tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114345964543398422024-03-13T23:53:00.336+02:00Green IntifadaGreen Intifada is a community based, grassroots democratic movement; aiming to rebuild Palestinian society upon the ethics of sound environmental practice, sustainability and community cohesion.
Green Intifada is not an organisation. It is the beginnings of a network of organisations, working together for social transformation in the Occupied Palestinian Territorieswhirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-38216855338167375812011-11-19T17:00:00.003+02:002011-11-19T17:07:46.820+02:00Aquaponics - eFISHient food production in Palestine<div><font>Another post from our volunteers, Carly and Jean... their blog is: <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info">http://makingsenseofthings.info</a></font><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong></strong></font><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Aquaponics in the West Bank</strong></font><br /><br />During our stay at <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> in Palestine, we have been lucky enough to volunteer one day a week with Phil and Lorena from <a href="http://www.byspokes.org/" target="_blank">Byspokes</a> on aquaponic systems (their website is where the following information comes from). <strong>Aquaponics</strong> is a combination of <strong>aquaculture</strong>, which is growing fish in water, with <strong>hydroponics</strong>, which is growing plants in a liquid. Since they arrived in the West Bank in July 2010 they have been researching, developing and trialing the FIRST EVER aquaponic system constructed behind the Wall!<br /><br />They have been developing integrated aquaculture/irrigation systems and aquaponic systems to enhance food security in rural areas of Palestine, where as much as 44% of the population are chronically food insecure. In general, water and space for agriculture here are in short supply, and this is nowhere more apparent than in high density urban areas such as refugee camps. For the last 60 years, the 27 refugee camps in the Palestine have become increasingly densely populated – now over 673,000 people live in these camps in the West Bank and Gaza. Unemployment can reach up to 80% in the camps, and with no land for agriculture or gardening it is almost impossible for residents to produce any food domestically, creating a massive dependence on external aid.<br /><br />Two of the biggest problems facing the Palestinian agricultural sector are water availability and space available for cultivation. Palestinians have been denied access to the Jordan River and its water since the start of the occupation in 1967, and although the West Bank sits on top of (and is the recharge area for) the mountain aquifer, 80% of the water in this resource is utilized by Israel. Palestinian abstraction is strictly controlled, and as a consequence the only way that Palestinians can meet their water needs is to buy water back from the Israeli water company Mekorot (for example, this accounted for 39% of Palestinian water consumption in 2005).<br /><br />Aquaponics removes the need for fertile ground as they can be constructed pretty much anywhere – even on a rooftop - which is why Phil and Lorena saw that these systems could be so useful here in Palestine. Due to its recirculating nature, an aquaponics system is extremely water efficient and also a very space efficient means of fresh food production. Here is a simple diagram showing how aquaponics works...<br /><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/how-aquaponics-works1.png"><img style="width: 442px; height: 333px;" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2360" title="Source: http://blog.aquaponicssystems.com/" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/how-aquaponics-works1.png" width="705" height="454" /></a></p><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Aquaponics at Bustan Qaraaqa</strong></font><br /><br />Phil and Lorena have been exploring lots of different construction and operation methods to develop an aquaponic system that works well, and is appropriate for, the West Bank. The systems they have implemented:<br /><ul> <li>Uses cheap, locally available materials – mainly <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/2011/11/talking-rubbish/" target="_blank">re-claimed or re-cycled, in line with the philosophy</a> of everything else here at <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a></li> <li>Works with the extremely high alkalinity and high pH of the groundwater in the West Bank</li> <li>Grows plants which thrive in the local conditions, and are already part of the local diet</li> <li>Enables production of plants with high water requirements even during the driest times of the year</li> <li>Offers the opportunity to grow “exotic” plant species that are not consumed locally at present, such as basil, lemongrass and butternut squash.</li><br /><a href="http://www.byspokes.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/un1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter" title="Bustantriptico2" alt="" src="http://www.byspokes.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/un1.jpg" width="660" height="220" /></a><br /><br /><img class="alignleft" title="Water heater" alt="" src="http://www.byspokes.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020498-576x1024-168x300.jpg" width="134" height="240" /></ul><ul>Recently, as the winter gradually moves in, and overnight temperatures begin to fall, they have been very busy trying to “winter-proof” the aquaponic system at <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a>. This system is located on an exposed terrace close to the house, and gets the full brunt of the prevailing wind. For most of the year this is not too problematic as air movement helps keep plants strong, healthy and pollinated. However, now the wind simply blows away the warmth that the system managed to accumulate during the day.Although the carp in the system will tolerate pretty much any temperature, the tilapia will all die off if temperatures dip much below 15<code>°</code>C for an extended period. To winter-proof the system, they are constructing a simple greenhouse from transparent plastic sheeting to envelop the whole terrace for the winter months and a solar water heater to try to warm up the water during the daytime. To make the solar water heater they decided to <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/2011/11/talking-rubbish/" target="_blank">reuse</a> all those Tetra-Paks that were cluttering up the recycling area at the farm. They wrapped them up tightly in black plastic bags (thus finding a <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/2011/11/talking-rubbish/" target="_blank">use for another ubiquitous waste stream</a>) and painting them with a home-made paint, see the recipe on their <a href="http://www.byspokes.org/?page_id=19" target="_blank">website</a>. The heater, in the photo to the left, has been plumbed in and now they are monitoring its performance.</ul><ul><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Aquaponics in the community</strong></font><br /></ul><div>In addition to the <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> system, Phil and Lorena have established a project at the <a href="http://www.albasma.info/">Al-Basma Centre</a>, a centre for young adults with mental and physical disabilities.They utilised the centre's on-site greenhouse to set up the aquaponics pilot project, which enables the centre to earn money through selling fish and organic vegetables. In the current political and economical situation it is of vital importance that organisations in Palestine can be increasingly economically sufficient. At present the Palestinian economy is heavily dependent on foreign aid. Organisations operating in Palestine are no exception, with the majority of the funding coming from external sources. The amount of financial aid reaching Palestine is <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-12-08/palestinians-lure-banks-with-first-sukuk-bills-islamic-finance.html">diminishing annually</a>, and this trend looks set to continue. Thus, providing the <a href="http://www.albasma.info/">Al-Basma Centre</a> with a means to achieving enhanced economic sustainability gives the centre more independence and will allow them to continue their work helping the clients.</div><br /><a href="http://www.byspokes.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/greenh.jpg"><img style="border-width: 0px;" class="aligncenter" title="greenh" alt="" src="http://www.byspokes.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/greenh.jpg" width="660" height="140" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010864-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2344" title="P1010864 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010864-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a></div><div>We have been helping Phil and Lorena weigh and sex fish, plant the grow beds, complete water testing and build new structures. They observe, measure and record many elements of the systems to evaluate their effectiveness in terms of water and cost efficiency in producing vegetable and fish harvests compared to growing crops in soil. They have also produced an impressive <a href="http://www.byspokes.org/?page_id=638" target="_blank">training manual</a> and workshop series which has been tested out on us (and the staff at the <a href="http://www.albasma.info/">Al-Basma Centre</a>) to assess their effectiveness as tools for knowledge transfer and training participants to set up and maintain aquaponic systems independently in the future.<br /></div><p style="text-align: left;">Recently they added some Australian redclaw crayfish, <em>Cherax quadricarinatus,</em> in to the aquaponic systems. They have been interested to experiment with other crops and this seemed like a good start. Adding them to the sump tanks and/or raft tanks provides another crop without needing any additional resources. By introducing a crustacean they are increasing the diversity and hence stabilising and strengthening the aquaponic ecosystem. Also, it just seemed like a good opportunity as they could acquire some for free! Last but not least, shrimps are very expensive here in Palestine and these bad boys taste even nicer than shrimps! Check out how beautiful they are... this is one that escaped:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020008-1024x576.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2345" title="P1020008 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020008-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="241" height="134" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020009-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2346" title="P1020009 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020009-1024x576-168x300.jpg" width="70" height="135" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020004-300x168.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2347" title="P1020004 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020004-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="241" height="134" /></a></p><div><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Aquaponics Techniques</strong></font></div><div><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010861-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2363" title="P1010861 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010861-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="240" height="134" /></a></div><div>Through working with Phil and Lorena we have learnt a few aquaponics techniques. The<strong> Flood and Drain</strong> technique floods the growbeds with nutrient solution until the growing medium (volcanic rock in this case) and roots are wet, then the growbeds are drained to allow air back into the plant roots. The growing medium soaks up the food and water like a sponge, so irrigation generally takes only a few minutes at a time. Gravity draws excess water from the growbeds and keeps the roots healthy.</div><div><br />Another technique is the <strong>Nutrient Film Technique </strong>where a thin film of nutrient rich water flows along the bottom of pipes with holes cut in them for plants in baskets to sit in with their roots reaching the water. This technique doesn't offer the same root support as a <strong>medium filled growbed</strong>, but the pipes are lightweight and can be stacked one on top of the other, creating green walls.<br /><br /><img class="aligncenter" title="NFT1" alt="" src="http://www.byspokes.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/NFT1.jpg" width="660" height="146" /><br /><br />With the<strong> Floating Raft </strong>technique the growbeds are filled with aerated, slowly flowing, nutrient rich water. Styrofoam sheets are floated on the water surface, and the plants are planted in baskets through holes in the styrofoam. The plant roots are always immersed in the oxygenated, nutrient laden water. This growing technique does not offer as much root support as a medium filled growbed, and has an equivalent sized footprint. However, it could be very useful on rooftops, for example, as there is no need to transport hundreds of kilograms of growing medium. Also, the increased overall water volume compared to a similar sized <strong>flood and drain system</strong> gives increased thermal stability to the system. In addition, the aerated water under the plant roots provides a great habitat for other aquatic animals such as crayfish or freshwater mussels.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010867-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2350" title="P1010867 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010867-1024x576-168x300.jpg" width="94" height="168" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010869-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2351" title="P1010869 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010869-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020002-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2352" title="P1020002 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020002-1024x576-168x300.jpg" width="94" height="168" /></a></p><div><strong>Vertical Grow Towers </strong>will be implemented in future. They are often called “strawberry towers”, as they lend themselves very well to strawberry production, vertical growing towers are very space efficient – they can be suspended right above the fish tank. Grow towers are filled with growing medium, and plants are planted through the sides. Water trickles through the towers from the top, draining out through the bottom. Due to the high surface area of growing medium within the towers, grow towers can also increase filtration in an aquaponic system.</div><div><br />Here is a sketch I did of an aquaponics system they have recently designed that combines the <strong>Flood and Drain Technique </strong>with the<strong> Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)</strong>:<br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P10205791.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2358" title="P1020579" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P10205791.jpg" width="629" height="408" /></a></p><div><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Aquaculture</strong></font><br /><br />In addition to aquaponics, Phil and Lorena have been promoting sustainable <strong>aquaculture</strong>. One method to enhance resource use efficiency is to practice this in existing irrigation cisterns. Unlike modern, high intensity aquaculture, sustainable aquaculture is not heavily reliant on technology, power, and fishmeal based fish food. Instead, the aquaculture systems they advocate rely on fairly low stocking densities and enhancing natural pond productivity through fertilisation of the water with manures and/or supplemental feeding with domestic and agricultural vegetable and cereal wastes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.byspokes.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ti.jpg"><img class="aligncenter" title="ti" alt="" src="http://www.byspokes.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ti.jpg" width="660" height="140" /></a><br /><br />This low-tech option has a couple of limitations in terms of the types and amount of fish that can be farmed because of the lack of aeration and filtration. However, for true sustainability, less fish actually means better water quality, less fish stress and less disease and parasite outbreaks. Fertilising the water costs nothing and promotes planktonic and microbial growth, leading to healthy and diverse pond ecosystems. This means that the fish live off an entirely natural diet of aquatic vegetation and pond organisms. Without air pumps, water pumps and filters, they don't consume power either which makes it cheaper, greener and worry-free – especially in a region with frequent power cuts! There are so many advantages too - production of an additional crop (food fish) from already existing resources; fresh fish to eat instead of imported, expensive frozen fish; the nutrient rich water can be used as a natural, free fertiliser for crops.<br /><br /><strong><font style="text-decoration: underline;">In summary</font></strong><br /><br />Delicious fish, edible plants, nutrient rich natural fertiliser, space efficiency, water efficiency... Aquaculture systems are amongst the most productive on earth! As part of my permaculture journey, I hope to use everything Phil and Lorena have shared with us to create our own system one day. In the mean time I will keep following their <a href="http://www.byspokes.org/" target="_blank">website</a> to learn as much as I can from these energetic and beautiful people. We also want to take this opportunity to encourage you helping them... they are about to start several other pilot projects in the West Bank, and in the medium-long term, they are hoping to do similar projects in other parts of the world, including Africa. If you know of potential places or partnerships please let us/them know. Last but not least, you can support their initiative by donating <a href="http://www.byspokes.org/?page_id=15" target="_blank">here</a> - any little helps!<br /><br />As for us, sadly, we are leaving Palestine this weekend... <strong>so long, and thanks for all the fish!</strong><br /></div></div>whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-12811962589109376682011-11-19T16:51:00.003+02:002011-11-19T16:57:36.651+02:00The politics of olive harvesting in Palestine<div>A post about the recent olive harvest by our volunteers, Carly and Jean. Check out their blog <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info">http://makingsenseofthings.info</a><br /><br /><br />We are currently staying at <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> in Palestine and just happen to be here during olive harvest season... we are also here during an interesting time because of the Shalit Deal, where Israel swaps one Israeli soldier for 1027 imprisoned Palestinians... so, how do we link olives with the Shalit Deal??<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/5807916-peace-dove-isolated-on-a-white-background.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2116" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/5807916-peace-dove-isolated-on-a-white-background.jpg" width="168" height="168" /></a>Well, ironically, the olive leaf is a symbol of abundance, glory, wisdom, fertility, pureness and peace... but here people are oppressed, getting their olive groves and rain water cisterns destroyed by Israel as the natural water resources are monopolised (on average Israelis have access to 4 times as much water as Palestinians). <strong>People's ability to sustain themselves is being taken away from them.</strong> In the past every self respecting family in Palestine would produce their own olive oil but now many are shifting to buy their oil as access to their land is taken away and their trees are uprooted... more about that later!<br /><br />This post is all about olives - from harvesting to preserving - and hopefully you will find it useful, particularly if you live in a Mediterranean climate and grow olives yourself, or want to. If not, perhaps it will just help you <em>make sense of things</em> a little more... about olives or about Palestine.<br /><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Harvesting olives</strong></font><br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010278-1024x5762.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2131" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010278-1024x5762-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a>The olives at Bustan Qaraaqa were picked from around 15 trees (although there are 60 in the grove, these were the only productive ones this year) by around 9 people over 2 days by 'milking' the branches - sliding your hands gently down the branches allowing the olives to drop onto some blankets below. <strong>The olives are harvested in the green to purple stage, and this can be done soon after the first autumn rain has fallen.</strong> As a side note, I read that canned black olives may contain chemicals (usually ferrous sulfate) that turn them black artificially. Try making sense of that...<br /><br />As part of their permaculture approach, <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> grows olive trees as a polyculture rather than monoculture (as it is traditionally done). This is achieved through intercropping, for instance, with legume trees or ground covers such as chickpea which produces the much loved hommous. Data is then collected in order to assess whether polyculture improves trees' productivity.<br /><br />At this time of year families everywhere are encouraging friends, family and tourists to help them with the harvest and from our experience at the <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> farm it is a fun, social activity.<br /><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Sorting and weighing the olives</strong></font><br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010968-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2119" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010968-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a>The olives for each tree were carefully sorted from the leaves and weighed so that data on each tree can be collected. <strong>The total weight of olives collected this year was 97kg.</strong><br /><br />Olive trees produce every year but the amount varies from year to year. This particular olive grove had become unproductive because the trees hadn't been pruned until <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> moved in; they were neglected and water stressed due to soil degradation and decreasing rainfall. In response, the trees were pruned, 'fed' with manure and lime, and swales (water harvesting ditches) were dug to increase soil humidity. The digging of the swales is thought to have the most profound effect on productivity. So now production is increasing but it is still dependent on the water received throughout the year... and rain is still low here in Beit Sahour, just 200-300 mm per year!<br /><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Cold pressed olive oil</strong></font><br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010978-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2120" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010978-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a><strong><a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> mills the olives locally, bringing home cold pressed olive oil.