Happy Thanksgiving

Well, it's Thanksgiving in Paraguay...which means...well, nothing. However, we Peace Corps Volunteers are still going to celebrate! Tomorrow (the day AFTER Thanksgiving) we are all going down to Encarnacions, about 6 hours by bus from Asuncion, and staying in a nice hotel and having a feast of our own..including turkey and the works. I'm keeping this short, since I have pictures to post and I know that's what you all REALLY want. So, on with the pictures.


Maria's garden. Amazing, isn't it? This time a year ago it was all weeds. The woman has got enthusiasm!

Showing the women my flower garden in between classes.

Summer gardening class on mulch.

Erosion demonstration.

More mulch and erosion talk.

Kids helping with the raffle after the seminar.

This is my experiment of Crotalaria inbetween pineapple. Eventually it will grow taller and shade the pineapple so that the fruits dont scorch. Also, it fixes a lot of nitrogen and it's roots release a chemical which kills nematodes, pretty cool, eh!?

I gave Maria some sunflower seeds from the states, look how pretty!

Random wildflower.

My herb section of the garden. Lemongrass, two types of mint, a little thai basil baby, some chamomile.

Summer garden. Watermelon taking over, creating a great green mulch. Two types of okra, experimenting with amaranthe , tomatillos.

Hot chilies, okra, watermelon, basil, nasturtiums, marigolds. I dont like a neat garden, as you all can tell. I feel like the "mess" disorients bugs, there isn't just one section of peppers and just one section of watermelon. It is all dispersed so that if bugs were to attack it would be localized and not destroy an entire section. The perfection lies in the imperfection.

My red sunflowers...almost black!

Maria with her sunflowers...she absolutely loves them. They are the talk of the town, literally.

This is my other neighbor, Nidia, with one of Maria's sunflowers.

The woman across the street, Juana, is using old bean pods as a mulch. Not only is it thick and will decompose slowly adding lots of nutrients, but I also think it looks wonderful.

Bees love sunflowers.

This is my neighboors newest puppy, Lupino (they let me name him), playing in a pile of Mandi'o peels.

Freshly baked Sourdough. A volunteer gave me some of her sourdough starter culture, so I made my own Sourdough with some ground lentil and flax flour along with traditional white flour. Tossed in some Sesame seeds and Caraway seeds and this is the end result.