provided by Radical Eats and Ruggles Green.
Yoga by Jennyoga and Devanand,
Recycling made possible by Not Trash.Houston
Featured local artist, Charles Washington will be demonstrating making art out of Recycled Material along with other works of Garden Art.
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!!!

Here are some of the demonstrations and presentations. (A schedule will be posted shortly):
• How to build a Composting Bin demonstration by Brittani Flowers of NotTrash.Houston
• How to make your own Natural, non-toxic cleaning products demonstration by Mona Metzger of Urban Green Clean
• Electric Car Showcase by Houston Electric Cars
• Environmental Art Workshop by Artist Charles Washington
• Balloon animals for kids with bio-degradable balloons by The Bug Man
• Featuring Garden Art by Recycle Artist Phil Waldrop
• Recycled Structures proudly constructed by Green Construction Company, Bright Side Construction
• Special performance by poet, performance artist and author of /Haiku2u:101 select poems on love, trial, triumph and trust /Jerome Vielman
• Special Appearance by Amanda Tullos (unsure of spelling) of Phoenix Connection Recycled Home Builder Dan Phillips
• Interactive garden games provided by United Wellness Center and Last Organic Outpost

Remember to pick-up your Holiday Green Guide featuring farm fresh recipes from the Last Organic Outpost compliments of Houston Green Scene

Impromptu Meeting

Hello helllloooooooooooooooooo>>>

If anyone is out there, we are still here! As Fall began to set in (this past tuesday September 22nd @ 4:22 pm to be exact) we began thinking of some of the goals/concerns/comments that we had for our Jardin. Last Friday 9/18, as we sat at shared some of our personal goals for the fall, and we began dialogue about the Jardin. Here are some of the notes that we took, along with a diagram of how we would like to expand our Jardin:

General Plans

• -Create beds on concrete slabs, clear around large slab to create planting space
• small beds for herbs on top of the concrete slabs (tbd)
• around concrete slabs we plan on putting larger plants, and herbs. (tbd)

Corn Space

• Take down the stalks
• re-mulch the area (to keep soil healthy for the winter/spring)

Comments on planting the 7 warriors Spring of '10:

• plant the three sisters together
• get the tree branches trimmed, in order to provide the maiz with better sunlight.
• create a timeline/schedule to be set for the Jardin, this can help us stay focused and have the ability to provide the Jardin with the maintenance required for the Jardin
• get a small fence lining for the yard

Ok, I also created a diagram of the space we have been granted permission to work in, If you can see it is color coded:

• Red- areas that are untouchable, the Casita, Driveway, A/C area, y el arbol.
• Green- Space for the Maiz: this is where we will continue to plant the maiz, and the rest of the seven sisters.
• Grey- Concrete areas, the concrete is NOT going to be removed, we are instead going to have to build on and around from those areas.
• Yellow- this is the area that we plan on building on top of concrete. we discussed some ideas on how we will go about this, more details to come once finalized.
• Blue- the are around the concrete area. we need to do TWO big things to this area. 1) Get rid of the wild vegetation growing there and 2) mulch the entire area.
• Lilac- areas that need just general cleaning

Well, there is more to come we planned a meeting/work day Saturday, OCTOBER 10th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2009 Please you have two weeks, to clear the schedule and make it happen. Please feel free to come out and join us as we begin to make further plans for this Jardin.

Peace