</strong> The amount of oil contained in the fruit differs greatly by cultivar but the outer, edible layer is usually 60–70% oil. According to what I have read, typical yields are 1.5–2.2 kg of oil per tree per year. 15 trees from <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a>'s recovering grove produced 25L this year and we've preserved 5kg of olives too!<br /><br />The oil is the result of the first press and is a cloudy slightly green colour. The green colour fades over time and the flavour mellows. The oil from the first press is considered one of the few truly healthy oils because it is a mono-unsaturated fat with high amounts of potent antioxidants, and a low content of cholesterol. Something people often forget though is that while olive oil is good for you at room temperature, healthy properties are destroyed when the olive oil is heated (and causes free radicals).<br /><br />When olive oil is produced, the byproducts are olive cake and effluent. Here in the West Bank where there is no waste disposal, these byproducts are generally dumped around the edge of town. Unfortunately, this contributes to polluting an already polluted environment. The effluent (the water used in the process) is also discharged without treatment into streams, causing nitrification.<br /><br /><strong>In the permaculture way, people could turn the problem into a solution.</strong> The olive cake could be used as a fire fuel due to the oil content remaining in it - simply compressed in to brickettes and burnt! <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> sometimes takes the olive cake to compost and use as soil in their gardens. But then, this is just another of the issues they are trying to educate on here... even composting the olive tree prunings isn't normally done in Palestine - like everything else here, it is burnt, under the misunderstanding that this is a clean way of dealing with it.<br /><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>How to preserve olives</strong></font><br /><br /><strong>Olives are a naturally bitter fruit so they are fermented or cured with brine to make them more palatable.</strong> Freshly picked olives are not palatable because they contain phenolic compounds and oleuropein, a glycoside which makes the fruit too bitter... although apparently not unhealthy. We cut 2 slits in to our olives and soaked them in water for 10 days, changing the water every day to remove the oleuropein, which is a bitter carbohydrate. We then made up some brine (salty water at a ratio of 1:8 salt to water) and experimented with some different combinations as we packed them in to sterilised jars: olives with lemon, garlic and chilli in brine is one example, but some contained cider vinegar, rosemary vinegar, bay leaves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dried sage and <em>zaatar</em> (oregano).<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010983-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2121" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010983-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010970-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2122" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010970-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010975-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2123" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010975-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010985-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2124" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010985-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010986-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2125" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010986-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010989-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2126" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010989-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a><br /><br />As a side note, we could also have fermented our olives which would have leached out and broken down the oleuropein and phenolic compounds and also created lactic acid (a natural preservative - just like when we make our natural <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/2011/01/how-to-make-butter-at-home/" target="_blank">butter</a>!).<br /><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>About olive trees</strong></font><br /><br />The olive tree is very hardy as it is quite drought, disease and fire resistant, and it can live to a great age.<br /><br />Olive trees prefer calcareous soils, flourishing best on limestone slopes and crags which is perfect where <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> is! They grow in any heavy soil, even on clay if well drained, but in rich soils they are predisposed to disease and produce poorer oil than in poorer soil.<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/olive-tree1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2128" title="source: http://madhupamaypop.com" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/olive-tree1-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a>The older an olive tree is, the broader and more gnarled its trunk appears. Some trees are claimed to be 2,000 years old! And in some cases it has been scientifically verified too... although, apparently it is quite difficult to age as they rot from the inside out. There are also two ancient giant olive trees in the Arab town of Arraba and 5 trees in Deir Hanna, in the Galilee area, which have been determined to be over 3,000 years old. <strong>We have heard that here in Palestine there is an olive tree in Al Wallaja which is claimed to be somewhere between 3000 and 7000 years old</strong> (depending on the carbon dating method the scientist uses)! However, they only attain that age thanks to human 'management' (pruning, watering, etc). This then shows cultural continuity in the region, whereby farmers take care of the olive trees generation after generation.<br /><br />To finish on olive trees, we know a lot about them, but... we still don't know where they originally come from! It is thought that they have originated either in South Caucasus or in Yemen.<br /><br /><font style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>The politics of olive harvesting in Palestine</strong></font><br /><br />It is to be noted that at this time of year, <strong>there is always a massive peak of violence related to access to olive trees.</strong> What once was a social, happy event that brought much to the Palestinian economy is now stressful because of the violence which is now related to control of the olive tree fields. As <a href="http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/reports/by-dr-hanan-chehata/2959-a-harvest-of-tears-palestinian-agriculture-continues-to-suffer-as-a-result-of-ruthless-israeli-policies" target="_blank">this</a> interesting article explains:<br /><br /><em>Palestinian farmers have had their land stolen, their crops set on fire, their trees uprooted, and their farms fenced-off beyond their reach and bricked up behind the Separation Wall, and so on. Their orchards have been razed to make way for the building of ever more illegal settlements and racist settler-only roads, and to make way for the continued construction of the illegal "apartheid" wall as well as for no other reason than simply to grab more Palestinian land. </em><br /><br /><em>Whereas in the past the olive harvest traditionally provided employment for thousands upon thousands of people in each region, with families working together to bring in the crops, to press the olives, to manufacture the by-products (and to export them), there are now fewer people who can earn a living this way; as a result, Palestinian families are struggling desperately. In 2010 alone it is estimated that "Israeli forces and settlers uprooted or burnt at least 10,346 olive trees in the West Bank." In Gaza it is estimated by the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Agriculture, that Israeli forces have "destroyed at least 114,000 olive trees in the strip since the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada in 2000." In fact, conservative estimates put the number of olive trees destroyed by the Israelis since the creation of the Zionist state on Palestinian land in 1948 at more than one million; of those, around half have been destroyed since 1987.</em><br /><br />The article also explains that Israeli authorities destroy the crops of Palestinian farmers by levelling the farmland using armoured tractors and bulldozers and simply razing the crops and groves. Other times, Israeli soldiers themselves are responsible for much of the destruction by firing small bombs into the fields which catch alight and burn the crops. Sometimes Israel issues military orders demanding that farmers refrain from picking their crops and then arrest them if they refuse to comply. This year, we heard an account of the soldiers telling the Palestinian farmers that too few people were on the land harvesting to prove the land was being suitably used so that next year they'll be denied access... while other groups of people have been told to stop harvesting and leave because only the owner (in this case the old grandfather of the family) is authorised to harvest. Settler attacks also take many forms, including the burning of fields and trees; digging-up trees, both ancient and saplings; beating-up farmers who tend their crops, and so on.<br /><br />How does Israel justify their actions?<br /><br />Well, in brief... soon after the West Bank and Gaza Strip fell under the Israeli occupation in 1967, land transactions became forbidden without a written permit, which implied that land registration was compulsory from that date. Since then, many orders which affect the land directly have been issued. Among these was the reclassification of land in the occupied territories. Some land was classified as "rocky lands, unsuitable for cultivation", others as "nature reserves", and a third class as "essential military territory". The result was the confiscation of more land, redefined as state land, to be used to build Israeli settlements.<br /><p align="LEFT">In 1980, the Israeli government adopted a new "legal" approach to state lands. This approach declared uncultivated, unregistered land as state land. This means that land which is not cultivated for 10 years or more can be claimed as state land under the reasoning that they are "neglected" or "abandoned" by its owners and therefore confiscated to ensure "proper" and "efficient" use. <strong>You can see from the stories above how the interpretations by Israel, the soldiers and the settlers on how land is being "cultivated" (or not) can vary according to their desires to grab land and hence the tensions during olive harvest...</strong></p><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010207-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2129" title="" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1010207-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a>It is evident to anyone visiting here that Israel has stolen great quantities of land from the Palestinians and used it to establish many settlements in the West Bank, like the large imposing one on the top of the hill in the photo to the left. Israel prohibits Palestinians from entering and using these lands, and uses the settlements to justify numerous violations of the Palestinians' human rights, such as the right to housing, to earn a livelihood, and the right to freedom of movement.<br /><br /><strong>The destruction of Palestinian olive groves and orchards is just another human rights issue</strong> here as people already struggling under the threat of occupation, arrest, harrassment and death are also denied a source of income and sense of normality in carrying out their traditional livelihoods. Additionally, it is an <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/al3/web/page/display/id/5.html" target="_blank">environmental issue</a> with the destruction of agricultural land and burning of crops... not to mention the effects of land and water pollution by the Israeli regime and its impact on people, plants and animals.<br /><br /><strong>This is why <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> are here and why we are so interested in learning what can be achieved using permaculture under such difficult circumstances.</strong> Please take the time to read their website and if you can, donate from their <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/al3/web/page/display/id/2.html#donate" target="_blank">website</a> to help this very low budget project of dedicated and inspiring people continue their incredible and challenging work.<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info"></a></div>whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-28930297476535450312011-11-14T18:41:00.000+02:002011-11-14T18:42:56.738+02:00Talking rubbish - Turning trash into treasure<div><em>This post was prepared by Carly, who has been volunteering at Bustan Qaraaqa for the past month. You can follow Carly and Jean's blog at <a href="http://www.makingsenseofthings.info">www.makingsenseofthings.info</a>.</em><br /><br /><br /><br />Here at <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> they don't simply sort their recycling, compost their vegetable scraps and put out the rubbish to be collected weekly - they take <strong>REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE</strong> to a whole new level. With no municipal waste management in Palestine, they have adopted a policy of <strong>'what comes on site, stays on site'</strong>, often collecting other peoples waste too! Using permaculture, creativity, knowledge and passion they educate and demonstrate by living sustainably themselves and maintaining a philosophy that <strong>there is no such thing as waste - just a failure of imagination</strong>. They hope to inspire Palestinians to stop throwing their rubbish down hillsides or burning it on the side of the road and for foreign guests to understand their role in the waste cycle too. What would <em>you</em> do if your council didn't collect your waste? How would you consume differently? What would you do with your rubbish?<br /><br />This post will take you through the details of <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a>'s waste management systems and also provide some inspiration from the internet on upcycling ideas... but first I want to share with you a project we have been involved in during our stay here... building a greenhouse from recycled materials.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Beit Igzaz - The Greenhouse</strong></span><br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2227" title="2" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a></div><div>This construction project has been the main focus of our efforts whilst at Bustan Qaraaqa and through this work, along with dealing with the daily waste management, <strong>we have deeply internalised our connection with consumption</strong> and been inspired by by the functional and aesthetic creations that can be created from our 'rubbish'.<br /><br />The <em>beit igzaz</em> is designed according to the principles of <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/2010/11/urban-permaculture-in-practice/" target="_blank">permaculture</a> and will serve as a resource hub integrated into '<a href="http://sustainablelivingwise.com/permaculture-zone-1/" target="_blank">zone one</a>' of the farm system. It will enable them to improve their on site resource management by providing water and food, cooking, laundry and shower facilities and more, but most importantly, by providing an alternative to the fossil fuel dependent kitchen and one-use-only grey water shower and laundry systems currently in the farmhouse. The aim is to entice the guests and volunteers to use the more sustainable and economic alternative system by offering practicality and convenience whilst also providing an impressive demonstration site for education purposes. <em>Beit igzaz</em> has been designed using multipurpose principles with many interconnections. This way it reduces the consumption of building materials and space by putting many functions under one roof whilst still creating a spacious, bright and green space to live in. It will contain: shower, sauna, kitchen, laundry, aquaculture, food production aquaculture, winter fruits, tropical foods, mushrooms, smokery and brewery. This sketch shows the design elements:<br /><br /><img style="width: 429px; height: 206px;" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2302" title="Greenhouse Design" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Greenhouse-Copy-1024x632.jpg" width="689" height="425" /><br /><br /><em><strong>Functional Overview -</strong></em> At <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a>'s site in Beit Sahour they have to design for low rainfall (just 200-300ml per year!), a municipal water supply that is unsustainable, expensive and unreliable and high temperatures for more than 4 months of the year (35-50°C). Therefore, the greenhouse has been designed to efficiently use water, cool in summer months and maintain at least 16°C in winter months to keep the tropical plants happy. To achieve this over 200m<sup>3</sup> each year of clean rainwater will be collected from the recycled plastic bottle roof draining to trees, storage tanks and cisterns. This clean water will be distilled using a solar still before drinking or used directly in the shower and kitchen. The washing machine will have the options of being filled with fresh water or from the hot soapy shower water directly. All the grey water will flow through the constructed wetland system inside building then into the tilapia fish breeding tank and on to irrigate the tropical fruit trees such as banana and avocado. The same water collecting roof will allow the sunlight in to warm the rock and the water channel but will trap the warm air under it - raising the temperature inside on cold winter days. In the summer a system of vents and ducts will keep the atmosphere cool. This solar passive architecture saves fuel. The sketch below shows the water cycling:<br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/greenhouse-water.jpg"><img style="width: 371px; height: 248px;" class="size-full wp-image-2308 aligncenter" title="greenhouse water" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/greenhouse-water.jpg" width="536" height="364" /></a></p><div><br /><strong><em>Water conservation - </em></strong>The building’s roof is designed to collect clean rainwater and deliver it to a storage tank so it can be used through the dry summer months. This water can be solar heated or supplied <em>al clima</em> to the shower (see the photos below), laundry, kitchen and aquaponics directly. The greywater is collected, reused and filtered by the system, and along the way, used for cleaning, laundry (prewash), climatic amelioration and crop irrigation. The water flows from one component to the next with gravity along a water quality gradient. Precaution is taken to prevent unnecessary reduction in water quality by salty soaps and detergents. Finally the water’s quality is improved by a living filter of plants as it passes through a wetland flowing into a pond overflowing into a forest soil irrigating a tropical forest food production system. The water will also play a key role in storing solar energy to heat the space on cold winter days and cool the air on hot summer days. Every drop of water used will be reused by another component of the design as they aim to achieve the most efficient use of this versatile but scarce resource. Look at the gorgeous shower that will use water collected from the roof before directing that water to the laundry...<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020126-1024x5761.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2241" title="P1020126 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020126-1024x5761-300x168.jpg" width="310" height="180" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020124-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2239" title="P1020124 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020124-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="328" height="180" /></a><br /><br /><em><strong><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010809-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2242" title="P1010809 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010809-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="321" height="192" /></a></strong></em></div><div><em><strong>Climatic amelioration - </strong></em>The building is designed to take full advantage of the wind and sun to have cooling effect on hot days and a warming effect on cool days. On cold days the vents are closed and roof and walls trap solar energy as sun warms the rock and air inside. Solar energy stored in warm rocks and water is released through the night raising minimum temperatures and preventing frost. Additional sources of warmth are: the shower room producing solar heated water and steam, the sauna, and the kitchen where the wood fuelled bread oven and rocket stoves warm the space. The fuelwood is growing on the farm. On hot days the ventilation is opened. The steeply pitched roof angled into the prevailing wind allows for the efficient extraction of hot air. The exiting hot air draws in evaporation-cooled air through a duct in the shower room where more evaporation further cools the incoming air. In theory the stronger the sun shines the faster the cool air will be pulled into the building. The ceiling is 7m high at its highest keeping the hot air high above head height. The entire roof can be shaded to limit the amount of solar energy entering the building. A solar oven replaces the need to use the bread oven on hot days. The large volume of water in the system has a cooling effect as it evaporates and transpires from surfaces. The photo above shows a volunteer constructing the recycled plastic bottle roof which is crucial for trapping heat and collecting water. The sketch below demonstrates the heating and cooling functions of <em>beit igzaz</em>.<br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/greenhouse-energy3.jpg"><img style="width: 358px; height: 233px;" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2325" title="greenhouse cooling and heating" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/greenhouse-energy3.jpg" width="536" height="363" /></a></p><div><strong><em>Materials - </em></strong>To avert the environmental damage caused by the extraction, manufacture and distribution of building materials <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> set themselves the aim of collecting all materials locally by either saving, scavenging or salvaging. This has included the glass bottles to build the walls (hence the name <em>beit iqzaz - </em>literally glass house), the plastic bottles to build the roof and metal cans/tins to make the rocket stoves - note that there is no facility to recycle these materials in the West Bank. Additionally, they have salvaged materials from dumps, demolitions and scrap merchants, including the scrap iron for the frame, reclaimed timber for the doorframes, construction scaffold, kitchen unit, reclaimed kitchen sink, leaky water tanks as shower screen, rotten cement for levelling and smoothing floors and more! They have also made use of local materials for natural building such as soil, sand and goat manure used as a mortar or natural cement to hold the glass bottles in the walls, field stones to build the wall foundations and olive wood trunks as lintels. The soil for the tropical fruit trees and other crops to be grown inside the building is enriched with compost made on site (see the compost sections below). Look at how beautiful these glass walls are! The bottles are held in place by the natural cement and horizontal wires attached to the reclaimed steel frame.