Around the Land

This has been the picture for the past many days. Waking up finding someone to help us push the truck to start, a lesson in humility it has been. In these parts people are not too forth coming when it comes to helping, unless there is money involved, this at least is my experience thus far. Today we were finally able to bring it to the mechanic and hopefully it will be ready to go by the end of the day.

Around the Land the paths are starting to take shape. The main path between the kitchen and the chicken coop is almost ready.

The bridge project has been abandoned, there will not be a bridge after all, I personally like that.

Instead the attention has shifted onto the path that meanders through the Cenote, we will raise and widen it to make it a more stable walkway, this will then serve as the main way across the water.

For lack of material, and most manpower being used to form the paths, not much progress has been made with the chicken coop. There are some very sweet little nesting boxes ready though.

I love how it is coming!

Towards the back of the Land there is currently a wet land or natural laguna happening.

With the heavy rains of the season it has become a sanctuary for thousands of tadpoles, it is quite a sight, they swim around in flocks, and are so plentiful that they can easily be scooped up with our bare hands.

The children enjoys it tremendously.

Once rainy season ends this area will return to being dry land, and we are putting a lot of thought into how best to utilize this natural occurring wetland, allowing it to remain laguna during the summer months, and perhaps being productive during the winter.

It is so beautiful, and even Linus happily got his feet wet and almost went for a swim, 

not his favorite usually.

Below are one of many wild orchids found around the land, and at the bottom the grass land is actually part of the Cenote. Years and years of sediments have settled on the bottom, so that the cenote appears quite small right now, once we dig out the sediments and clean it, it will be extremely big.

~Blessings~

Around the Land

I have been checking in on Farmama's Around the Farm posts on Thursday, and while we don't have much growing YET, I thought I would still like to join in and share the progress in a weekly around the Land post.

The compost pile which I started last week is looking really good, I do so love the process of making good healthy humus for the garden, nothing like watching nature at work..

 While working on the main path to our homesite, Miguel disturbed a Tarantula who had made a home in an old rotten log. Miguel scooped her out only to find a toad hanging out just there, for a moment it seemed there might be a hunt, yet both scrambled off in opposite directions.

 Miguel saw these bugs on the Hibiscus, never seen ones like this before they do not look friendly, yet I do love the picture.. 

 I wish I would have taken a before and after picture, yet here is how far Miguel has progressed with the path to the homesite. While he is leveling the path, moving many rocks he is also planting along the sides with all the plants he is moving out of the way, as well as with cuttings from around the land, it is starting to look like a pretty path.

The rabbits have been moved to a large pen, mimicking their natural habitat. 

They now have little tunnels and caves and a huge area to run.

In the back ground is where the chickens live and the chicken house is in the process of being built.

 Keenan is becoming friends with the bunnies

 And here is Facundo and friend working on the chicken house, I really like how it is coming. All the wood is from the land, mostly from trees partly burned by the fire a couple of years back. This style of building is very traditional to the area, and blends in so nicely

 Before the chickens had their larger free range area behind the chicken house they lived here.

The area is nicely shaded and the soil nice and loose, less rocky and also nicely fertilized from the chickens, today I worked on enclosing little beds between the large immovable rocks, tomorrow I will continue on this project until it is ready for planting in the next few days.

 The main path leading to the animals is also coming along nicely, all this work was done between today and yesterday.

 In the garden so far we have only corn, peppers and pumpkins growing. These were all planted before we arrived, and we shall soon have gardens filled with herbs, veggies, fruits and love.

~Blessings~