Summer Rains and Seeds!

Originally published on Project Nuevo Mundo (projectnuevomundo.blogspot.com) on 19 January 2012. Recovered from web archives in October 2026; the text is unchanged.

In anticipation of the planting season, it was decided that it would be appropriate to coordinate the first annual seed exchange fair here on Lake Atitlan.

Permaculture groups and womens’ natural production cooperatives were invited, and a series of workshops was offered.

Permaculture groups in attendence included the Instituto Mesoamericano de la Permacultura (IMAP) and the School of Natural Living. Two womens’ cooperatives specializing in medicinal plants and cosmetics also showed up, the Fundacion Tradiciones Mayas giving a workshop on basic preparation of natural medicine, and Q’omanel presenting their natural cosmetic product line. Another womens’ cooperative, the Maya Weaving Women shared a demonstration of natural weaving and dyeing techniques.

Many a seed exchanged hands; interested restaurant owners showed up from nearby towns to augment their culinary cultivation. Original genetic material was obtained from Santiago Atitlan, a lakeside town populated for 800 years continuously. The event was capped with a ceremony led by Tata Juan, in honor of the medicinal plant Goddess Ixchel.

Come Semana Santa, it was decided that it would be appropriate to celebrate along with the rest of Guatemala. We celebrated in style with sixteen hours of electronic music and chai tea (organic coffee from our farm was also served). Downpours threatened to spoil the fun, but the powerful Tata Juan gave supplication to the water spirits and the skies cleared and dusk, revealing fireflies and later the Milky Way. Several Guatemalans congratulated us on our idea to give free water (a novelty in this country, where water is often confiscated at the door and participants are made to pay up to $2 for each small bottle of water).

Most recently, we hosted our first superadobe natural building workshop, coordinated by our resident master builder. Workshop participants hailed from North America, Guatemala, Germany, and France. A sauna was deemed to be an appropriate test model, and if we are satisfied with the technique and its applicability to the subtropical highlands, we may just construct an entire eco-village employing these super-resistant dome structures! Superadobe is a very labor-intensive but cost-effective natural building technique developed in order to create appropriate buildings for disaster-rich zones. The structural integrity of the dome allows it to resist earthquakes of high magnitude, as well as floods. If it would defend us adequately against the nearest volcano erupting is yet to be tested.

With the rainy season already here, we are busy bees planting papaya, banana, taro, macadamia, and other water-loving edibles. It is bound to be a bountiful and colorful growing season! This week, we will also be playing host to a medicine retreat with a Peruvian healer.

Love and Light,
Moksha