WELCOME TO THE GOBIThe sand-blasting wind which greeted us late last night did not let up.
On his first visit to the Gobi Dessert, Rick boldy predicts rain today [upon arrival, and after midnight] ...and the co-operative members who came out to greet us at the railway station shake their heads ‘No’ in amusement.
‘Don’t be silly; we’re in the Gobi…’
…this morning, however, the wind dies down as breakfast is brought in, the first drops of rain spattering against the window as the co-operative members who thought Rick was crazy last night are wondering if perhaps this strange man with the bright yellow shirt and loud red hat has brought rain to the Gobi.
THERE'S 3 MORE OF US IN THIS CAR!We cram ourselves into the back of a tiny sedan and bounce out to the vegge plot, wedged into the back seat so tightly that dips which otherwise would have sent us crashing into the ceiling are rendered mere bumps along the way.
Jackets and beanies today against the cold and wet, sandy soil sticking in clumps to our boots due to the higher clay content here.
LOOK CLOSELY AND SEE IF YOU CAN PICK OUT ANY GEMSTONES...The ground is also littered with rocks: quartz and ironstone and an outcrop of shale or perhaps slate and something that looks like amethyst, and something else that might be flourite.
RICK AND KAT WALK THE SITEThe co-operative plot is located in the middle of a windy, open desert plain, and the crops are windblasted throughout.
A Chinese mine can be seen in the near distance, their closest neighbour, though because our translator still has not arrived, we are unable to determine exactly what they are mining… if it is coal, than we may have access to coal dust, a waste product of the mining operation that could be used as a slow release mineral fertilizer for the cropping fields.
Three year old seabuckthorn trees are healthily established but stunted, and Rick plucks out a woody shrub growing nearby, walks over to the perimeter fence, and weaves it into the wires to demonstrate how to form a windbreak.
1. UNSHELTERED BEETROOT PLOT
2. WIND-SHELTERED BEETROOT PLOTThe beetroot plots are sparse, except for a patch nestled in a corner formed by the solar panels’ battery house and the water tank, forming an unintentional windbreak which demonstrates what a dramatic difference the simple adjustment of keeping the wind off can make.
DESERT WEED SUITABLE FOR 'LIVING MULCH' GROUND COVER;WINDBLASTED AND STUNTED SEABUCKTHORN SAPLINGS CAN BE SEEN BEHIND RICK
The desert weeds spring up pretty quickly once fences are up to keep the grazers off, and we identify one groundcover desert species that is thriving in the harsh conditions [now that the animals are unable to munch on it] that would make a great living mulch.
THE GOOD NEWS :WORD TRAVELS FAST -
ONE WEEK AFTER LEARNING ABOUT MULCH IN TOSONTSENGEL,
THIS NEW KNOWLEDGE IS TRANSFERRED AND REPLICATED
THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY IN THE GOBI DESERT
Kat is scribbling notes and I am snapping pictures furiously to keep up with Rick’s running commentary and analysis of the site so that we can fire questions at our translator when [and if] he arrives.
WIND DAMAGE VISIBLE TO FRAME ON RIGHT [WINDWARD SIDE] OF TOMATO GREENHOUSEThe greenhouse crops are doing well here, with the first red tomatoes we have seen on the vines all trip, just now ripening. However, the steel frame of the tomato greenhouse is visibly buckling from the stresses on its winward side and the plastic is beginning to rip in the corners; there is room for further improvement here.
SUCCESSFUL CUCUMBER CROP IN DOUBLE-GLAZED, SUBTERRANEAN GREENHOUSEThe cucumber greenhouse has been built into the ground, has an insulative double-layer of plastic sheeting, and a cage rock wall on the south-facing side of the north wall for thermal mass. The co-operative leader plucks a couple large cucumbers from the vines and offers them up for us to munch on as we continue the site visit.
MELON CROP LOOKING DISMALSpray irrigation is being used in the melon field, which exacerbates salination in the salty soils, and maximizes water loss to evaporation in the desert conditions. Indeed, the melon crop is looking dismal and will not yield any notable crops.
