Mongolian Permaculture: Day 17 - Mulch, Compost Tea, and BBQ Liver

THE ART OF MULCH

So nice to wake up this morning to find carrot plots freshly mulched with grass and weed clippings in the compound where bare earth baked in the sun yesterday. The knowledge being shared is already being transferred and replicated.

One minor adjustments needed to be made: southernwood species were slashed and dropped onto the growbeds for use as mulch, but aromatic plants may have oils and other compounds that could act as growth inhibitors for the seedlings underneath. Better to dry out the weeds for a couple days before using as mulch in order to allow these compounds to evaporate, and to ensure the weeds die and so do not take root and compete with their vegetable crop.

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM

Soils, Green Manures, Vegetable Crops, and Needs/Functions/Products Analysis taught today, students are finishing up their last session outside the tent, opting for the shade of one the abandoned buildings. After the hailstorm two days ago, the heat of the relentless sun is unbearable inside the tent.

Made friends with the kitchen today with a packet of 'Choco-Pies', 1,500MNT well-spent in town today. I’m a quick learner:

THE COOK IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.
-Rick’s first lesson of working in Overseas Aid-

Class is progressing well, lots of interaction and discussion and connections being made. Personalities emerging through language barriers as we spend more time and get to know the students better.

Compost Tea prac taught by Kat this afternoon to get everyone moving and the blood flowing …there is now a small washbasin full of nutritious and delicious compost tea near the dining room entrance for everyone to turn and flow to keep the microbiology lovefest well oxygenated so that they multiply over the next 48 hours.

MANY DEFT HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK;
EVERYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE HEAD AND HOOVES IS EATEN

Just finished dinner, home made noodles with meat again of course, but the highlight of the day …invited out to watch the men butcher a sheep.

Bek and Michael stole away with the liver, which they wrapped with the fatty lining of the offal cavity, stuffed in a wild green onion shoot, pinned with a piece of kindling, and put directly onto the fire coals.

Best dish I have eaten in Mongolia so far – the charred fat crisped up while the liver cooked through just enough to be safe – think succulent foie gras wrapped in crispy smoked bacon and you get the idea.

Yum.

YUM! DID I SAY THAT ALREADY?