</div><div><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/3.jpg"><img title="3" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/3-225x300.jpg" width="180" height="240" /> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020113-576x1024.jpg"><img title="P1020113-576x1024" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020113-576x1024-168x300.jpg" width="134" height="240" /> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020120-576x1024.jpg"><img title="P1020120 (576x1024)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020120-576x1024-168x300.jpg" width="134" height="240" /> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020121-576x1024.jpg"><img title="P1020121 (576x1024)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020121-576x1024-168x300.jpg" width="134" height="240" /></a><br /><br /><em><strong>I</strong><strong>ncreased food production - </strong></em>The “finca”, inspired by diverse gardens of subtropical American and African forests, will provide a diverse array of foods. The finca will give <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> the opportunity to grow vegetables and fruits on the farm all year and to grow tropical fruits they now buy from the market. The warmth and recycled water will allow them to continue cropping heat loving crops through the winter such as: tomato, aubergine, cucumber, peppers, passion fruit and to harvest frost intolerant perennials such as: banana, avocado, guanabana, starfruit, zapote, cassava and taro. The possibilities are endless! Imitating the stratified and diverse structure of tropical forest ecosystems every plant life form is exploited to maximise productivity in a limited space. From the soil up, a ground layer of taro, tomato, and pepper is shaded by a subcanopy of shrubs and small trees such as banana, coffee, cacao, papaya and starfruit supporting climbing vines like black pepper, passionfruit and pitaya, all under a six meter high canopy of avocado, sapote and gunanbana (soursop) trees. Transpiration and shade will cool the atmosphere of the building in the summer months.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Waste (Resource) Management</strong></span><br /><br />What doesn't get used in the construction of <em>beit igzaz</em> gets used in other wonderful ways here at <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a>...<br /><br /><em><strong><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lemons.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2322" title="lemons" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lemons-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a></strong></em></div><div><em><strong>Composting </strong></em>- <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> compost all their food scraps. They also include any meat, grease, hair, nut shells, coffee grinds and dirty water. Any paper or cardboard (like cereal boxes) is also torn up and added to maintain the important carbon:nitrogen ratio and the resulting compost is used in the gardens. The grease is removed from plates and added to the compost before washing up. Washing up involves soaking the dirty plates and cutlery in water with citrus (already used in a delicious meal - see the picture on the right). The citrus cleans, meaning they don't have to buy detergent - cutting down on consumption and saving the environment at the same time. The pith of lemon is rich with with antiseptic for cleaning, alcohol which is useful for dissolving grease and the acidity of the juice acts as a detergent. It is worth noting that commercial washing up liquid is 7% formalin (formaldahyde) which is a documented carcinogen and cause of dermititis. Additionally, they wash up with palm scrubbers which means they have even less to dispose of... they simply compost it when it is worn out! In the future they are planning on putting a worm farm under the kitchen work top in <em>beit igzaz</em>. It will enable them to continue eating their kitchen waste - nutrient rich worm castings will feed the tropical plants and the worms will feed the fish!<br /><br /><em><strong><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010287-1024x576.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2248 alignright" title="P1010287 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010287-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a></strong></em></div><div><em><strong>Human Waste </strong></em>- The loo with a view saves water and produces humanure (which will be used to establish <em>beit igzaz's</em> tropical forest). The <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> team built the beautiful compost toilet from scavenged materials suspended over the humanure composters. They gathered timber for the frame from building sites, scoured the dumps for palm fronds for the thatch, and collected bottles from bars to fill the walls. Windows were constructed from plastic bags ironed into coloured sheets, cut and ironed again into designs which glow like stained glass in the evening sun. Moreover, the true beauty of this new toilet is that they can make their contributions hygienically, saving 6L of water every time and not contributing to environmental damage due to untreated sewerage going straight in to the landscape - there is no sewerage treatment here in Beit Sahour. :(<br /><br /><em> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020517-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2247" title="P1020517 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020517-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /> </a></em><em><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/toilet.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2249" title="toilet" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/toilet-224x300.jpg" width="120" height="167" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020504-576x1024.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2246" title="P1020504 (576x1024)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020504-576x1024-168x300.jpg" width="95" height="166" /></a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/toilet.jpg"> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/toilet2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2250" title="toilet2" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/toilet2-224x300.jpg" width="112" height="168" /></a></em><br /><br /><strong><strong><em>Cardboard, c</em></strong><em>lothes, textiles </em></strong>- With so many guests coming through Bustan Qaraaqa, there are always old and worn out clothes left behind so these are used to mulch trees as you can see in the photo below. In this dry climate, this is essential to maintain moisture and life in the soil. Of course old clothes can also be used as rags or upcycled in to new clothing or furnishings too - more about that in a future post! :-)<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020537-576x1024.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2251" title="P1020537 (576x1024)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020537-576x1024-168x300.jpg" width="168" height="300" /></a><br /><br /><strong><em>Glass bottles</em> -</strong> Bustan Qaraaqa use their glass bottles in beautiful functional ways to construct <em>beit igzaz</em>, as you saw above, but there are many other inspiring ways glass bottles can be used too. Check out these ideas I found on the internet...<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bombay_Sapphire_Gin_Pendant_Light.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2253" title="Bombay Sapphire Gin Pendant Light Source: http://hipcycle.com/bombay-sapphire-pendant-light.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bombay_Sapphire_Gin_Pendant_Light-300x300.jpg" width="121" height="125" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Jack_Daniels_Vase.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2254" title="Jack Daniels Vase Source: http://hipcycle.com/clear-vase-jack-daniels.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Jack_Daniels_Vase-300x300.jpg" width="119" height="124" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/set_of_4_pinot_grigio_tumblers.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2255" title="set of 4 pinot grigio tumblers Source:http://hipcycle.com/wine-bottle-tumblers-11.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/set_of_4_pinot_grigio_tumblers-300x181.jpg" width="154" height="124" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/winebottleshelves.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2257" title="Wine bottle shelves Source: http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/shelving-storage/recycled-shelving-wine-bottles-planks-and-some-ingenuity-065023" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/winebottleshelves-300x226.jpg" width="166" height="126" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/elm-leaf-earrings-from-carlsberg.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2260" title="elm leaf earrings from carlsberg Source: http://www.etsy.com/listing/48589032/elm-leaf-earrings-from-a-carlsberg" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/elm-leaf-earrings-from-carlsberg-300x300.jpg" width="129" height="121" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-hot-water-system.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2258" title="bottle hot water system Source: http://www.weirdasianews.com/2007/06/08/beer-sunshine-hot-water/" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-hot-water-system-300x225.jpg" width="160" height="121" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/recycled-beer-bottle-bracelet.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2259" title="recycled beer bottle bracelet Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bayatinge/3785966757/" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/recycled-beer-bottle-bracelet-300x228.jpg" width="152" height="121" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Recycled-Glass-linden-Leaf-and-Seed.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2261" title="Recycled Glass linden Leaf and Seed Source: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72298760/recycled-glass-linden-leaf-and-seed" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Recycled-Glass-linden-Leaf-and-Seed-300x300.jpg" width="119" height="121" /></a><br /><br /><em><strong>Plastic bottles </strong></em>- As you saw above, the plastic bottles at <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> are mostly used for the water harvesting roof on <em>beit igzaz. </em>However, many of the plastic bottles here are also used for more efficient irrigation. By linking the bottles together and digging them in to the ground beside a tree, watering their roots with very little water in this dry climate is much more efficient (see the picture below, middle). Another use for plastic bottles is as a water heater for the aquaponics system as seen in the picture below, left. In Taiwan, a huge building using 1.5 million PET bottles (see in the picture below right) was built recently.<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020498-576x1024.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2267" title="P1020498 (576x1024)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020498-576x1024-168x300.jpg" width="125" height="223" /> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020534-576x1024.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2264" title="P1020534 (576x1024)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020534-576x1024-168x300.jpg" width="134" height="224" /> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ecoARK-Taiwan.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2269" title="ecoARK Taiwan Source: http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/massive-plastic-bottle-building-unveiled-in-taiwan.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ecoARK-Taiwan-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a><br /><br />Below you can see a plastic bottle school in Asia, instructions on making a bottle wall in Central America and a plastic bottle home in Nigeria.<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/plastic-bottle-school.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2270" title="plastic-bottle-school Source: http://www.ecofriend.com/" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/plastic-bottle-school-300x200.jpg" width="236" height="164" /> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/building-a-bottle-wall.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2271" title="building-a-bottle-wall Source: http://hugitforward.org/pages/show/id/1" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/building-a-bottle-wall.jpg" width="148" height="163" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Nigeria-bottle-house-1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2272" title="Nigeria-bottle-house Source: http://inhabitat.com/africas-first-plastic-bottle-house-rises-in-nigeria/" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Nigeria-bottle-house-1-300x223.jpg" width="224" height="165" /></a><br /><br /><strong><em>Plastic bags - </em></strong><a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> simply reuse their plastic bags for carrying things, lining rubbish bins and making screens like the one in the compost toilet above but this beautiful canister basket, below, is also inspiring and I'd like to try making one someday.<br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/plastic-bag-canister-basket-300x247.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2277 alignright" title="plastic bag canister basket Source: http://hipcycle.com/plastic-bag-canister-basket.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/plastic-bag-canister-basket-300x247.jpg" width="113" height="100" /></a><br /><em><strong>Metal Bottle caps </strong></em>- <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> have been collecting bottle caps but are undecided what to do with them so here are some ideas..<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bottle_Cap_Candle_Holder.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2278" title="Bottle_Cap_Candle_Holder Source: http://hipcycle.com/bottle-cap-candle-holder.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bottle_Cap_Candle_Holder-300x300.jpg" width="120" height="115" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-cap-tray.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2279" title="bottle cap tray Source: http://pinterest.com" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-cap-tray-200x300.jpg" width="86" height="116" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-cap-backsplash.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2280" title="bottle cap backsplash Source: http://pinterest.com" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-cap-backsplash-300x255.jpg" width="146" height="117" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-cap-magnets-2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2281" title="bottle cap magnets Source: http://pinterest.com" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-cap-magnets-2-300x224.jpg" width="163" height="116" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-cap-magnets.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2282" title="bottle cap magnets Source: http://pinterest.com" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bottle-cap-magnets-277x300.jpg" width="118" height="116" /></a><br /><br /><em><strong>Corks </strong></em>- <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> have also been collecting their wine corks but haven't used them yet so here are some ideas (on top of the obvious, cork board one)...<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cork-stamps.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2285" title="cork stamps Source: http://exploringthewondersoflife.blogspot.com/2011/01/reuse-repurpose-week-1.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cork-stamps-300x225.jpg" width="189" height="152" /> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cork-trivet-and-coasters.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2284" title="cork-trivet-and coasters Source: http://www.diylife.com/2008/04/09/wine-cork-trivet-and-coaster-set/" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cork-trivet-and-coasters-300x229.jpg" width="236" height="151" /> </a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cork-bath-mat.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2283" title="cork bath mat Source: http://www.bitrebels.com/design/bath-mat-the-wonderful-recycled-use-of-175-wine-corks/" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cork-bath-mat-300x225.png" width="229" height="153" /></a><br /><br /><strong><em>Tin and cans</em> - </strong>here are some ideas for all the cans they have been storing...<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Tin_Planters.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2292" title="Tin_Planters Source: http://hipcycle.com/set-of-2-oval-tin-planters.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Tin_Planters-300x149.jpg" width="168" height="101" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Tin_Wastebasket.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2293" title="Tin_Wastebasket Source: http://hipcycle.com/woven-tin-wastebasket.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Tin_Wastebasket-300x300.jpg" width="84" height="102" /></a><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/can-1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2295" title="can Source:http://www.crookedbrains.net/2011/05/creative-ways-to-reuse-cans.html" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/can-1-290x300.jpg" width="115" height="107" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/can-2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2296" title="can Source: http://the20spot.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/a-20spot-tip-reuse-jars-bottles-and-cans/" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/can-2-300x198.jpg" width="156" height="107" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Can-3.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2297" title="Can Source: http://pinterest.com" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Can-3-300x199.jpg" width="182" height="106" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/can-4.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2298" title="can Source: http://pinterest.com" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/can-4-300x224.jpg" width="165" height="106" /></a><br /><br /><strong><em>Wood</em> - </strong>There is never a shortage of ideas for wood scavenged or for pallets found. Jean recently made an <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/2011/11/pallet-armchair/" target="_blank">armchair from a pallet </a>and the solar oven below was built by <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> out of just two pallet.<br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010246-1024x576.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2316" title="P1010246 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010246-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a></p><div><br /><strong><em>Tyre stuffing</em> - </strong>Finally, with any rubbish that can't be reused or recycled (like cigarette butts, women's hygiene products, some plastic containers, etc), <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> stuffs it in to tyres and builds structures like the below bed bases (which have been cobbed over) or small huts.<br /><br /><a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020520-1024x576.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2318" title="P1020520 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1020520-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a> <a href="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010744-1024x576.jpg"><img title="P1010744 (1024x576)" alt="" src="http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1010744-1024x576-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a><br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>A final note...</strong></span><br /><br />Staying at <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org" target="_blank">Bustan Qaraaqa</a> has definitely helped me deepen my connection to waste management and also got me thinking about the best ways to process waste... so here are some things to remember...</div><ul> <li><strong>Sort, group and clean</strong> your waste straight away - no one wants to pick out old yoghurt pots for their project!</li> <li>1 of anything is almost useless but by <strong>collecting items you regularly use</strong> the possibilities expand for unique, beautiful things or construction projects.</li> <li><strong>REDUCTION</strong> is the most important (then reuse and then recycle) thing for the environment - by reducing your waste you also reduce your work!</li></ul><p><br />Please share your experiences in waste management and any interesting projects for reusing or recycling things. :)</p><br />whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-19340653846584366472011-05-17T19:54:00.005+03:002011-05-18T18:43:07.914+03:00Donkey Odyssey 2011Last week, we spent Thursday afternoon on Abed’s land, helping out with the weeding of his trees. After the afternoon’s work we sat down to drink some tea with him and a few of his friends, one of whom, Mohammed, announced he had three donkeys to give to Abed. <br /><br />Abed used to have donkeys two years ago to help him carry water to his land, as he is not linked to the mains supply; but since then they have died. He has not had new ones and depends on the help of his friends. Since he will shortly be cut off from Bethlehem by the Wall, it is about to become much harder for his friends to help him. Both he and his farm are at risk.<br /><br />Mohammed then announced that the donkeys were in Abu Dis and his idea was to ride them all the way to Wallaja. He asked for Alice’s help. So last Wednesday, off we went to Abu Dis, Alice Max and I, in the evening to be able to have an early start to ride all the way to Wallaja in a day. On arrival at Mohammed’s house he toured us around it and then took us to his sister’s house so that we could meet her and her family, her seven children and her husband. Showing usual Palestinian hospitality, we drank a cup of fresh mint tea and then went back to the house to listen to Mohammed playing the oud for the next few hours! <br /><br />The next morning, we set off (not so early in the end) with not three but four donkeys to bring, as one of the mares had a foal. The trip from Abu Dis to Beit Sahour was done in the bottom of the wadis we were crossing, so luckily there was no traffic at all, except crossing the settler road just north-east of Beit Sahour. Instead we were crossing dry fields with one or two trees here and there. It is worth mentioning that the direct route from Abu Dis to Wallaja is just 10 km, but due to the construction of the Wall and several settlements, we were forced to circle around on a 25 km detour.