Tag Archives: North Carolina State University

NCSU in Oaxaca: At Tierra del Sol Permaculture Farm

This week I’m traveling with twelve students, three faculty members and a videographer from North Carolina State University Department of Horticultural Science. It’s a study abroad program that I organized for Professors Ricardo Hernandez and Julieta Sherk.

Go Wolfpack! NCSU students and faculty with Tierra del Sol staff

Many students are from rural North Carolina and have never been to Mexico before. They are studying sustainable agriculture, horticulture, nutrition, business, textiles, agribusiness and landscape design. They will become researchers, educators, managers and practitioners.

Making plaster clay from mud, water, straw

Mexico is our learning laboratory for comparing and contrasting the way food is developed, managed, commercialized and distributed.

At Tierra del Sol, alternative building materials include bottles and clay

A highlight of the week was our visit to Tierra del Sol in San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca,  in the Tlacolula Valley. We spent the morning on a tour to see small scale farming, sustainable agriculture, organic farming, respect for the land and the cultural history of the Zapotec people.  We talked about how education is the primary mission of the farm.

Leticia Hernandez Fabian bakes corn cakes in wood-fired adobe oven for us

It is a demonstration model for young children and families who want to keep the traditional methods of growing and fertilizing vegetables that have a 10,000 year old history here.

New cabins for volunteers constructed with bamboo, waddle and daub

Staff work with residents of the adjacent village of San Jeronimo Tlacochuhuaya who want to learn more about sustainable agriculture/permaculture. They also organize programs in the schools.

Biodiverse pond supports talapia fish and a swimming hole for people

Tierra del Sol has been in existence for about fifteen years, founded by Pablo Ruiz Lavalle. The farm manager is Julio Abimael, who is also a beekeeper.

The organizers are planning an internship program and we discussed the possibility of an exchange program where university students could come to work, study, learn and earn university credit for the experience.

Garlic pesto, fresh from the farm

In addition to eating some yummy, home-baked corn bread that we slathered with garlic pesto made in the farm kitchen, the students had fun making mud plaster and applying it to adobe bricks at the base of the Gaia building, covered with a thatch roof.

We take lunch, squash greens soup with Moises Garcia’s family

Recycling is an essential part of sustainability at Tierra del Sol. Baño seco, the composting toilet, is one feature. Both animal and human waste is used for plant fertilizer. Water is recycled and there is attention to using only what is needed, and then giving it back to the earth.

Carrot crop in the Tierra del Sol garden

We compared large-scale farming methods of agribusiness, complete with chemical fertilizers and irrigation systems, with the small, ten-acre plots of land with non-GMO seeds that indigenous people in Oaxaca depend upon for nutrients.

Overall, it was an excellent day.

Bare feet are the best mixing machine

On the van, ready for the next adventure

Bamboo is a wind break and building material

Professor Ricardo Hernandez reflects on day

Lily pond flower

A long view of Tierra del Sol

Solar panels heat water for personal use.

Our guides at Tierra del Sol

After lunch with Moises Garcia and family–Wolfpack Growl!

NCSU in Oaxaca: Monte Alban Archeological Site

Students and faculty from North Carolina State University Department of Horticultural Science are in Oaxaca for a study abroad course on Sustainability in Emerging Countries.

NCSU students and faculty setting out to explore Oaxaca

Here’s what a few students say about our first day at Monte Alban.

“We went to see Monte Alban first to give us background about Oaxaca and culture we are stepping into.”

Climbing the pyramids for a long view of the archeological site

“People here in Oaxaca take pride in this historic archeological site.”

Copal tree flowering and with seed pods — sap used for ritual incense

“You don’t know what people are talking about until you see the significance of this place.”

A long view of Monte Alban, with Observatory in distance

“It was a good foundation for what we would see and experience.”

Monte Alban is one of those spectacular archeological sites that grasp your attention, teach about the sophistication of Zapotec leadership and demonstrate the astronomical prowess of indigenous people.

Guide Pablo Gonzalez explains development of this major Mesoamerican site

The visit there gave students an opportunity to see native plants and understand the local plant life and landscape.

Pencil cactus becomes tree, with poisonous sap

As we climbed the temples and examined the plant life, saw the glyphs carved into the stone, and understood the ancient systems of water retention and cultivation, we gained a greater insight into the importance of Oaxaca as the source of corn that was first hybridized here almost 10,000 years ago and spread throughout the world.

At the top of the Zapotec world, 1,000 BC to 800 AD

We approached from the north side of the Monte Alban. The site is on a mountain-top between the city and the ancient ceramic making village of Santa Maria Atzompa.

Caretakers take a break in front of “Los Danzantes,” the Dancers, carved stone

The glyphs and carvings tell a story of conquest and dominance over surrounding villages, as well as the glyph language of rectangles and circles. Figures carved upside-down into the stone represented conquered leaders from local villages.

Another view of Los Danzantes

The gold treasures from Tomb 7 are on view at the Santo Domingo Cultural Center next to the church. They were wrought by Mixtecs who occupied Monte Alban in the late classical period.

Stelae carved with circles and rectangles — ancient vocabulary

Students participating are studying agriculture, horticulture, landscape design, business, and nutrition. Each day, they have an intensive discussion with their professors about food sourcing, fertilization, bio-diversity and cultural impact on climate change.

In the clouds at the top of Monte Alban

Zapotec rulers lived high above the agricultural valley below. Humans leveled the mountain where the elite lived. The Spanish named the place Monte Alban. When they arrived the mountain was covered in trees with white blooming flowers.

A videographer with the group will make a documentary about the experience

Students will write a paper and receive three-credit hours toward their degree program. We have one doctoral student with us, too.

North Carolina State University Comes to Oaxaca for Study Abroad

The Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, is sending a group of sixteen people to Oaxaca to study organic agriculture, permaculture, indigenous farming techniques, and methods of converting native plants to dye materials, food and beverage. The group includes students, faculty members and a videographer who will document the week-long program.

They arrive tonight!

Sunset at Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico

I’ve organized a full week of activities for them that starts with an understanding of Zapotec history and culture as a foundation for our time together. We will explore the archeological site of Monte Alban with a knowledgable local guide that includes a discussion of social and political organization, food cultivation and sourcing, and farming.

Monte Alban archeological site

We will visit Tierra del Sol in San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, have lunch in the home of a local family who farms the land, visit a mezcal palenque to see how agave is cultivated and made into mezcal, and stop at the home of a Teotitlan del Valle weaver who works only in natural dyes.

Corn was first hybridized in Mexico about 8,000 years ago. Remnants, discovered with DNA testing, were found in the caves at Yagul, about five miles from where I live in the Tlacolula Valley. It is one of the most beautiful sites in the region.

Shucking dried corn kernels for planting in the milpas

Then, we fly to Puerto Escondido in that teeny-weeny airplane run by AeroTucan to visit an organic coffee farm, explore the marine biology of the region and tour the Mexican National Turtle Sanctuary in Mazunte where wildlife preservation takes priority.  We have plans to meet with the local university to learn more about Mexico’s commitment to doing things naturally.

I’ll be writing about the study abroad program this week. I hope you’ll follow us.

Plowing my neighbor’s corn field, a five-hour project with bull power