How does a day on Finca Milagros look for me these days? It’s always quite different but I’ll use the last 24 hours as an example.
THIS MORNING
This morning, I woke up at 4 am and went outside to enjoy the full moon and the landscape bathed in the moonlight. Some birds were already singing and I could hear several roosters crowing in the distance.
I then had some water with lemon and wrote a few things here.
My wife woke up at about 5 am. We spent some time together in bed with Mila the dog. She is only about four months old and although she is generally not allowed in the bed, we are taking time with her in the morning. It’s likely very good for her, and we enjoy it too.
We got up some minutes before 6 am, as the sun was beginning to come up. I watered the plants in the nursery, some plants we planted yesterday, and a few that seemed to need it otherwise. It rained a bit two nights ago, it rained a lot some days before then, and we are using a lot of mulch, so most plants don’t need water now.
Daniel and José Luis came around 7 am. I gave them each a couple of the many oranges we got from a neighbor earlier this week. They will work on the area between the two houses today, and also the garden around the big house. Daniel has helped us since April with the garden and food forest, and his help has been invaluable.
I am not able to do much physical work because of my chronic illness, and although I have been passionate about Permaculture and more for decades, I also don’t have expertise with this tropical ecosystem.
Diana came closer to 8 am to help get the big house ready. Roberto, my wife’s father, is coming later today. While they were talking and making breakfast, I went outside on the terrace facing the canyon to do qigong.
We then had breakfast – oatmeal porridge with papaya, sunflower seeds, bits of dates, some coconut oil, and more.
Just now, a few minutes after 8 am, my wife and Diana went to the big house to get it ready. I am staying back here to rest and do a few things, including in the house. As I write this, I listen to Mop Mop.
After Roberto arrives, we will go for lunch at Ángel in the town of Barichara.
Since it’s not even 9 am yet, I’ll write a bit about what we did yesterday.
YESTERDAY
Yesterday, Daniel and José Luis came at 7 am. I talked with Daniel about some of the plans for the terraces between the houses.
We had maybe 20 soursop seeds so Daniel and I mixed soil – 1/3 local soil, 1/3 compost, 1/3 rice husk, and a cup of microbe water. I and José Luis put the soil in bags and planted the seeds while chatting with my imperfect Spanish and his slightly better English. The soursops will grow for a while in these relatively large bags until they are ready to be transplanted.
I also looked at the progress with the vermicompost flush toilet system, and especially the area where the water flows into the ground. We want to make sure there is little to no chance of contamination. The location is made so any overflow is unlikely to create problems, and we are using a deep mulch bed (1-1.5 meters deep).
We did some other things in the garden and my wife cooked a delicious lunch for all of us – a soup/stew with beets, beans, squash, and much more.
After, we did several practical things and I watered some newly planted plants. If we need to water, we do it in the early morning just after sunrise, although in this case, I wanted to water them since they were just planted. I did it when the sun was close to the horizon.
I also looked at examples of the Japanese torii gates since I imagine one of those – a simple and rustic one – could look good at the entrance to the garden and house from the small road going here.
In the late afternoon, we walked up to the big house to look at the sunset from there. At the small house, where we are, we have the same view but we are in the middle of a forest so it’s less visible.
We then had a simple delicious meal with Felipe’s toasted bread, olive oil, avocado, and – for me – locally made goat cheese which is amazing and has a rich and complex taste. We had a good conversation.
We went to bed between 8 and 9 pm and fell asleep relatively quickly.
I realize all this sounds idyllic, and it is, although there are also plenty of challenges on some days.
All photos are from yesterday apart from the before-dawn moon photos from this morning.