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fCK-thX2a3Y/TdPfexo8vUI/AAAAAAAAAMw/bUzftJocbMk/s1600/DSC02420.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fCK-thX2a3Y/TdPfexo8vUI/AAAAAAAAAMw/bUzftJocbMk/s400/DSC02420.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608071680820559170" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Climbing out of Wadi Nar.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZoXpA3lOVsk/TdPffnsfjcI/AAAAAAAAANI/2-zWT3WkPPU/s1600/SL374229.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZoXpA3lOVsk/TdPffnsfjcI/AAAAAAAAANI/2-zWT3WkPPU/s400/SL374229.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608071695330938306" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Crossing the settler road.</span><br /><br /><br />Once in a while, Max, Mohammed and I would ride a donkey each but most of the time we would be pulling them. I quickly realized that I wasn’t very patient with them, especially when they stopped every fraction of a second to graze. I admired Alice who was wonderful with her donkey. The mare was quite badly injured and as soon as she stopped she would rest on three legs only. Unfortunately, we only realised after having left Mohammed’s house. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y__O5uhmgew/TdPffyQYdCI/AAAAAAAAANQ/U5Dvdy5tTOQ/s1600/SL374232.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y__O5uhmgew/TdPffyQYdCI/AAAAAAAAANQ/U5Dvdy5tTOQ/s400/SL374232.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608071698165822498" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Mohammed and Max riding their donkeys.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xrp9hzvAQdY/TdPffIjHZ8I/AAAAAAAAAM4/6SwJ2eagczc/s1600/DSC02431.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xrp9hzvAQdY/TdPffIjHZ8I/AAAAAAAAAM4/6SwJ2eagczc/s400/DSC02431.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608071686970107842" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Losing my patience!</span><br /><br /><br />We arrived in Beit Sahour 5 hours after our departure and were lucky to find ourselves opposite Ruth’s Field restaurant where we had a snack of falafel! At the same place, Mohammed decided he was too tired to go on and left us with the four donkeys. Alice, Max and I were determined to get to Abed’s that same day. <br /><br />So off we went again, but this time we were travelling on roads only. Coming through Beit Sahour was a bit of a hassle with kids following us all the way to Bethlehem, bullying the donkeys. However, now we come to the most entertaining part of our journey: Bethlehem. We decided to cross the town through Manger square and the souks, as this was the most direct route. So there we were on Manger Square with our own donkeys, couldn’t have felt more in the right place! Even though it was slightly stressful, getting our tired donkeys through crowds of people (some of whom found it very entertaining to kick the donkeys), it got me laughing quite a lot seeing almost everybody take their phones out to take pictures of us. It’s also in Bethlehem that we finally found a pharmacy to get our limping mare bandages. We really thought her legs were going to give out any minute. <br /><br />Further on, crossing Bab-as-Kaak, a policeman regulating the circulation signalled us to cross when the lights had turned green and hastily took out his phone to take a picture of us, as well. The last part of our traverse was the longest; going all the way up to Beit Jala then Cremisan. But then we’d arrived! And looking back at the day, it didn’t feel like it took so long (8 hours).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RkSsej8Eq3E/TdPffTRyBvI/AAAAAAAAANA/ixQNVhBWpJQ/s1600/DSC02439.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RkSsej8Eq3E/TdPffTRyBvI/AAAAAAAAANA/ixQNVhBWpJQ/s400/DSC02439.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608071689850193650" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Nearly there ! </span><br /><br />Abed welcomed us at the top of his drive and we quickly tethered the donkeys before celebrating our success, I guess I can call it that. Only to come back to them a few minutes later to take their improvised saddles off and get them water. Alice stayed the night to help out with them in the morning. And now, Abed is all set with his own fleet of water tankers!whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-52876986906295079262010-11-04T11:12:00.002+02:002010-11-04T11:16:40.144+02:00Of fish and Faidherbia......Impelled by enthusiasm brought by Phil and Lorena rejoining the project in July after their <a href="http://byspokes.org">epic bike ride</a> to Palestine from the UK, we mounted an expedition to bring tilapia fish to the wadi cistern to kick-start our new fish-farming project. <br /><br />A friendly fish farmer on the River Jordan, volunteered several hundred fingerlings, which posed us with the challenge of transporting the fish the length of the Jordan Valley, by then a forbidding inferno of sun cracked rock, without baking them alive. Having no vehicle of our own, we usually hitchhike, but with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees every day of August and being wise to the complications presented by hitchhiking with live fish (this would not be my first time), we resolved we would need help to safely deliver the perishable cargo. Persuaded by the promise of swimming in the freshwater of the lake, Magda and Andrea (friends living in Beit Sahour) agreed to drive their little Renault van. As the military checkpoints on the road prevented us from squeezing more people in to van than its two seats allowed, Phil, Lorena, and I would hitch. We planned to meet after the last checkpoint at a Crusader fortress called the Star of the Winds, where it is rumoured the rarest tree in Palestine, Faidherbia albidia, can still be found on the mountain slopes beneath the castle. I hoped to collect seeds. From there we would travel north together to camp on the bank of the River Jordan close to the fish farm to collect the fish early in the morning and drive them back to the farm before the day hit boiling point. As we set out that early summer morning, we were expecting heat, but I don’t think any one of us could imagine just what lay in store for us. <br /><br />Setting out at dawn, we quickly descended the mountain slopes in a series of rides (Fellaheen, Bedouin, Settlers) down through the shabby Arab towns, across the steeply sloping desert whose pink and white rock shone in the bright morning light, down, down under sea level to the deep blue Dead Sea, laid still as a corpse on the floor of the Rift Valley surrounded by a plane of blinding white salt. Outside Jericho, huddled in a shrinking pool of shade cast by a road sign eventually we flagged down a driver. Winding down the window a little the driver a young man squinted at the bright reflected light “I’m bound to Bet She’an!” he shouted in Hebrew, confusing heat with noise and added in pre-emption of any panic once we were in the car, “You understand I am Arab?” Replying in broken Arabic I assured him that was not a problem for us and we gratefully jumped into the car. The thermometer on the dashboard informed us the temperature was 47 degrees. The time was only nine O’clock. At some point in the conversation we spun along the long valley road he admitted that he was afraid we were settlers with a plan to kill him. He would not have stopped had we not looked so desperate. Perhaps he felt guilty for having not trusted us because he drove us 10 km beyond his junction, leaving us under the mountain crowned by the Fortress of the Star of the Winds. The thermometer read 51 degrees. The time was one O’clock. <br /><br />Our forlorn trio stood sinking into the tarmac of the road as we gazed up at the mountain, its broad tan swell, the castle only just discernable, stood infinitely remote on the summit. A single road, a ribbon of tarmac, wound up the pleated flanks and disappeared over the horizon to the right of the peak. Blinking, my eyelids folded rather than slid over my dried eyeballs. No wind stirred the brittle golden thistles of the verge. We set out through a grove of Christ-thorn Jujube trees (Zizyphus spina –christi), their tangled white trunks naked but for the last vestiges of dry foliage. Seen through the heat bent the air, the trees appeared to melt then crystallise into fierce spines. In a futile attempt to head-off feelings of despair I extolled the virtues of the elusive Faidherbia tree and, attempting to rally the spirit of adventure, tried “nothing worth having comes easy” and “A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions”. Not even I was convinced.<br /><br />There was no time for dissent. Lorena made it 100m meters until complaining that her earrings where burning in her ears, took refuge under the first bush and, quite sensibly, refused to go on. After all, Magda and Andrea would follow this way in the little van. But van or no van it was clear to me the lure of copious fresh water would overwhelm my urgings so I resolved to use all the remaining time until their arrival to find my trees. Phil conceded to accompany me but almost immediately began to regret his decision. After the grove of Jujube trees the track climbed steeply up the treeless slopes. We were walking fast in the knowledge that we needed to get out of the sun and that we must find these trees before our rescue party could save us from ourselves. After half an hour of climbing and still no sign of a Faidherbia we began to feel a bit queer. Nothing serious, just a tingling in the arms and legs and a sense of wellbeing incongruous with our situation. I attributed the tingling to the fact that I was not getting enough oxygen into my body to maintain our rapid pace. It seemed reasonable to me that upon sensing the atmosphere to be moustache-stingingly hot, one’s physiological response is to protect the lungs by not sucking the stuff in. Deliberately, I breathed more deeply. Sharing my observations with Phil he confirmed my symptoms and added with detachment, between gasps, that he was experiencing a euphoric delirium akin to the nitrogen narcosis experienced by divers who go too deep for too long. Now analogous to a fatal condition, our state gave us cause for mild concern. We reviewed our situation: Having drunk almost continuously since setting off half an hour ago we reasoned we could not yet be dehydrated. Our heads where well covered but nevertheless concluded that hastening up a mountain with no shade, at midday, in August, in the Jordan Valley was a sure way of inducing hyperthermia. Predicting a cool breeze on the mountain top and the welcoming shade of the fortress we resolved to go on. <br /> <br /><br />Our folly was soon rewarded when nearing the crest of the ridge, there silhouetted above us on the horizon, a file of twisted-trunked trees with thin crowns. Upon closer inspection the trees were even stranger with short thick gnarled trunks, contorted branches bent down under their own weight and liberally scattered with small but incredibly sharp spines (Although careful to avoid the spines I picked my finger the moment I reached out to touch a leaf). The leaves, shaped like those of a mimosa, were delicate, tiny and few. The trees were small and spaced apart but numbered several hundred. The shade they offered, though sparse, was welcome. As we walked on the searching for a tree in fruit in the hope of collecting the seed, we saw a big old tree whose branches came down to the ground. “I’m waiting here for the van,” declared Phil. I walked on to the summit in the vain hope of collecting seeds. <br /><br />The stand of Faidherbia trees ended as abruptly as it began, numbering only a few hundred trees. I saw neither flowers nor fruit. My dead-end, burning path climbed gently along the bare ridge to the castle whose approach was lined with old carob trees each oddly dense in this lofty world dissipating into the bright heat. The castle stood abandoned on the peak. Alone I bridged the deep moat entering the gate of a symmetrical temple of massive stones neatly placed on vertical walls arranged in concentric rings. Griffon vultures hopped and hunched on the battlement from where the land fell away. Far below in the depths of the Jordan Valley, like pooled mercury, lay the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, and, far off in the haze, a sliver of silver which could only be the Mediterranean Sea. A triangulation of hope, infinitely remote in this cruel theatre of war. The Star of the Winds: a temple to Futility. <br /> <br /><br />Gazing on the great stones of the crumbling walls stacked on the brink, I fancied I knew how Sisyphus feels as he begins his descent. I’ll be back in another season in the hope of collecting Faidherbia seeds and maybe many times after that. Maybe the trees have lost their pollinator species. Maybe they stopped fruiting decades ago (I observed no young trees). But if the task be futile and hope absurd, then I must be content I reached the top of the mountain and found my trees. As Camus puts it, "The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." <br /><br />Returning to the bridge over the moat I encountered the others small and quiet wandering scattered between the great walls of the ruin. Packed like tined sardines in the back of the scorching Renault van we descended the mountain track back into the Jordan Valley Highway and there turned North to where the River flows out of the lake. Panting in a pool of our mingling sweat we silently tolerated conditions illegal since the passing of animal welfare legislation for the transport of livestock. <br /><br />Tumbling to the dust from the back of the van we dashed for the glassy green water without even removing our clothes. We bathed in the flow for hours watching the kingfishers perched in the over-arching green of tall eucalyptus trees until dusk. The Jordan under Israel has morphed into a billabong. Exhausted we slept there on bank between the water of the Jordan and a canal of sewage. It was a foul spot but we hadn’t the energy to search for another. As we rested the coypu emerged from their burrows frolicked around our sleeping forms plunging noisily into the river. <br /><br />At dawn we returned to the van and after breakfast in a bland kibbutz we drove south to the meet Roy, our friendly fish farmer. He drove us around the artificial rectangular lakes where for 18 years he has been raising fish. We smelt the fish before we saw them. The surface of the water boiled as the fish slid over one another. The seagulls picked at the pale bloated corpses lining the shore. The survivors gaped in water hot to touch. “We used to treat for fresh water diseases but now the water has become so saline we treat for marine diseases” he informed us. Hot and boring fast we were shown lake after lake full of desperate fish. “There are 2000 to 3000 fish per meter cubed.” From the shallows of one lagoon he netted hundreds of tiny tilapia fish – our precious cargo. Fistfulls of their silvery forms were cast into a cardboard box lined with a plastic bag. The temperature of the water was cooled by the addition of chilled water and an atmosphere of oxygen pumped in before the bag was sealed. Now the race was on. After a hasty farewell we waved the goodbye to the Renault heading South on Route 90. They would stop at each service station on the road to add ice to the fishes’ water.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Reluctantly we began to hitch home. A haze of blasé surrounds my memories of a series of rides with soldiers, uniforms and guns checkpoints etc… Occupation lite. Hitching with a Palestinian (Jerusalem ID but living illegally in Hebron), the road was so hot one of the car’s tyres bust as he was buying us iced grapefruit juice. His shaved head and fat neck looked like melting wax as he struggled to align the bolt holes on the hub. Thankfully he drove us to into Beit Sahour from where we could walk home and release the fish found already floating in their bag in the cistern as they had been left by Magda and Andrea.whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-29242278697164962612010-06-19T09:46:00.003+03:002010-06-19T09:49:25.162+03:00Permaculture and Empowerment in Palestine<span style="font-style:italic;">By Alice Gray, first published in Permaculture Activist, June 2010</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“Nations and peoples are largely the stories they tell themselves. If they tell themselves stories that are lies, they will suffer the future consequences of those lies. If they tell themselves stories that face their own truths, they will free their histories for future flowerings.” (Ben Okri)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span><br /><br />The Middle East has long been a place for beginnings. It was here that people first began to practice agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago, here that the first cities were established, and here that 3 major monotheistic religions were born. It is a place for questions and for seeking answers, and so perhaps it is appropriate that we should have chosen this venue to start our own search for answers to perhaps the most important question of our time: how can we live sustainably?<br /><br />Such a simple question, it seems the answer too should be simple. And yet, in the world we live in, where global climate change, loss of biodiversity and toxification of the environment are all daily realities, it is clear that we do not have that answer. In fact it is increasingly clear that the ‘status quo’ for human existence on this planet, particularly in our so-called ‘developed’ nations, is one of environmental destruction.<br /><br />A rudimentary examination of global resource flows or ecological footprinting can tell us that developed nations are consuming the vast majority of the world’s ecological wealth. It is a cliché these days to say that if everybody lived like Americans we would need 10 planets to support us. Another almost equally obvious although less frequently acknowledged fact is that this monopolisation of resources is being enforced through military coercion. Resource war, like climate change, is not a frightening story of what tomorrow may bring, but a horrific reality of today. In the Middle East, where Iraq lies smouldering in ruins and the brutal summers are getting longer and dryer year by year, both are already far too much in evidence.<br /><br />Palestine is a special place: a tiny Mediterranean coastal strip on the edge of the Naqab desert, and a brief flush of mountains between the bulwark of Israel on one side and the Judean desert on the other form the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively. It is a land of ancient stone terraces and olive groves, of almond blossom and minarets; but also of military occupation and active colonisation, where the call to prayer mingles with the hum of fighter jets overhead, and wild flowers grow between the razorwire and the watchtowers of the Occupation.<br /><br />To live in Palestine is as if to live beneath a magnifying glass. It is a place of conflict where two worlds meet and clash within a scant 6200 square kilometres of land; and control of and access to resources play very directly into politics of power and oppression. A country of extremes and extreme contrasts: it is like a microcosm of global problems, where everything is exaggerated and condensed.<br /><br />A red-roofed Israeli settlement perches on a West Bank hilltop: the epitome of modernity. Sprinklers play across well watered lawns, swimming pools shimmer in the ever-present sun and air-conditioning units hum in neat brick houses. Connected to Israel by well-surfaced roads, the well-to-do residents, who are the recipients of numerous tax-breaks and government-funded utility subsidies for their participation in this colonisation project, are able to zoom back and forth unimpeded; going about their business without ever coming into contact with or barely even seeing another world that hovers close by.<br /><br />At the foot of the hill, a scant stones’ throw away, a Palestinian village nestles in the valley. Caught between the settlement on one side and its access road on the other (which is out-of bounds to Palestinians), the village is practically encircled by a razorwire fence. The narrow streets that wind between the old stone houses are potholed and choked with rubbish and dust; the gardens wilted and dry. Water supply in the summer is intermittent at best and non-existent at worst. People scratch a living; the agricultural land from which they used to support themselves is either rendered inaccessible by the encircling fence or ruined by untreated sewage pouring down the hill from the settlement above, or from the village itself.<br /><br />This spectacle is familiar to anybody who has spent time in the West Bank and could refer to literally hundreds of villages, from Jenin governorate in the north to Hebron in the south. These marked contrasts are not only the product of cultural differences (which may explain differences in dress, language and architecture), but of a carefully orchestrated and brutally enforced program of colonisation and control that is designed to create and reinforce privilege and power. In the case of the Israeli settler movement in the West Bank this is motivated by a religious-nationalist agenda; but once you start to understand this pattern, you begin to see it operating everywhere, and at every scale.<br /><br />Breaking it down, we see that it rests on two main pillars: appropriation of resources and control over their production and distribution to benefit an ‘elite’; and disenfranchisement and subjugation of an ‘underclass’ to create a dynamic of dependency and thus of control; both backed by military might.<br /><br />Looking again at the Israeli settlement and the Palestinian village, and the great gulf in privilege between them, we can see this pattern in action very clearly. Perhaps the issue of access to water, that most vital of life-giving resources, is a good illustration. Why is it that the settlers are so much better off in this respect than the Palestinians? Is it lack of organisation on the part of the Arabs? Is it that there is not enough water to go around, and so someone has to lose out?<br /><br />Looking beneath the surface, it becomes apparent that the answer to both questions is no. Despite the aridity of the Middle East in general, there is enough water in naturally occurring resources inside Israel and the Palestinian Territories for everyone to receive the World Health Organisation recommendation of 100 litres per person per day to cover their basic needs; and still have a substantial amount left over for agricultural and industrial purposes (see below for the basic sums).<br /><br />Total sustainable yield of main natural water resources in Israel and the OPT (million cubic metres per year) About 1800<br />Total population of Israel and the OPT About 10 000 000<br />Total annual water requirement for everyone to receive 100 litres per person per day (million cubic metres per year) (10 000 000 x 100 x 365) / 1000 000 000<br />= 365<br />Remainder (million cubic metres per year) 1435<br />.<br />In spite of this, average water supply to Palestinians in the West Bank is a scanty 50 litres per person per day (just half of the World Health Organisation recommended minimum) while Israeli settlers living in the same area receive an unlimited supply. Across the board (including industrial and agricultural water use), on a per capita basis, Israelis have access to four times as much water as Palestinians according to the World Bank’s most recent water development report.