POTATO CROPS IN TOSONTSENGEL WERE ALMOST TWICE THIS SIZE,AND ALREADY FLOWERING
Similarly, the potato fields are looking pretty sparse for this late in the season, and these are being flood irrigated instead. This also has the effect of exacerbating salination; as surface water evaporates, a salty film is left behind which compunds each time the trenches are flooded. Over time, the salt will build to unsustainable levels for cropping.
Trenching and mounding could also be done more efficiently here – mound, mound, trench instead of mound, trench, mound – to reduce labour inputs, and increase productivity.
We are shown a fairly healthy zucchini crop that makes a sound like knocking on wood when we rap our knuckles on it; it turns out to actually be a variety of winter squash ...could be good for storing, some squash varieties will keep for up to six months.
WEAVING A WINDBREAK INTO PERIMETER FENCINGUSING WILD DESERT SHRUBS GROWING IN FENCED AREAS
Then we all huddle into the solar panels’ battery room to get out of the rain and warm our hands and bodies with a nice warm cup of tea; time for a quick training...
DALANZARGALAN CO-OPERATIVE…except that our translator is still missing…
…frustrated and full of unanswered questions, we pile into the back of a hand-cranked tractor and are taken back to the hotel to catch our 4pm train to Sainchand.
TRACTOR RIDE IN THE GOBI DESERT ...PRICELESS.Sainshand is the largest aiymag [rural center] we have been to outside of Ulaanbaatar, with a population of approximately 37,000.
Its large train station is on the edge of town, and is a hive of activity, while the wind continues to whip us even as we shuffle towards the taxi stand in search of a ride to town.
As the muted light fades from the overcast twilight shy, our hotel lobby welcomes us in darkness as we stumble up the steps into the double doors.
There is a tense moment of uncomfortable silence as the startled receptionist tries to renegotiate the room rates - to double the price - when she sees our foreign western faces walk in the door.
We turn on our heels and march back out into the wind, and a staff member hurries after us to bring us back at the original rate – 20,000MNT [approx $20AUS] /night.
When the electricity is finally turned on [after eating the first half of dinner by LED flshlight], we find ourselves in the swankiest accomodation we've experienced yet. The hotel restaurant is decorated like a rich ger, hung with paintings of Mongol horsemen, archers, scenes of nomadic life, the obligatory portrait of Chinggis, and exotic portraits of half-nude Mongolian women lounging seductively in the royal ger.
Since we are no longer on official Aid Agency business, we try to order a cold beer, and find out that it just so happens that today is a ‘no alcohol’ day in this particular aiymag center. It seems that each time we try to go out for a cold beer, we time it so that it co-incides with a TOTAL BAN day…
…the first night in Ulaanbaatar, before we began the consultancy, we tried to sample the Chinngis beer on tap, only to be told that alcohol wasn’t served on Thursdays in Mongolia. Then, thirty days later, when we try to have a celebratory cold one for a job well done at the conclusion of the consultancy, we just so happen to go out, again, on a TOTAL BAN night:
"But it’s not Thursday,” we protest, and find out that, actually, every 1st of the month is a TOTAL BAN day in Ulaanbaatar.
Now, 4 days later, we find out that we have wandered into Sainchand Aiymag Center on the 4th of the month, which, of course, just so happens to be a TOTAL BAN day. Some Aussies have all the luck.
Rick wanders over to one of the exotic portraits in the corner of the restaurant to appreciate it from a better angle, and an important-looking gentleman in dark glasses glances up from his beer with a look that says, ‘What the hell do you want, mister?’
To which Rick smiles and says, ‘Sain Bain O! [Hello!]’
The important-looking man drinking the only beer in town on a TOTAL BAN night looks over his dark glasses, pauses for a few moments, then laughs heartily and waves us over to join him.
A couple cold Chinggis Drafts later, it turns out that we have made friends with the Governor of Zaimin Yyl, a soum located another three-hour train ride south from Sainshand to the Chinese border. He graciously invites us to visit his soum on our day off, promising camel rides and horse rides and good times, in exchange for a visit to his local vegetable-growing plot.
"Why not?", we shrug to each other, and it is settled, on Saturday we will go to visit our new friend.
It's easy to make new friends in Mongolia!
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