<br /><br />This inequality is no coincidence. It is well documented that Israel has maintained a strangle-hold on Palestinian water development: first under the Israeli Civil Administration from 1967-1995, and then under the terms of the Oslo Interim Agreement, in force from 1995 until the present. Organisations working in the sector, from Amnesty International to Oxfam to the World Bank have drawn the same conclusion . A similar story applies to other development sectors such as wastewater or solid waste management.<br /><br />The upshot of this monopolisation of resources and strangulation of development is one of both human suffering and environmental destruction, as not only the people and their culture but also the very fabric of the country crumble under the strain. Food, water and economic insecurity are commonplace in Palestinian communities; while 90% of sewage goes untreated, choking the wadis and poisoning the soil, and the air is thick with the fumes of burning garbage. In the West Bank, Israel controls 60% of the land and 80% of the water, while in Gaza, where 1.5 million people are crammed into a scarce 365 km2 of land, there are insufficient resources to support the population and incessant border closures (not to mention bombings) have created widespread hardship.<br /><br />The gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ is wide and widening. In 2005, Israel’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita was almost eighteen times the Palestinian GNI per capita. Militarily and economically, the power dynamics are clear. Does this pattern seem familiar yet? Looking around the world at the global trade system, the issue of Third World Debt, the interventionist foreign policies of Western nations; and back at a long history of Western imperialism and colonialism, it is hard not to see a parallel . Both within and between countries, this culture of exploitation deeply permeates our societies; ensuring that the world is arranged to benefit a few powerful elites at the expense of the majority of people and the fabric of the planet. <br /><br />How can we overcome these dynamics of oppression and destruction, whether as unwilling participants in exploitative systems or as victims of those systems? Whilst systemic change is clearly desirable, action at the individual and community level is more immediately obtainable and will have more tangible consequences in our lives. Permaculture is one route to effect such change, essentially taking back control over our patterns of consumption and disposal and placing ourselves at the centre of a conscious interaction with the world. Permaculture is about reimagining our relationship with the rest of existence, and finding within ourselves the creativity to live in a way that enhances the world, rather than destroying it. <br /><br />Which brings us back to Bustan Qaraaqa: a four-acre permaculture farm on the edge of the Judean desert in the West Bank town of Beit Sahour close to the city of Bethlehem. Bustan Qaraaqa is an experiment in sustainable living and food production, seeking to support and empower Palestinians to obtain the resources they need from the environment around them, whilst also managing their environmental impacts to turn the tide of destruction that is destroying their country. Bustan Qaraaqa is about demonstrating what individuals and communities can do, even under military occupation, to take control of their situation and to create in the midst of destruction. <br /><br />We are using techniques such as rainwater harvesting and grey-water recycling to augment water supplies. Composting toilets save water and prevent sewage pollution. Composting of food waste and cardboard provides a valuable resource for growing food, as well as taking care of a good deal of household waste; and green-building techniques such as using tyres stuffed with rubbish as bricks make for cheap structures that also help clean up the country.<br /><br />Beit Sahour is one of the hottest and driest towns in the West Bank, which presents the perfect testing ground for drought-tolerant, low water input food production techniques. Using a combination of drip irrigation and mulching, we are attempting to minimize water input whilst maximizing soil moisture content. We are also experimenting with companion planting and agroforestry techniques to develop robust ecosystems that supply a variety of goods and services, from building materials to food and medicines. We have managed to develop the only native tree nursery in the Palestinian Territories, and are making its products freely available to the surrounding community for agroforestry, ecosystem restoration and community gardening projects. <br /><br />The founders of the farm are British by origin, and we are finding a warm welcome in the Palestinian community that hosts us, building strong partnerships with Palestinian farmers and organisations. In addition, we are finding friends across the border, in the ‘green’ community in Israel, who are keen to connect with and support Palestinians in obtaining their environmental rights and resisting the oppressive dynamics of the Israeli occupation. Working alongside Israelis and Palestinians, we are realising more and more the truth of the statement by Bill Mollison, one of the fathers of the permaculture concept that: “A person of courage today is a person of peace. The courage we need is to refuse authority and accept only personally responsible decisions.”whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-41793542968915566772009-12-17T18:14:00.003+02:002009-12-17T18:25:28.157+02:00Tree Planting @ Ra'ed's LandThese pictires are from a tree planting event we did at Ra'ed's land near the village of Um Salamoneh. This land is threatened with confiscation to make way for a cemetery for settlers. Ra'ed contested the confiscation in the Israeli High Court and won a ruling that he can keep any land that he has 'developed' by December 31st this year. He has 90 dunums (9 hectares) of land. Of this, any left undeveloped will be confiscated by the Israeli state under Ottoman Land Law, which allows the state to confiscate any land left fallow for a period of 3-7 years. <br /><br />Bustan Qaraaqa donated 50 trees to Ra'ed and spent a fantastic day planting them with him and his family.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZRCUhD9I/AAAAAAAAAMY/fb_XNRME0VA/s1600-h/DSCF6896.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZRCUhD9I/AAAAAAAAAMY/fb_XNRME0VA/s400/DSCF6896.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416239651082014674" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZQ_l8t5I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/ELa0K4MKBtw/s1600-h/DSCF6898.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZQ_l8t5I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/ELa0K4MKBtw/s400/DSCF6898.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416239650349823890" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZQsjpR1I/AAAAAAAAAMI/gPqnlt0iXtY/s1600-h/DSCF6894.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZQsjpR1I/AAAAAAAAAMI/gPqnlt0iXtY/s400/DSCF6894.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416239645239887698" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZQR_cK6I/AAAAAAAAAMA/0o6P-y1q33U/s1600-h/DSCF6874.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZQR_cK6I/AAAAAAAAAMA/0o6P-y1q33U/s400/DSCF6874.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416239638108711842" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZQL5HH6I/AAAAAAAAAL4/-zOOfD2qLtk/s1600-h/DSCF6851.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypZQL5HH6I/AAAAAAAAAL4/-zOOfD2qLtk/s400/DSCF6851.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416239636471553954" /></a>whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-60393436957152447452009-12-17T18:09:00.002+02:002009-12-17T18:27:42.246+02:00Earth-building @ PaidiaThis earth-building project is part of a wider plan to develop the new Paidia Headquarters into a permaculture site - demonstrating to the kids participating in the Paidia programmes the possibilities for grassroots environmental action for land and people. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypYH1B29cI/AAAAAAAAALw/rOAYFxlZEQQ/s1600-h/IMG_4051.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 336px; height: 393px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypYH1B29cI/AAAAAAAAALw/rOAYFxlZEQQ/s400/IMG_4051.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416238393383646658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypYHqgkQqI/AAAAAAAAALo/fwQ-PL4flAw/s1600-h/IMG_4050.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 336px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypYHqgkQqI/AAAAAAAAALo/fwQ-PL4flAw/s400/IMG_4050.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416238390559654562" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypYHRBCzkI/AAAAAAAAALg/u33SvpAteYU/s1600-h/IMG_4042.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypYHRBCzkI/AAAAAAAAALg/u33SvpAteYU/s400/IMG_4042.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416238383716552258" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypYHHS7P-I/AAAAAAAAALY/XA7kOcQEHms/s1600-h/IMG_4027.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypYHHS7P-I/AAAAAAAAALY/XA7kOcQEHms/s400/IMG_4027.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416238381107199970" /></a>whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-71629928053861442192009-12-17T18:01:00.001+02:002009-12-17T18:06:59.014+02:00More snaps from Tree Planting Workshops<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWhupmLzI/AAAAAAAAALQ/j7NVwWmFFiw/s1600-h/P1060369.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWhupmLzI/AAAAAAAAALQ/j7NVwWmFFiw/s400/P1060369.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416236639324614450" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWhXRtlWI/AAAAAAAAALI/v7zGoAyNMok/s1600-h/P1060364.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWhXRtlWI/AAAAAAAAALI/v7zGoAyNMok/s400/P1060364.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416236633050420578" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWhGRw-jI/AAAAAAAAALA/YWItBHSSMq0/s1600-h/P1060362.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWhGRw-jI/AAAAAAAAALA/YWItBHSSMq0/s400/P1060362.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416236628487240242" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWg9QtPtI/AAAAAAAAAK4/m3UUDEzAp24/s1600-h/DSCF6616.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWg9QtPtI/AAAAAAAAAK4/m3UUDEzAp24/s400/DSCF6616.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416236626066882258" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWgvClAiI/AAAAAAAAAKw/2ZuFOyB2UH0/s1600-h/DSCF6592.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SypWgvClAiI/AAAAAAAAAKw/2ZuFOyB2UH0/s400/DSCF6592.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416236622249525794" /></a>whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-71480953482162660962009-11-20T20:33:00.002+02:002009-11-20T20:43:03.946+02:00The Tree Planting Season has started!The winter rains are now falling in Palestine and so, taking full advantage of the season, we have begun to plant the trees we have been raising in our nursery all year.<br /><br />Fortuitously, just at the right moment, a group called Juzoor (www.juzoor.org) have come forward to cooperate with us, bringing groups of school children to do tree planting workshops at Bustan Qaraaqa. <br /><br />So now we are well on the way to making a little forest across our site, producing a variety of goods and services from food to fuel to soil improvement and erosion control. <br /><br />Here are a few snaps from recent workshops:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbjAjKk4GI/AAAAAAAAAKo/83d69Xf3QOo/s1600/DSCF6309.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbjAjKk4GI/AAAAAAAAAKo/83d69Xf3QOo/s320/DSCF6309.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406258001283965026" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbjAagnL4I/AAAAAAAAAKg/dVW0Fo0wce0/s1600/DSCF6151.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbjAagnL4I/AAAAAAAAAKg/dVW0Fo0wce0/s320/DSCF6151.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406257998960471938" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbjAUVAlFI/AAAAAAAAAKY/q5BuX12qTxY/s1600/DSCF6118.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbjAUVAlFI/AAAAAAAAAKY/q5BuX12qTxY/s320/DSCF6118.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406257997301191762" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbjAPqx3lI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/EgP9mQc5tMs/s1600/DSCF6060.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbjAPqx3lI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/EgP9mQc5tMs/s320/DSCF6060.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406257996050325074" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/Swbi_xqpecI/AAAAAAAAAKI/afSD3M4ZM_s/s1600/DSCF6049.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/Swbi_xqpecI/AAAAAAAAAKI/afSD3M4ZM_s/s320/DSCF6049.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406257987996711362" /></a>whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-78598594512561810062009-11-20T20:24:00.002+02:002009-11-20T20:32:17.828+02:00Photos from the Olive HarvestHere are a few snaps from the Bustan Qaraaqa olive harvest back in October. Like everyone in Palestine, we did not get a particularly good crop this year - the combined effects of 2 years of drought, unseasonal hot winds destroying blossoms in the flowering season, and the cropping cycles of olive trees made for a particularly bad year. <br /><br />Nevertheless, we enjoyed the days spent in the olive grove, hunting the elusive fruits amongst the leaves, and eventually we drought in 20 kg of olives (down from a crop of 150kg last year). <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/Swbghl-vk3I/AAAAAAAAAKA/DRnkXl1uQjw/s1600/DSCF5564.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/Swbghl-vk3I/AAAAAAAAAKA/DRnkXl1uQjw/s320/DSCF5564.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406255270440440690" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbghlCd49I/AAAAAAAAAJ4/n4IrbO0pSAM/s1600/DSCF5555.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbghlCd49I/AAAAAAAAAJ4/n4IrbO0pSAM/s320/DSCF5555.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406255270187623378" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbghE7XYtI/AAAAAAAAAJw/FPlYpZoRyAs/s1600/DSCF5551.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbghE7XYtI/AAAAAAAAAJw/FPlYpZoRyAs/s320/DSCF5551.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406255261567902418" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbghFcH7JI/AAAAAAAAAJo/DPIMcc1auek/s1600/DSCF5517.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SwbghFcH7JI/AAAAAAAAAJo/DPIMcc1auek/s320/DSCF5517.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406255261705301138" /></a>whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-45290221956684310062009-10-14T16:40:00.003+02:002009-10-14T16:45:02.261+02:00Olive Harvest at Bustan Qaraaqa: Friday October 23rd - Sunday October 25th<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/StXje8gzrEI/AAAAAAAAAJg/kPMkLCIrKKg/s1600-h/2245+Olive+Tree+Deir-Hanna+Israel.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/StXje8gzrEI/AAAAAAAAAJg/kPMkLCIrKKg/s320/2245+Olive+Tree+Deir-Hanna+Israel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392466249625349186" /></a><br /><br />Come and help us bring our olive harvest in and enjoy a few days of outside activity! We have over 60 olive trees on the site and need some extra hands to gather the crop.<br /><br />Work will be starting from 9.30am onwards, to until it gets dark. Bring a bit of food for a picnic or for a barbeque in the evenings and enjoy our site!<br /><br />Call us on 02 2748994 if you need directions to get here. Accomodation is available in our <A HREF="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org/al2/web/page/display/id/10.html">guesthouse</A> if you would like to make a weekend of it. Just give us a call or an email in advance to let us know you will be staying.<br /><br />Hope to see you here,<br /><br />with love from<br /><br />the Bustan Qaraaqa team<br />xwhirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-31598671658173362702009-10-09T11:53:00.002+02:002009-10-09T11:59:56.342+02:00October NewsletterDear friends,<br /><br />October has arrived, bringing with it some let up in the furnace-like heat we have been experiencing over the last few months and even a little life-giving rain; and it seems that both we and our tree nursery have survived another Middle Eastern summer. Al hamdoolilah. Of course, far from enjoying the respite from the physical ordeal of the extreme heat, most of our neighbours have spent the last month fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, taking neither food nor water between sun-up and sun-down. Since the sun rises at about 6am and goes down at 7.30pm and temperatures are still topping 30˚C in the middle of the day, this is no mean feat, and one that we decadent Westerners are only too happy to forego.<br /><br />The summer has passed in something of a haze, and it seems a very long time since we were enjoying eating all the spring greens and admiring the wild flowers. A lot of our time and thought since then have been used up in bringing ourselves and the farm through the water crisis, which seemed to bite even harder this year than the last. This is possibly because we have had on average about 3 times as many people at the farm compared to last summer, and also have had much greater water commitments to keep all our trees alive. Nonetheless, cut-offs have been frequent and lengthy, with the longest lasting for 26 days in July. <br /><br />When there was water coming through the pipes, it did not have sufficient pressure to reach the roof tanks that supply the house, and so we were only able to fill lower tanks (meaning there was no water inside the house for more than 2 months). Episodes of water supply would only last a few hours every few weeks, and each time we would scramble to fill as many containers as possible, knowing that whatever we could store would have to last us and our plants, trees and animals for many days, weeks or even a month. <br /><br />I think very few of us will ever think about water in the same way again after this summer. We will be forever flinching at taps left running for no reason, horrified by the idea of the wastage of this most vital resource. Particularly sobering is the knowledge that we are probably better off than over half of the Palestinian population of the West Bank and the vast majority of Gazans. At least we have a pipeline to our house (over 250 000 West Bankers do not). At least the water coming out of it is drinkable (over 90% of the water in the Gaza network does not meet international drinking water standards). <br /><br />To cope with the water shortage we developed some fairly rough and ready but nonetheless effective strategies. Our first problem was obviously one of conservation – how to use the water available to us in the most efficient way possible. On average, Americans, Europeans and Israelis use about 150 litres of water per person per day in their homes to maintain the sort of lifestyle we are used to (showers, washing machines, flush toilets etc). This water use is broken up as follows:<br /><br />Toilet flush: 29%<br />Toilet leaks: 5%<br />Dish washing: 3%<br />Bath: 9%<br />Taps: 12%<br />Shower:21%<br />Washing Machine: 21%<br /><br />If we did that at Bustan Qaraaqa, we would be in bad trouble and fast. With an average of 10 people at the house we would need 1500 litres of water per day just for the people, never mind the plants (which require at least 3000 litres per week). We have a storage capacity in and around the house of just 16 cubic metres (16 000 litres), so we would not last very long (and certainly not 26 days). Fortunately, because we have a composting toilet, we already cut out about 34% of this total (toilet flush and toilet leaks). Just this one thing saved us about 500 litres of water per day, and prevented us from contributing to the huge untreated sewage stream pouring out of Bethlehem into the Judean desert to poison streams, soil and groundwater. <br /><br />Just the other day I turned the first of our ‘humanure’ heaps that has been ‘cooling off’ for the last 9 months (meaning that we didn’t add anything to it, except the occasional bucket of greywater to stop it drying out). I was able to reflect on the beautiful alchemy of nature as I heaved spades full of rich, dark, good-smelling compost teaming with soil invertebrates into a heap to be used for tree planting this autumn and spring. How much better than a poisoned stream is this? <br /><br />After the toilet, the next biggest water users in a normal household are showers and washing machines, at about 30 litres per person per day each. To cut these quantities down, we developed The Ultimate Bustan Qaraaqa Conservation Shower, using one bucket of water to wash ourselves, our clothes and the floors. This is achieved by the simple expedient of standing atop a pile of laundry and detergent in a large basin whilst washing so that all the water falls into the basin. Since our shower didn’t work for most of the summer due to the lack of water pressure, we would always wash with a bucket of water in any case, cutting 30 litres down to about 18. Once we had finished washing ourselves we would wash our clothes (stamping on them seems to be pretty effective), and then pour out the water to wash the floor. In our house all the water from the drains goes out to water plants via the greywater system, adding a fourth use to the list for just one bucket of water. <br /><br />Thanks to a generous donation by the Chaput family and a successful fundraising party in early June, we were able to fill and shade the new cistern and install a drip irrigation system for the tree nursery, giving us greater water security for our plants and saving us a lot of water and hours of work in the nursery. This also provided us with a place to cool off during the hottest hours of the day, when staff and volunteers were frequently to be found wallowing like hippopotami in the cool green water.<br /><br /> Another problem we had to overcome was one of water quality. Storing water for days on end in tanks that stand in the sun and are not completely sealed to incursions by lizards and birds at least places a question-mark over the wisdom of drinking the water without any form of treatment. Boiling the water is one way to ensure that it is sterile, but this takes a lot of energy (electric or gas). So instead we used the power of the ever-present sun to cleanse the water, laying it out on the roof in clear bottles for a day. A combination of the heat and the ultraviolet rays passing through it kills pathogens and renders it safe to drink. <br /><br />Building on this idea of using the sun’s energy, Tom and Julian spent several weeks designing and constructing a solar oven, using mirrors to focus the heat through a glass panel and into an insulated box. After some trial and error we found that this oven could reach a temperature of about 150°C during the hottest part of the day and was excellent for slow-cooking casseroles or roasting vegetables.<br /><br />In August we were proud to participate in the first ever Occupied Palestine and Golan Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI) volunteer camp, hosting groups of youths from all over the West Bank to learn about the mission of Bustan Qaraaqa and participate in green building activities with us; helping us to construct beds out of old tyres stuffed with rubbish and covered in cob in one of our empty caves. Hopefully this project will be completed soon and we will add another dormitory to our sleeping accomodation, in time for the Olive Harvest influx. <br /><br />Throughout the summer, we have continued to work with out good friend Abed Rabbo on his land in Al Wallaja, rebuilding water catchments around the trees and cutting back encroaching weeds. Unfortunately, Abed’s situation has worsened recently, with increasing attempts to expel him from his land by Israeli authorities. Abed has been arrested several times in the last few weeks and held at the police station in Talpiyot for questioning. It turns out that Abed’s ownership of his land is not in question, since he holds deeds stretching back to the time of the Ottoman empire. However, since the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem have been changed, the land is now classified as being inside Jerusalem despite being on the Palestinian side of the Green Line. Therefore it is now considered illegal for Abed to go to his land without a permit, which he does not currently have. <br /><br />Legal aid is being sought, and we are trying to support Abed by maintaining a presence at his land as much as possible to protect his trees and his possessions from interference, and to witness any violations of his human rights. We intend to continue to support him in developing his site, and hope to install a rainwater harvesting system before the winter, as he still lacks any piped water supply. We are currently seeking support for this project (we need about 3000 shekels or £500), so if you would like to help, please check our website (www.bustanqaraaqa.org) for channels of donation.<br /><br />And so having come through the summer, we are looking forward to our most exciting season yet. After we have harvested our olives in October/November we can begin the work of planting out the 2000 trees we have raised in our nursery this year. We plan to use approximately half of the trees on our own site to begin to establish a unique food forest, and to plant the other half with our partners in the local community, holding workshops with local schools, restoring degraded land, establishing community gardens and a number of other projects. We can also then begin to reseed and expand the nursery so that we have even more trees to plant next season. <br /><br />Bustan Qaraaqa will also see some staffing changes in the next season as our co-founder Steve and his lovely wife Rania will be leaving for the UK, where they will continue to network and work to support the farm. Our permanent staff on the ground in Palestine will therefore now consist of Alice, Tom and Roman (as ever) and new team member Lyra, who has rashly agreed to manage the guesthouse for us. We are also excited to welcome Daniel as a long-term volunteer for the coming year. <br /><br />As ever we have to thank our multitude of volunteers and supporters for their generous contributions to the project. In particular we thank the Chaput family, Imogen Bright, the British Shalom Salaam Trust, Phil Olive and M Hussein for their kind donations; Julian for funding and designing the solar oven; Adam for his continued work on the website; Phil and Mary for running around administering the project on the UK side; and Jared, Faith and Baha for their help with the fundraising party.<br /><br />That’s all for now. You can keep up with us in the coming months by checking our website (www.bustanqaraaqa.org) and our blog (www.greenintifada.blogspot.com) for news. We wish you all joy and light wheresoever you may be and we warmly invite you to join us at Bustan Qaraaqa for the coming season (it’s the Olive Harvest in October!).<br /><br />With love from<br /><br />Alice, Lyra, Nick, Roman, Rania, Steve and Tom<br /><br />The Bustan Qaraaqa team<br />xwhirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-4851832489005812252009-08-25T12:44:00.003+03:002009-08-25T13:24:56.508+03:00Solidarity Demonstration in Beit OmmarThe staff of Bustan Qaraaqa first became interested in the work of the Palestinian Solidarity Project (PSP, linked above) in Beit Ommar because of the organic farm projects being conducted by the locals of the village with the support of PSP.<br /><br />We went down to meet them on Wednesday 19 August to compared notes on their cistern and our recently built cistern. They displayed an impressive commitment to organic farming techniques, and we made plans to return on friday morning to see the land confiscation issues that they were currently facing. We were interested in seeing firsthand the difficulties the local farmers are facing with recent settlement buildup nearby. <br /><br />Four members of Bustan Qaraaqa's staff joined the group in the most recent Green Intifada action. All told there were about 40 demonstrators there including members of international NGOs, Palestinian Nationals, and concerned Israeli Citizens alike.<br /><br />Beit Ommar is a suburb of Hebron that is being chipped away at by a settlement which continues to creep closer to the houseline of the village. The fence that surrounds the houses in the settlement is further surrounded by a security fence that cuts directly into currently used Palestinian farmland. The security fence is now less than 100 meters away from the nearist Beit Ommari house.<br /><br />Every friday the families of the farmers gather at the gate to the security fence where the children fly flags, and the men of the families who have all been arrested many times argue and raise their voices when the first dusty Hum Vee with state of the art suspension screams over a rocky hill and skids up to the gate.<br /><br />Technically you can't be within 50 meters of the fence on the palestinian side, further adding to the frustrations of the farmers whose farms not only reach right up to the edge of the security fence, but are also partially located on the other side. Farmers who want to work their land on the other side of that fence have to go through a lengthy permit process which disables them from adequately maintaining their crops.<br /><br />Touching the fence is cause for live ammunition against Palestinians, though not internationals. This doesn't stop the old farmers from grabbing hold of the razor wire each friday while he prays and wails about what has happened in front of the soldiers, and our little crowd. But he backs off early, in fact none of the Palestinians stay very long at the gate itself when the settlement police join the soldiers at the gate.<br /><br />But the settlement police bring a harsh tone to the demonstration. These are angry men who are ideologically committed to the settlement and scream absurd obscenities about the white internationals being part of the holocaust. They even manage to lighten up the soldiers mood a little bit by being so off the wall. But they are not joking, and they have the key to the gate. <br /><br />Last friday we backed off the gate before they managed to unlock it, and retreated to a safe distance. However as soon as the settlement security officer unlocked the gate the soldiers pursued us at a quick trot down the dirt road up to the edge of the village. An older soldier grabbed a young local beit ommari boy by the arm, but he quickly slid away with a twist and bolted away with remarkable determination and speed. <br /><br />We were trying to get between those soldiers and the Ommaris when they grabbed one of our staff, seemingly out of nowhere. <br /><br />An Israeli friend on the scene told us later that our staff member was singled out because he had untwisted a bit of tangled up razor wire, and did not stop when the four original soldiers apparently told him to. He writhed and fought and tried to run as best as he could while the other demonstrators helplessly watched the struggle unfold, but there were too many of them. They eventually carried our staff member back up through the gate one soldier for each limb before binding him hand and foot with those little plastic ties that lock into themselves and must be cut to be taken off. As they carried him off, one of the soldiers who thought our staff member was a Palestinian national declared that he would now serve a two year sentence for what he had done.<br /><br />The soldiers were young, and not unfriendly. They had the air of people who were doing their jobs. One of the soldiers asked if our staff member wanted a hat to get out of the sun. He kindly provided a wide brimmed green military cap. This enraged the the settlement officer who became immediately furious, and began to scream at the soldier. Before long he was beet-red with anger and ripped the cap from our man's head.<br /><br />He was taken to Kiryat Arba where he was charged with being in an illegal area, and destruction of a security fence.<br /><br />Eventually our staff member, an American from Brooklyn (not a Palestinian national), was released under the condition that he did not go to any other Palestinian district except Bethlehem for 15 days.<br /><br />Internationals recieve a slap on the wrist. That's why we stood between them and the Beit Ommaris.whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-76894304578073470392009-08-03T16:14:00.001+03:002009-08-03T16:17:11.812+03:00Searching for rural bliss in Palestine........July 18, 2009 by jordanpilgrim<br /><br />…. which would be a rather hopeless search if by bliss you mean that idle idyll which we townies sometimes yearn for till the hard economic facts of country life dispel the dream. And you do not have much harsher economic facts in farming than in Palestine, with its walls and barriers and water controls. But what I was looking for was hope in the land itself: that it could for the future provide a worthwhile living for its people, sustaining them both materially and in their struggle to keep the spirit of their nation alive.<br /><br />So I started in a city – Nablus<br /><br />I’d been a few times before and sometimes wondered how to encourage the citizens to grow more of their own food. Now I am seeing gardens everywhere, in nooks, in corners, in the courtyards of the grand old houses with their carefully designed doorways and arched passages and shaded cool spaces. I’m wondering what the women would have wanted to see by way of planting as they contemplate the scene from their upper-floor windows.<br /><br />I go back to the city later in the week and discover a youth club where they are crying out for someone to teach gardening. Social and Therapeutic Horticulture better still. But there is only one of me, I plead, making my escape; and I don’t think you can afford to pay me. Then they told me about Ali in Jenin, who has against all the odds set up a gardening business: with the special angle that it is all about roof gardens. I’m tempted to tear up my schedule and go to track him down. But the youth club has a set of students doing media studies: maybe one of them could do it, as an assignment, a story to trace and an article to write.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Half an acre of hope</span><br /><br />Wild pigs are a headache for Murad – more than a nuisance, a pest he must defend against with stout fencing and thorny branches. The night before I arrive they breached his defences and rampaged across his land, destroying his experiment of growing three layers of crops from the same patch of ground: tall maize, mid-height beans, and melons, squashes or cucumbers along the ground. The pigs neatly picked the almonds off the tree. Shoot them ? Not allowed guns. Round them up and herd them into a truck and sell them for meat ? But who eats pork around here ? “An enemy hath done this”, as it says in the Bible. It’s not hard to share his suspicions.<br /><br />From Murad’s brother’s house where I am staying, at the southern edge of the village, it’s but a stone’s throw to a row of red-roofed, detached and quite swanky houses: Ariel, one of the largest of the illegal settlements. If you look at a map of the West Bank you will see it as a dagger-shape salient well inside the “Green Line”, almost cutting in half the northern part of what was supposed to be the territory of a Palestinian state. Marda, the village of Murad and his extended family, nestles against a steep slope. The Ariel houses squat on the crest. Just a few hundred metres of rock, thorn and olive in between. But there is also a brash new road up to the settlement, and a chain-mesh and razor-wire fence, and street lights. These alien structures dominate Marda’s life – or would if the villagers let them. They turn their backs on the hill, go about their daily work as best they can, ignore the night-time sounds of partying.<br /><br />Murad tells me that as a boy growing up here in the 1970s he and his brother used to go up the hill after school. It was their job to look after the family’s herd of goats. Beyond the hill crest there is another, and between the two a piece of fairly flat land where he and other boys from the village would play football while keeping an eye on their herds. In 1979 they began building the settlement, taking away the football field, the care-free after-school activity, the pastoral complement to village agriculture.<br /><br />With his half acre Murad is practising permaculture, aiming to grow as much as possible for himself and his family and his neighbours; but always thinking long-term, trying to build up the fertility of the soil and its ability to hold water. He has left space for a cistern, to catch water from his polytunnel and from the neighbouring hillside and from village springs and from the training centre which he hopes to build. Every scrap of vegetable matter has a use, either for compost or strewn over the soil as a mulch. He has planted a wind-brake on the west side, on a bed raised between stones gathered off the land itself and a row of tyres: cactus and acacias and olives and citrus trees.<br /><br />We come down to the site in the evening as it’s too hot to work during the day. In his polytunnel we plant cucumbers, to be joined soon by lettuces and onions. As it grows dark we walk back by another way. Donkeys pass us laden with straw, led by women up narrow paths behind a mosque to a quarter of old tower-shaped houses. Murad’s mother lives in one such house, along with daughters and son-in-law and a dozen of Murad’s nieces and nephews. We sit on a roof-top, enjoying the cool and the view and the chat of the day and the children at play.<br /><br />My thoughts are running around like this: if we are to survive we have to feed ourselves from the one planet which we have; and that will not be possible unless we learn these permaculture ways of cherishing our soils and the water which feeds them. And if Palestine is to survive it has to re-connect its people with its lands, and the two or three generations which have been alienated from it will need the example of people like Murad, his expertise, his self-confidence (trained in America in the ethos and techniques of permaculture), his new knowledge added to old knowledge, above all his persistence and patience. With his family holding a respected place in the village any success from his methods will inspire his neighbours. If he did not exist we would have to invent him.<br /><br />Next morning we start at 5 a.m. and finish work by 8.30 – a rhythm which makes perfect sense in these conditions. Breakfast ? Melon, naturally.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">From Shepherds’ Fields to Tortoise Gardens</span><br /><br />Beit Sahour, merging with Bethlehem but self-consciously distinct from it, has attracted pilgrims for centuries on the strength of its being the place where shepherds heard news of the birth of Christ in a nearby stable. It is a long, uphill walk to the crib.<br /><br />I am walking down hill, to another permaculture project, this one peopled mainly by internationals. It is in a wadi overlooked by large new villas and it is called Bustan Qaraaqa (بستابو قراقع), Tortoise Gardens, after the many such beasts which emerge in spring. (They have the habit of hibernating during the cold months, and equally wisely disappearing into holes and crannies during these long hot dry spells.) I am noticing the way the wadi sides have been terraced, as is normal in these hills, and the ledges planted with olives. But also a series of crescent-shaped ridges in the bottom, not more than a metre high; and I see vines and shady apricot trees and a tube of sacking to shade a building at the head of the wadi.<br /><br />This Bethlehem region, just south of Jerusalem, has lost its pastoral surroundings in recent years. It is ringed by illegal Israeli settlements and choked by walls and fences. Eighteen percent of its farm land was confiscated for the wall.<br /><br />I do a series of working, walking and talking tours with my hosts. What I see is the fruit of not much more than a year of their occupying the site. The crescent-shaped ridges are “swales”, their purpose being to dam the rain-water which comes in downpours on just a few days in the year, relying not only on this moulding of the land but also on building up a succession of drought-hardy, deep-rooted vegetation on the banks of each “swale”; and all the litter from these trees and shrubs goes towards building up a richer soil which itself will hold more water. The building at the head of the wadi is a cistern placed so as to catch all the run-off from the road above; and the road itself catches most of the rain from the steep valley sides. The composting toilet runs on sawdust not water, and everything else that rots goes into compost bins. Every tree and shrub, it seems, has a plastic bottle guiding water to the roots. The terrace next to the house has lines of vegetables, sunflowers and shrubs held within gently-curving banks so none of the water we give them in the evening escapes.<br /><br />The architects of this transformation are renting on a five-year lease, but doing everything as if they and their descendants will be here forever. They are a collective who live simply and as nearly without money as possible: guests pay a small contribution (about 15 dollars a night) towards the rent. They too work to a rhythm set by the demands of nature rather than 9 to 5. In the filtered light of a hessian awning Julian, with a little help from me and other volunteers, toils away in the afternoon improvising and adapting re-used materials to make a solar oven. (“It will never fly ! No, but it will bake cakes. Let’s just hope it does not look from the air too much like a rocket-launcher.)<br /><br />Autumn and spring will be the busiest times. Much of the work will be to try and diversify what they see as a monoculture of olive and wheat: ploughing between the olives to sow the wheat makes a hard pan of soil crust just below the surface, not conducive to water conservation. They have a huge nursery of tree seedlings, grown from seeds collected from all over the world, aiming to re-populate the hills and valleys of Palestine with the natural vegetation known in ancient times but eliminated later. Some of this wealth they will use on their own land, planting up steep slopes where the terracing has collapsed; some they will sell; some they will donate to community groups or others, so long as they know the people concerned will look after the young trees.<br /><br />They too, like Murad, aim to show by example. They do not have his advantage of being already part of the community. Their ways may be as alien to the local people as are those of the surrounding settlers. But they are continually refreshed by new people, new ideas coming from overseas. And unlike the settlers they are determined to be genuine neighbours – to share what they know and their faith that this knowledge is the way of the future.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Tent of nations</span><br /><br />High above Bethlehem, some 600 feet above the Tortoise Gardens, is Dahar’s vineyard – named after the grandfather who bought the land in the early years of the twentieth century. It too is surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements. From time to time the settlers or the State, with infinite resources, require the family to prove that they own the land – and they have to go to whatever expense is required of them, as in such matters, with the courts subservient to settler interests, Palestinian landowners are guilty until they can prove themselves innocent. They now also face the threat of a high-voltage power line. If this were in Britain it would be enough to provoke howls of protest: in such a landscape its intrusion would be ghastly. More sinister still is that if it goes through they will insist on 150 metres width along it as a security corridor – with the side effect of slicing through a swathe of Dahar’s vineyard.<br /><br />To combat these threats Daoud, present-day head of the family, has instituted the Tent of Nations – a camp for people from all over the world to come and work together on the land. And not just to learn to work with each other but also to support Daoud in his efforts to involve young people from the locality. For despite the city’s proximity to the hills of the West Bank, children in the refugee camps around Bethlehem (there are three) and their parents have had no access to land since their grandfathers were driven off in 1948. So now Daoud and the people from Bustan Qaraaqa are getting together to swap seeds and seedlings, and organise joint events and above all to teach the new generations: what the land gives, how to care for it, how varied and wonderful the many species of plant life are.<br /><br />We inspect caves where older members of the family used to live (cool in summer, warm in winter) and make a detour to the row of olives where one of the trees was “bought” by Ewa and me in 2004. We break off sprigs of the wild mountain thyme with its heady fragrance. Bees buzz. We admire the view westward across ridge after ridge to the coastal plain and the blue Mediterranean. Rural bliss, I’m thinking. But Daoud cuts in with a description of how the jets in the recent war came screaming above this very hillside, turning to go back and strafe Gaza. Again.whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-24384844396735786742009-05-22T17:46:00.034+03:002009-05-22T20:01:41.193+03:00'FABULOUS!!': Monthly textile observerPleasingly, this post follows on from the last quite well. Almost as if it were planned... almost. I’ve compiled 2 events into a kind of irritating story-with-a-moral that reviewers lazily refer to as ‘compelling romps’. This romp was a 30km walk east from the vicinity of Bethlehem down and down to well below sea level at the Dead Sea, past Mar Saba and across the width of the Judean desert.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbF1yclteI/AAAAAAAAAGg/rY1wDzTDmXI/s1600-h/P1010251.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbF1yclteI/AAAAAAAAAGg/rY1wDzTDmXI/s320/P1010251.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338671936159725026" /></a> The Qaraaqa staff awoke with confusion and anger at upsetting o’clock; with much head shaking and mouthing ineffectual syllables, they congressed with the others – including the Piadia staff. The marauders lumbered away only encouraged by the promise of a barbeque and drinks after the hitch back. Apart from the odd band of curious children and a shepherd chasing his donkey down the mountain then up the next, <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbGhRK1mAI/AAAAAAAAAGo/KqwLe_wKCsc/s1600-h/P1010259.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbGhRK1mAI/AAAAAAAAAGo/KqwLe_wKCsc/s200/P1010259.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338672683141142530" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbG4JOH9II/AAAAAAAAAGw/6Jximp9oWFA/s1600-h/P1010260.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 159px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbG4JOH9II/AAAAAAAAAGw/6Jximp9oWFA/s200/P1010260.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338673076144436354" /></a> things were fairly uneventful until the Kidron at Mar Saba. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbJyRZL5HI/AAAAAAAAAHg/tqByFqxPcOI/s1600-h/P1010278.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 197px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbJyRZL5HI/AAAAAAAAAHg/tqByFqxPcOI/s320/P1010278.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338676273793983602" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />To continue, the river had to be crossed. The water courses are astonishingly polluted around the West Bank due to under-development of waste-treatment infrastructure. In fact, chlorine levels in the Kidron are 223ppm rather than the permissible peak for safe drinking water 4ppm. So the monks at Mar Saba would be unlikely to survive another 1700 years had they continued to rely on the Kidron as their water source. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbKhK3uDxI/AAAAAAAAAHo/z-N6R_UAlq4/s1600-h/P1010275.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbKhK3uDxI/AAAAAAAAAHo/z-N6R_UAlq4/s320/P1010275.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338677079496855314" /></a><br /><br />A short, sharp climb later and the desert proper loomed. A 100 strong convoy of camels, young in tow, loped across the dunes and sauntered aloofly past. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbK-JbBqBI/AAAAAAAAAHw/qJjeam34ABw/s1600-h/P1010284.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbK-JbBqBI/AAAAAAAAAHw/qJjeam34ABw/s320/P1010284.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338677577324275730" /></a>Miscreants in jeeps hollered, ploughing through dust, photographed by giggling girls. At one point a roller leapt from a stone next to the sulking river and swept away in a shimmer of blue. It glided along the saddening polluted scar in the land that led across the desert towards journeys end. The stench and sheer quantity of rubbish seemed to stir something in the band. All of them lamented the obligatory flushing their inferior toilet designs necessitated. The staff of Bustan were pleased! Pausing only to fuel themselves with sundry items tenderised by the walk, the line of exploring misanthropes snaked east. The cliffs down to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, opened a surprising view towards Jordan. The walk had been at or below sea level for the past few miles and still worlds opened up below. The Dead Sea squatted across the width of the valley, its extremity vanishing south towards the Red Sea. The view of the mushrooming currents of effluent trudging out of the desert into the Dead Sea 10km south of the tourist resorts offered a real visual no amount of lectures and education could substitute. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbLr3ZSBWI/AAAAAAAAAH4/Hk9f8SgUR9o/s1600-h/P1010306.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbLr3ZSBWI/AAAAAAAAAH4/Hk9f8SgUR9o/s400/P1010306.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338678362759103842" /></a><br />The descent down the final cliffs went without a hitch and the bbq was actually inspiring! Thanks to Jason and Sarah for that!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbMSQaBs7I/AAAAAAAAAIA/Gd1bRqznCXk/s1600-h/DSC00040.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbMSQaBs7I/AAAAAAAAAIA/Gd1bRqznCXk/s320/DSC00040.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338679022308144050" /></a>On to this past weekend. Friday saw the Ertas lettuce festival preceded by a walk and talk by Ertasi farmer and activist Awad Abuswai. Internationals and locals had congressed in considerable number. Laughter and Dabka should have drawn the eye; the scuttling Lizards, the – all too rare - crystal clear spring or the impressive ‘Solomon’s pools’. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbOdpwAHPI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/U8pUkkSQDkk/s1600-h/P1010320.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbOdpwAHPI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/U8pUkkSQDkk/s320/P1010320.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338681417113017586" /></a>Instead, the eye gravitated to the rubbish caught in the foliage, trampled into the ground and floating through the pools of cool water emanating from clefts in the rock.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbPjnbdkCI/AAAAAAAAAIY/EdXRZIkZ5OM/s1600-h/DSC00070.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbPjnbdkCI/AAAAAAAAAIY/EdXRZIkZ5OM/s320/DSC00070.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338682619080839202" /></a><br />The walk went past rusting, disused pump-houses full of stern cylinders, depressed in their dysfunction. The same ilk of harrowing and sad tales - as is familiar to those who have spent time here – were recounted to shocked ears. The group was rallied at a spot visited last year by some of the Bustan staff. Where once, 58 apricot trees had stood, now was rubble, a road and a large storm drain/sewage outlet. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbRdEEA3VI/AAAAAAAAAIg/mDH2Jn85mzQ/s1600-h/P1010372.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbRdEEA3VI/AAAAAAAAAIg/mDH2Jn85mzQ/s320/P1010372.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338684705531288914" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The nearby settlement of Zayit – part of the Gush Etzion bloc - perched imperiously on a hill; the outlet to serve it and upstream settlements and deposit their untreated sewage in the uppermost extent of the valley in which Ertas nestles. <a href="http://danandcarrie.org/archive/2007/07/the_village_of.php"></a> Ertas, currently the envy of much of the surrounding area for its springs, faces an uncertain future. As the community congregated at a stage for speeches and dancing, our friend – Abed – was waiting for us to come and finish the project we had started.<br /><br />I previously wrote about the wadi separating Wallaje and Gilo. While still beautiful, it is starting to crack and wilt in the heat, the annuals panicking and throwing out their seed. ‘Rex’ - the normally friendly dog lay dejected, having been assaulted by 7 wild dogs the previous night. The time spent at Ertas had seen the Israeli contingent of activists that work Abed’s land beavering away at what looked – to us – glorious: a structure that was mere hours away from being a fully functioning compost toilet. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbTYIDqu8I/AAAAAAAAAJA/0lQlltWqIMQ/s1600-h/DSC00141.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbTYIDqu8I/AAAAAAAAAJA/0lQlltWqIMQ/s200/DSC00141.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338686819727489986" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbT415o24I/AAAAAAAAAJI/twbRHWyAz2w/s1600-h/P1010341.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbT415o24I/AAAAAAAAAJI/twbRHWyAz2w/s320/P1010341.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338687381789268866" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We made walls (a sprite tarpaulin), a roof and a floor. The sprite logo on something designed to accumulate human waste seemed somewhat apt and made us very happy - to the point where we laughed (we don’t have a television).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbU-bOsjHI/AAAAAAAAAJY/B38MhH-Sbs4/s1600-h/P1010342.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShbU-bOsjHI/AAAAAAAAAJY/B38MhH-Sbs4/s320/P1010342.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338688577220676722" /></a>We had only to hang the door and it could be launched. It came to be and now you can go and crap on Abed’s land and you’ll be doing him a favour.<br />We have preached about the issues of waste in the west-bank on this site and may others. Any human with half a brain knows the importance of water. But the past week had realised it for me. This simple structure, made voluntarily by people doing favours in their time off, built primarily with reclaimed materials is a symbol of the power of simple and affirmative action and the pride and freedom it can bring. Through 3 Fridays, we had managed to make Abed’s land easier for his visitors as there was a toilet built to cope with crowds, reduced the environmental damage and risks of downstream eutrophying effects and we had given Abed a large source of organic nutrients with which to supplement his land. That’s one down, 5 million to go! Actually, we should be aiming for the whole earth as your toilet wastes on average 30 litres of drinking water a day. A bedou family of 3 in the Jordan valley survives on less than that! This has struck a chord with some of our friends who now make the effort to use our compost toilet - if they can - to save this country valuable water and to donate their lovely, nitrogenous packets of happiness!<br /><br />OK, it was neither ‘compelling’ nor a ‘romp’ but at least it’s over!whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-20522458953764577542009-05-19T13:11:00.006+03:002009-05-19T13:26:12.794+03:00Water of life!Unless you’ve been composting your head in recent years, you will probably be aware of some of the manifestations of climate change and man’s general mismanagement of resources. Both of these, combined with over-population, have compounded the problem of water. 2 million people die of water-borne disease a year and 2.5 billion people have no access to sanitation facilities. These problems are quite clearly manifested in the West Bank and amplified due to the Israeli occupation. The Israeli authorities control the water supply, so whilst Israeli citizens are guaranteed a water supply, 10% - 20% of Palestinians are not connected up to any water infrastructure. Those that are have to make do with a fluctuating supply where the access decreases steadily as the summer progresses even though they pay 3 times the rate the settlers pay for their water.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKHI2wSVmI/AAAAAAAAAFw/1-Bro1gq6Lc/s1600-h/DSC00124.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKHI2wSVmI/AAAAAAAAAFw/1-Bro1gq6Lc/s400/DSC00124.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337477094594205282" /></a> Due to the check-points, the price of tanker-borne water has quintupled. As a result of this, many of the poorer and more rural populations take water from the badly polluted springs – contaminated by sewage and illegal Israeli factories not hampered by Israeli emission laws due to their location in the west bank.<br /> One of the biggest issues we are trying to address with Bustan Qaraaqa is that of water security. This is valid not only for the West Bank but everywhere as global precipitation patterns change in distribution, intensity or just stop altogether. The site we have is actually a powerful tool as we are located in the lee of the ridge line occupied by Bethlehem and Jerusalem. So we get little rainfall here even compared with sites less than 10 miles away: Beit Sahour is nicknamed ‘little Jericho’ as testament to its dryness and heat. Although it’s not an ideal site for farming, it is an ideal site for establishing techniques for ‘worst-case scenario’ conditions. <br /> As the planet warms and the Hadley cells elongate (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9229-global-warming-stretches-subtropical-boundaries.html), these kind of conditions will become far more widespread and people will be forced to migrate or find coping mechanisms. We are ideally placed to pre-empt this and to try and find workable solutions.<br /> The practical actions we can take are re-foresting the area, increasing the water-holding capacity of the soil, selecting drought tolerant plants and rainwater harvesting - the latter of which we have been working furiously towards.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKHrTlz_tI/AAAAAAAAAF4/sFXjsleo_gc/s1600-h/DSCF0125.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKHrTlz_tI/AAAAAAAAAF4/sFXjsleo_gc/s320/DSCF0125.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337477686450454226" /></a><br /> At the head of the land, down in the olive grove, we selected a site to build a water storage cistern. Generally only the richer Palestinians can afford to build them. We were looking for cheaper means than the concrete pouring that is generally employed these days as not only is this an ecologically unsound method, the costs are pretty prohibitive. We had 2 alternatives to produce a genuinely water-tight structure: traditional stone-building (dry stone walling in the middle-east) with a lime-skim or a concrete-skimmed breezeblock structure. We opted for the latter due to time constraints. <br /> In the summer, work started aiming to be finished in time for the rains. There was much whip-cracking as unfortunate volunteers were worked mercilessly digging a hole to place the cistern. Thankfully a neighbour took pity and bought along a tractor to finish things off saving the staff and volunteers from a sweaty death. Left with a pit, Alice was promptly thrown into it by a malevolent olive tree during the olive harvest and was rushed to an exciting interaction with Bethlehem’s doctors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKIKj_MoiI/AAAAAAAAAGA/ihh6XsMACjk/s1600-h/DSC00126.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKIKj_MoiI/AAAAAAAAAGA/ihh6XsMACjk/s320/DSC00126.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337478223427838498" /></a> After Christmas, we had had enough guests to be able to afford to start. Work started on the actual construction with the floor, which was poured concrete. (video) After some hilarious shouting contradictory instructions to the lone unfortunate wading around in concrete laying the floor, we had a water-proof floor. Construction halted here while we waited for the revenue from the guesthouse to amass enough again to buy materials for the walls. The rains started in earnest, the rains slowed down and finally we had enough cash. The bricklaying began. Successive waves of volunteers helped immensely; working, performing as orators, feeding us or singing; so thanks to you all! Children from the surrounding houses came to offer their expert advice and practical skills. Eventually we got to skimming the interior and, despite some dissolved body parts, to our joint relief finished that. Now we have waterproofed it and need only to fill it and put a fence around it.<br /> So, yes. Annoyingly we missed the rains. It is still worth us filling it from the mains. Although this isn’t the rainwater-capture we had hoped for, we have a lot of trees that need irrigating and the mains are getting less and less generous. We also plan to keep Tilapia in the cistern as a source of dietary protein for ourselves and a nitrogen source for the trees. Additionally, we didn’t use the most sustainable and cheapest method. However, as they say ‘time is money’ and as there are only 3 full-time staff here we couldn’t afford to spend all our time scouring for rocks and carrying them around. However, the breezeblocks that we used massively decreased the quantity of concrete used. So we saved 12,000 shekels from the 20,000 shekel estimate for a fully concrete structure and the accompanying ecological impact.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKIc8jgOJI/AAAAAAAAAGI/WLdxYiwfAss/s1600-h/DSC00127.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKIc8jgOJI/AAAAAAAAAGI/WLdxYiwfAss/s320/DSC00127.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337478539260213394" /></a> So the trials and the tribulations of the cistern are pretty much over. When we have filled it, we will have a ‘Pool party’ complete with bbq, cocktails & floating. We’re planning on using this event as an awareness raiser as there is a possibility of a grant on the horizon to build water-storage in refugee camps. For this we’ll need workers. It’s been a long-time coming this cistern so personally I’ll be glad to have the nightmare over. I found the sheer frustration of not being able to work on such a vital part of the project for so long due to financial constraints pretty trying. At least we had the option of building this without a demolition order being slapped immediately on it though so there are blessings. We’ll keep you updated as to the timing of the pool party and if you’re in a part of the world where you can reach us: you’re invited. At the moment, the date is pencilled in for the afternoon of the 6th of june. We will keep you posted as to a definite date via the blog, Bethlehem Bethlehem, Ramallah Ramallah and the website www.bustanqaraaqa.org<br /><br /> Thanks again to all those who put so much literal blood and sweat into creating the cistern!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKIqwJjx0I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/cC8EXz_blR4/s1600-h/DSC00067.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ShKIqwJjx0I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/cC8EXz_blR4/s400/DSC00067.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337478776448337730" /></a>whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-60882091108630667542009-05-17T20:23:00.004+03:002009-05-17T21:26:41.443+03:00Gaza is still the issueFour months on from the end of 'Operation Cast Lead' and it seems Gaza is off the international agenda. The hail of missiles that wrought such havoc and caused so many deaths to the civilian population (over 1400) is at an end, our televisions are no longer filled with harrowing images of mutilated children and disturbing stories of food warehouses and hospitals under fire. <br /><br />Yet in Gaza itself the tragedy goes on. Israeli journalist Amira Hass recently visited the Strip after several years of absence and wrote of the ongoing tragedy and destruction there: <A HREF="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085622.html">Life among the ruins in Gaza</A>; <A HREF="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1086045.html">Israel bans books, music and clothes from entering Gaza</A>. <br /><br />The truth is that Israel is continuing its strangle hold on the Gaza border, preventing reconstruction after the abject carnage that has been wrought there, a nightmare of shattered infrastructure and destroyed buildings; and preventing basic necessities from getting to the beleaguered and traumatised population. <br /><br />At the beginning of this month, Palestinian human rights organisations banded together to issues a statement after a conference in Sharm el Sheikh at which $4.5 billion dollars was pledged to aid the reconstruction of Gaza, calling on international aid agencies to address the issue of Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods into Gaza, and ongoing violations of human rights <A HREF="http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2008/06-05-2009.html">(see full statement here...)</A>. <br /><br />The unfortunate truth is that simply throwing money at the problem will not make it go away, not unless that action is backed up by serious attempts to hold Israel to account for abuse of human rights and violations of international law. It will not work because in the first place the aid will be ineffective as reconstruction materials are impounded on the border and the money will be wasted, and secondly, in a couple of years, the reconstructed infrastructure (supposing it ever gets reconstructed) will very likely be destroyed again, and the international community will be called on once again to foot the bill, with no repercussions for Israel. <br /><br />During the crisis, as I watched in horrified disbelief merging with resigned disgust, I wrote these words:<br /><br /><br /><br />Open a window in your soul for Gaza.<br /><br />Sometimes it is more frightening to be numb than to feel.<br /><br />Sometimes it is more terrible to see than to be blind.<br /><br />But if they can bear the terror, the least we can do is to look with steady gaze into that holocaust and let the horror in.<br /><br />And ask ourselves why? <br /><br />What is Gaza and why is Gaza? <br /><br />How did this tiny strip of land by the Mediterranean Sea come to be a place of such great suffering and pain?<br /><br />I see a road shining darkly from Auschwitz to Gaza, fruit of the same bitter tree. <br /> <br />Terrible irony we say, that people who had been abused as the Jews were abused in the Holocaust could inflict such carnage on another people.<br /><br />Terrible irony I think that Europeans could have watched the Holocaust happen, failed to intervene or actively participated, sacrificed Palestine to their guilt, and then stand in silent complicity watching the tragedy of Gaza unfold across the decades. <br /> <br />Gaza, so small a place to bear such troubles as mankind has made there, crumbling under the weight of its own tragedy. <br /> <br />Gaza, where one million refugees languish, children of the Holocaust as surely as the Jewish refugees who fled to Israel are. <br /> <br />Gaza, where the very water is poison, where there is not food, where sewage chokes the land, a festering sore on the conscience of the world, a living sacrifice to Holocaust guilt. <br /><br />What solace for Gaza, where hope lies shattered beneath the rubble? <br /><br />If there is hope, it does not lie with Israel, Israel which has reduced Gaza to the status of a population on life-support and is now turning off the machine.<br /> <br />Israel, where 90% of the population support this war.<br /><br />Israel who will tighten the border controls following this onslaught if they are allowed, so that the suffering will only intensify. <br /><br />Israel who have been choking the life out of Gaza for 40 long years of military occupation and 2 years of economic siege, sentencing its people to a fast death or a slow one, a short life of suffering or a long one. <br /><br />What solace for Gaza now?<br /> <br />A ceasefire, though desperately needed, is only the beginning of ending the horror that has been created there. <br /><br />Are we not proud of our creations? <br /><br />Israel and Gaza. <br /><br />Will we be silent now, watching from the sidelines while tragedy spreads its dark wings over these victims of circumstance and birth?<br /> <br />I see a road shining darkly from Auschwitz to Gaza: we are all walking on it. <br /><br />Open a window in your soul for Gaza, and do not be silent.<br /> <br />There are other roads and we can do better than this for humanity. <br /><br />*******************************<br /><br />Now, just a couple of days after the 61st anniversary of the Nakba, these words come back to me. Will we watch in silence while this tragedy continues?whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-72326015908305684652009-05-17T16:40:00.001+03:002009-05-17T16:43:17.781+03:00Bustan Qaraaqa Newsletter - May 2009Dear friends,<br /><br />As spring turns to summer here in the occupied West Bank and the vegetation turns from a carpet of luscious green herbs to a thicket of spiky thorns, Bustan Qaraaqa has just passed its first anniversary (May 1st). So we thought it time to share with you our jubilation at still being here, and our thanks too all of you who have helped make this possible.<br /><br />It is four months since our last (quarterly!!) newsletter, which left us struggling to continue our work in the midst of the horror of the Gaza invasion, waking up daily to the sound of fighter jets in the sky and going to sleep to the distant echoes of explosions that left over 1300 Palestinians dead.<br /><br />Even during this difficult time and in spite of the feelings of despair and powerlessness that seemed to hang over everything like a miasma, we continued to move our project forward. We were able to raise enough money from Christmas guesthouse revenues to begin work on our rainwater cistern, pouring the cement base on New Year’s day in a clear statement of our commitment to take practical and positive measures to tackle humanitarian and environmental problems even in the midst of tragedy.<br /><br />During January we also tightened our ties with Abed, a farmer from the village of Al Wallaja who is resisting land confiscation by Israeli authorities; living permanently in a cave on his threatened land, without running water, electricity or sewage infrastructure. You can find out more about Abed’s situation by visiting his new website: <a href="http://www.abedland.com">www.abedland.com</a>.<br /><br />Together with Israeli permaculture activists, we are supporting Abed in developing his site into a model for sustainable living, demonstrating that with a little imagination Palestinians can take care of their own needs, such that access to infrastructure and resources need not be a potential weapon against them.<br /><br />We felt particularly privileged to be able to come together with Israelis and Palestinians in this way during the Gaza crisis, working together to tend the land, planting trees and building, supporting Abed in his struggle for justice and demonstrating our commitment to working for a better future.<br /><br />As winter turned to spring, we were relieved to see the end of a two month drought which had lasted through December and January (normally the wettest months), as the rain began to fall again. Wildflowers began to run colourful riot across the land, the almond trees came into flower, tortoises awoke from hibernation and began to wander in the valley once more, migrant birds began to appear, and seeds that had been lying dormant over the winter in our tree nursery began to germinate. Almost every species we planted (over 100) came up and we now have representatives growing up in the nursery to be used in agroforestry experiments on this site or future projects with the local community. This is the only tree nursery of its sort in the Palestinian Territories, and we are very excited to see it develop. <br /><br />We worked hard to plant vegetable crops through the late winter to early spring season, developing companion planting systems and growing lettuces, cabbages, onions, potatoes, radishes, caulifowers, broccoli, beetroot, spinach, strawberries, broadbeans, sunflowers, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, melons, pumpkins and courgettes. Fortunately we also discovered (thanks to our landlandy, Im Samir) that our land is awash with edible weeds during the spring, and we were rich in delicious greens (Hubeze, Ahwera, Lofetta and Jarjiya).<br /><br />In February, work began in earnest to finish the rainwater cistern: building the walls, backfilling behind them with soil and rendering them with cement and waterproof paint to prevent leakage. This entire process took somewhat longer than we had anticipated, and we only finished building at the end of March (not quite in time for the majority of the rain!). However, we now have a 90 cubic meter cistern all ready to be filled, which we hope will allow us to both irrigate trees that we intend to plant this year as part of our agroforestry system, and also to farm fish (tilapia) to supplement our diets.<br /><br />Meanwhile, on another part of the site, work on the illustrious ‘Chicken Palace’ (a partially collapsed cave that we have converted into a bird house) was finished and we were able to visit the livestock market and acquire residents. The Chicken Palace is now home to a collection of guinea fowl, pigeons and chickens which we will integrate into our system to provide us with food, manure for our crops, pest control and preparation of soil for planting.<br /><br />And that just about brings us up to date. Of course, throughout all of our time we have hosted many visiting groups and individuals on our site, including Palestinian students, youth counsellors, womens’ groups and farmers and many international visitors and journalists; leading tours of the site and talking about environmental issues in the Palestinian Territories and grassroots environmental activism. You can hear a radio broadcast of interviews with Bustan Qaraaqa staff and volunteers by visiting this site: http://flashpoints.net/index.html#2009-04-23 (it is the broadcast on the 23rd of April). <br /><br />We are looking forward very much to the summer, when we expect to have many volunteers coming to work with us. Major projects we hope to get off the ground include Aquaculture (farming fish in our cistern), Green building (we were lucky enough to have an architecture student as a volunteer for a while who has drawn up extensive plans for an eco-building on our site built almost exclusively with recycled materials), setting up simple mushroom growing systems in caves, and expanding and strengthening our Green Intifada campaign (find out more by visiting www.bustanqaraaqa.org/al2/web/page/display/id/15.html).<br /><br />We are also proud to announce that we have a new website now: www.bustanqaraaqa.org, where you can find detailed information about our projects and partners, as well as permaculture resources to help you set up your own initiatives if you feel so inclined. We are still developing this site, so if some of the links don’t work right now or there are pages missing, please be patient with us!<br /><br />As ever we are deeply indebted to our supporters and volunteers for their generosity and hard work. We have been blessed with many helpers this year, hosting over 60 people at the farm in addition to our regular Friday and Sunday volunteers (thank you so much to all of you and sorry that you are too numerous to be named!). <br /><br />We are also very grateful to Ed Hill and Bristol Computers4Palestine for the donation of 2 computers, Davy Jones and Meg Ryan for the reams of compost matting, Mel and Roman Gawel for the beautiful pair of guinea fowl and the solar lights, Adam Haunch for setting up our website, Erika Benson for designing us an amazing building, Mazen Qumsieh, Imogen Bright and the Sydney Family Trust for generous financial contributions, our major sponsors the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Foundation, and to Phil and Mary Gray for keeping things ticking over on the UK side.<br /><br />Of course, it would not be a newsletter if we did not pathetically rattle our begging bowl at some point and say that all contributions, large or small, are needed and deeply appreciated. All the achievements of our first year (April 2008 until present) where managed on a total expenditure of £25,000 including all project expenses and staff salaries (4 full-time staff employed all year). Be assured that your money will not be wasted if you donate to us, but will be used directly for project expenses or to support the living costs of the people who make Bustan Qaraaqa work. <br /><br />If you would like to become a regular contributor, please write to us at info@bustanqaraaqa.org and we will forward you our bank details. If you would like to send a cheque, please make it out to Bustan Qaraaqa and post it to The Old School, Lydfords Lane, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 4NJ, UK. If you would like your money to be used for something specific, you can find a ‘wish list’ of things we need on our website, on the Get Involved page.<br /><br />That is enough begging for now! We wish joy and light to all of you wherever you may be, and hope to see you (again!) in Bethlehem – please do come and visit us if you are in the area.<br /><br />With love,<br /><br />Alice, Nick, Rania, Roman, Steve and Tom<br />x<br /><br />the Bustan Qaraaqa teamwhirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-31176112276497845102009-04-23T11:48:00.003+03:002009-04-23T11:54:10.491+03:00Bustan Qaraaqa has a new website....Our new website is now up and running - please go to <a href="http://www.bustanqaraaqa.org">www.bustanqaraaqa.org</a> to check it out. There you will find detailed information about our project and also useful links for learning more about permaculture and Palestine. Please bear with us if some of the links don't work yet - the site is a work in progress and we are building it up as and when we can...<br /><br />We will continue to use this blog to post stories and reflections from Bustan Qaraaqa staff and volunteers. <br /><br />Many thanks to Adam for setting up the website for us :)whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-9916176475447365832009-04-07T22:16:00.002+03:002009-04-07T22:23:23.289+03:00Compost Toilet Building Event this FridayThis Friday (April 10th) Bustan Qaraaqa staff and volunteers will go to help build a composting toilet at our friend Abed's farm in Al Wallaja.<br /><br />Abed is living on his land close to Gilo settlement, resisting attempted land confiscation by Israeli real-estate developers. His site has no running water, so it is important that a well managed composting toilet is installed there to make life easier.<br /><br />Composting toilets have other benefits too: 90% of sewage in the West Bank is discharged untreated into the environment, poisoning soil, water courses and threatening the underground aquifer that is the source of all drinking water in this area. In addition, on average every person flushes 30 litres of drinking water down the toilet every day. Given the ongoing drought in the region, this is profligately wasteful and environmentally suicidal.<br /><br />Action by individuals like Abed, whereby waste is treated onsite and no water is wasted can help change this situation.<br /><br />Also, there will be a farmers' market on the same day - a chance to buy fresh organically produced vegetables directly from the farmers of Al Wallaja.<br /><br />If you would like to come, we will be leaving from Bustan Qaraaqa at 1030am on Friday - or join us when you can at Abed's place, close to the Malha checkpoint on the road to Jerusalem. It is easily accessed by taking the beautiful road through Cremisan monastery and then taking the track to the right into the valley - call us on 02 2748994 for more detailed directions if you like.<br /><br />All the best and hope to see you on Friday,<br /><br />the Bustan Qaraaqa team<br />xwhirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-41128943331481280682009-03-22T20:02:00.002+02:002009-03-22T20:11:22.357+02:00Tree Planting Event this ThursdayThis Thursday (March 26th), we will be holding a tree planting event at our friend Abed's place in Al Wallaja. <br /><br />Abed is a Palestinian farmer whose land lies very close to the Israeli Settlement of Gilo. He is currently facing problems with threatened land confiscation and so has decided to live permanently on his land in a cave. The authorities are now threatening to demolish even this basic home in an attempt to evict him from his land. <br /><br />The place has no running water or electricity, and Abed lives by farming his land to feed himself and generate some income. <br /><br />The event on Thursday will consist of planting olive trees, and also laying the foundations of a composting toilet to serve the site. <br /><br />We will meet in Soukshab in Beit Sahour at 10.00am if anyone would like to come. Alternatively, call 02 274 8994 or email info@eag-palestine.org for more information. <br /><br />If you are coming, please bring some food to share for lunch and we will have a picnic. <br /><br />Hope to see you there!whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-74354723000996847602009-03-18T20:17:00.006+02:002009-03-18T22:36:06.929+02:00Food for free!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ScFZUPyPCaI/AAAAAAAAAEg/-y3qV95syM0/s1600-h/Silene+aegyptiaca.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 319px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ScFZUPyPCaI/AAAAAAAAAEg/-y3qV95syM0/s320/Silene+aegyptiaca.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314627239643384226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ScFZTmSz6tI/AAAAAAAAAEY/jX_V3pGlcMk/s1600-h/DSCF0319.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ScFZTmSz6tI/AAAAAAAAAEY/jX_V3pGlcMk/s320/DSCF0319.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314627228505729746" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ScFZTGMQPBI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/G6zd2j8EDYY/s1600-h/DSCF0320.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/ScFZTGMQPBI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/G6zd2j8EDYY/s320/DSCF0320.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314627219888290834" /></a><br />lufeta, ﻟﻔﻴﺘﺔ, hwera, ﺃﺣﻮﯿﺮﺓ, halawlaw, ﺣﻠﻮﻟﻮ, khubeza, ﺧﺒﯿﺰﺓ<br /><br />As I am typing in the cold house a ploughman and mule toil under the olives. The ploughman guides the shear through the thin soil of the narrow terrace, weaving between the twisting trunks, slicing the sward of pink and yellow flowers, folding the herbs into to the furrows, exposing the pale dry earth. <br /><br />The terraces built on the valley sides of Judean Hills were first constructed as long as eight thousand years ago at the drawn of agriculture. Ploughing is a long established in dry land farming. In theory the exposed tilth caps the soil reducing the rate of loss of soil moisture. Not to plough would result in a faster rate of soil moisture loss through the transpiration of herbs. It is also feared that the herbs when dead and dry provide habitat for scorpions, snakes, and spiders, and could constitute a fire risk.<br /><br />Minimum tillage, (not ploughing) conserves soil structure essential for permeability to water and gasses. The plant roots bind the soil together resisting the water erosion (drop impact and runoff) and wind erosion. Soil erosion carries the organic particles and fine silts down to the Dead Sea were no one can use them, impoverishing soils and contributing to desertification. In the Judean Hills soil erosion of 50tonnes/hectare/year is the recorded average (wadis (flood plains) are far more erosive environments). Failing rains, over grazing and ploughing result in soil erosion threatening the future of agriculture regionally. Combining minimum tillage with soil water conservation techniques such as drip point irrigation, mulching and shading by trees could not only conserve soil moisture and fertility but even improve them whilst providing a variety of foods for the table.<br /><br />Problem becomes a solution<br />Waste becomes resource<br />The weed becomes food<br /><br />All that is necessary is a shift of perception<br /><br />Seeing these delicious herbs turned into the earth I’m thinking how beautiful are their flowers, what diverse life they support through the brief spring season, how they will shade the soil from the burning summer sun, but most of all I’m thinking how much I want to eat them.<br /><br />I first became aware we could eat the weeds when the neighbours asked to collect the hwera growing under our olives as they had ploughed under their trees. I’ve since noticed bunches of common weeds for sale in Bethlehem souk.<br /><br />Here’s how we prepare these herbs in the Bustan Qaraaqa kitchen. (Thanks Im Samir!)<br /><br />All herbs are best collected before they begin to flower. Prepare the food the same day you collect it. One kilo is a good quantity if you intend to feed a few people.<br /><br />All these herbs can be eaten raw.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">lufeta, ﻟﻔﻴﺘﺔ , halawlaw, ﺣﻠﻮﻟﻮ, khubeza, ﺧﺒﯿﺰﺓ</span><br /> <br />Wash the leaves and stems thoroughly and chop finely.<br />Melt butter in a large saucepan with a lid and add chopped onion and black pepper. <br />Fry the onions gently for five minutes then add all the greens and replace the lid. Turn the heat down as low as possible. <br />After a couple of minutes stir the greens, replace the lid and turn off the heat. <br />Juice one lemon to add the greens before serving hot or cold (much better hot).<br /><br />Alternatively, make bread dough, after the final kneading spread the dough thinly like a thick pizza base and then spread the hubeza/lufeta/halawlaw, over the dough. Now roll the dough like a Swiss roll and bake in a hot oven.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">hwera, ﺃﺣﻮﯿﺮﺓ</span><br /><br />Hwera is prepared differently.<br /><br />Wash the leaves and stems thoroughly and chop finely.<br />Place the chopped leaves in a basin add cold yogurt and a pinch of salt. Leave over night in a cool place. Serve covered in olive oil with plenty of fresh bread. Zaki!<br /><br />text and photos by Tomwhirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-58612928389381536142009-03-02T21:46:00.002+02:002009-03-02T21:53:16.194+02:00Plant of the WeekThis week the plant of the week is...........<br /><br />Leucaena leucocephala (Wild Tamarind)<br /><br />Leucaena leucocephala is a native tree of the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico. It is an upright, leggy tree that can grow up to a height of 18 m. It has grey bark and bipinnate leaves of up to 35 cm in length. It produces numerous cream-coloured flowers in globose (spherical) heads. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/Saw41oeGG3I/AAAAAAAAADo/u-XY0Xd0I3c/s1600-h/Leucaena+photo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/Saw41oeGG3I/AAAAAAAAADo/u-XY0Xd0I3c/s400/Leucaena+photo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308680554810841970" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/Saw41ny5_eI/AAAAAAAAADg/6htTjz6gQJk/s1600-h/leucaena+drawing.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 265px; height: 354px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/Saw41ny5_eI/AAAAAAAAADg/6htTjz6gQJk/s400/leucaena+drawing.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308680554629692898" /></a><br /><br />During the 1970s and early 1980s, Leucaena was known as the ‘miracle tree’ because of its worldwide success as a long-lived and highly nutritious forage tree, and its great variety of other uses. <br /><br />Leucaena is in the Fabaceae family, and is a leguminous tree which forms associations with nitrogen fixing mycorrhizae, and so improves the fertility of the soil it grows on. It is a fast growing tree and can be used as a fuel-wood and to make high quality charcoal. It is excellent fodder for ruminant livestock, and parts of it can be eaten by people as well (young seed pods and young shoots). It is also the most frequently used tree in alley-planting systems, and has proven to be highly compatible with many grass crops. <br /><br />Alley-planting is an inter-cropping system where hedgerows of trees are created along the contour line of a slope, providing wind-break, erosion control, soil enhancement (in the case of leguminous trees) and shade. Crops are planted in between the hedgerows. <br /><br />Leucaena is a drought tolerant tree and can survive up to 7 consecutive dry months in the year. It does best in precipitation zones of over 600 mm per year, but has become naturalized in areas with rainfall as low as 300 mm per year. It prefers calcerous, neutral to alkaline soils and is somewhat sensitive to frost damage. <br /><br />It is very well suited to the temperatures and soil type at Bustan Qaraaqa, but will probably require a small amount of irrigation in the late autumn and early spring.whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11434596454339842.post-48587585303372462712009-02-22T13:40:00.005+02:002009-02-22T14:54:03.917+02:00Funding AppealBustan Qaraaqa is running short of funds! As a small and recently established project, we are heavily reliant on grassroots fundraising to keep our heads above water. If you admire our work, please consider supporting us - either by making a personal contribution or by fundraising for us. <br /><br />Cheques payable to Bustan Qaraaqa can be sent to The Old School, Lydfords Lane, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 4NJ, or if you prefer to make a transfer direct to our bank account, please contact us for our details (info@eag-palestine.org). <br /><br />We are a very low budget project, so small amounts can make a huge difference to us. A breakdown of our monthly costs is shown below:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SaFKId0Rf4I/AAAAAAAAADY/NMLCQP2eNzg/s1600-h/monthly+costs2.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 245px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3Y320wYpbg/SaFKId0Rf4I/AAAAAAAAADY/NMLCQP2eNzg/s400/monthly+costs2.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305603345322442626" /></a><br /><br />The exchange rate currently oscillates between 5 and 6 shekels to the pound, and 3.5 to shekels to the US dollar. So the total budget (12000 shekels) is £2000-2400 and $3000-3430.<br /><br />Any excess money we have can be spent on community projects. Any shortfall is made up by cutting living allowances for staff and the materials budget. <br /><br />Ideally, we would like to bring more staff onto our team (a Field Worker and an Environmental Education Coordinator), but at the moment this is not possible – another 4000 NIS per month would cover it. <br /><br />Fundraising can be good fun, and can serve the dual purpose of raising awareness about the Palestinian environmental crisis. <br /><br />Some ideas for fundraising:<br /><br />Organise a party or music event, either in your own home or at a venue. Advertise it as a fundraiser for a permaculture farm in Palestine, charge a small entrance fee and have information available in the form of a photo exhibition or leaflets that you hand out. <br /><br />Organise a film showing or lecture about Palestine and Palestinian farmers and collect donations from the audience.<br /><br />Organise a Palestinian themed evening, with Palestinian food and music and charge a small entrance fee.<br /><br />Sell Palestinian merchandise. Particularly if you are coming out to Palestine and returning home, invest in some nice olive wood carvings, key-rings and t-shirts and sell them for a small profit.<br /><br />If you would like to fundraise for us, please be in contact (+972 2 2748994 or email info@eag-palestine.org), and we will forward you a support pack. <br /><br />Donate:<br /><br />Small donations can go a long way! If you feel you would like to contribute financially, cheques payable to Bustan Qaraaqa can be sent to The Old School, Lydfords Lane, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 4NJ, UK. <br /><br />Better yet, become a regular contributor. If 400 people gave us £5 per month, our budget would be completely covered, and we would be in a stable funding situation. If you would like to support us in this way, please be in touch (info@eag-palestine.org) and we will forward you our bank details. <br /><br />Thank you for your interest in our work! We appreciate all the help we have had in the past and all the help we are receiving now. Your support makes our work possible!whirling mcdervishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17706510689738406553noreply@blogger.com0