sl (sustainable living)

The Sustainable Living department serves the fundamental needs of the Sunseed community, focusing on creating a comfortable environment for off-grid living. This includes providing essential items such as food, preserves, bread, cosmetics, and household products.

The Sustainable Living (SL) department actively organizes various workshops aimed at teaching valuable skills, such as bread making, preserving food, creating homemade eco-cosmetics, exploring holistic vegan/vegetarian diets, and crafting herbal teas. These workshops provide both theoretical knowledge and practical experience in these important areas.

“The role of the Sustainable Living Coordinator can be seen as reminiscent of the mother archetype. It is intriguing from an anthropological perspective to observe how the gender role of a mother interacts within this context. Personally, I find fulfillment in taking care of both the people and the physical space, not because of my gender or reproductive abilities, but simply because I genuinely enjoy it. This role carries significant expectations and involves attending to numerous “invisible” tasks on a daily basis. I prioritize the comfort of the houses and the well-being of the community members. Ensuring that people have a good night’s sleep and a cozy private space is of great importance to me, especially considering the intensity of communal living and the potential for long work hours.”

Gardens

The Sunseed gardens encompass several patches of land situated on the terraces of Rio de Aguas. The primary objective of the department is to experiment with different permaculture principles and learn how to cultivate specific crops in this particular climate.

“Toward the end of last year, I shifted my focus from physical work to understanding, primarily by observing the gardens here. I realized that this garden serves more as an educational space rather than a highly productive one. When there are ESC (European Solidarity Corps) volunteers in the garden, there are certain expectations and a desire to learn, so I strive to strike a balance. The shorter your stay, the more specific tools, techniques, and practical knowledge you can gain from working in the gardens.

When I first arrived at Sunseed, there was an abundance of information on paper and through handovers, which I found overwhelming for someone who needs to be actively involved in the fieldwork. It’s important to note that we are not aiming to achieve complete self-sufficiency in fresh fruits and vegetables. The main purpose is to observe and learn from the garden. Individuals staying for longer periods can explore a broader range of approaches, including permaculture, agroforestry, food forest systems, and holistic management. This represents a larger perspective on the possibilities if we have sufficient energy and resources available.

In terms of handovers, it took me some time to understand that we operate in a place where resources, especially water, are quite limited. It doesn’t make sense to allocate significant resources to growing potatoes, for example, when our neighbors can produce them more efficiently on a larger scale. This consideration greatly influences our choice of crops. Essentially, we focus on growing a variety of produce that our collaborators may not easily produce at a low cost. While we are not a self-sufficient garden, we prioritize experimentation and exploration.”

“As summer approaches, working in the garden becomes more challenging due to the rising temperatures and the limited availability of irrigation water. Spending a long period of time in the garden helps in understanding and gaining knowledge of the land, but if one is not present for a complete change of seasons, it can be harder to grasp its specific needs.

The plants experience both very dry periods and the presence of gypsum in the soil, which is abundant in Los Molinos. While gypsum can be beneficial in small amounts, its high concentration poses challenges for plant growth.

To adapt the plants to the dry climate, we employ infrequent watering using a flood irrigation method. This involves directing water from the acequia into channels that run alongside the growing beds. The roots of the plants absorb the water from these channels. The concept behind this approach is to encourage deeper root growth, making the plants more resilient to drought.

We have a circular system from the garden to the kitchen and back. Our food leftovers and kitchen scraps are utilized to create compost, which is then used to prepare garden beds and mixed with soil to create potting mix for seedlings. By using nitrogen-rich compost, we aim to close the consumption loop. Additionally, we utilize urine separated from human waste in the compost toilets. The waste itself is composted into ‘Humanure,’ a nutrient-rich material that we use when planting our dryland species.”

Some individuals who have lived in Sunseed believe that the community needs to reinvent itself and transform into a more sustainable community. This means providing better conditions and environments to encourage people to stay for the long term and sustain the project. The constant turnover of people, including short-term volunteers, or visitors, poses many challenges to the project.

In recent years, Sunseed has attracted many young people in their early 20s to visit and stay in the community. On one hand, this brings fresh energy to the community, but on the other hand, it can result in less commitment to a long-term vision for the project.

Finances also play a significant role in long-term commitment. The project is unable to provide proper salaries and financial support to individuals, making it challenging to attract more stable and experienced individuals in the required fields of work.

When we come to new places, we bring our own culture, backgrounds, traumas, and past experiences. This diversity makes community living a complex endeavor. It is interesting to observe the internal processes that everyone goes through when sharing rooms, food, working spaces, and daily life with unfamiliar individuals.

“I believe that Sunseed is probably one of the most environmentally sustainable places I have lived, but it lacks a solid foundation. It’s like floating in the air, without roots to grow and develop. Every time we need to start anew, from scratch. To be honest, this is not a pattern we observe in nature. In nature, there is always an accumulation of matter and a continuous growth.”

“I believe that in Sunseed, we are allocating a significant amount of space for community activities, but we aren’t giving enough space for individuals to focus on their own lives and have their own personal spaces. Sometimes, everything becomes excessively communalized. We need to make improvements in that aspect, without a doubt.”

“Most of the people who come here are young Europeans seeking to experience a different lifestyle, but they bring with them the social constructs of their respective backgrounds. Living here does not automatically shield us from capitalism or patriarchy because these systems exist within each of us. This reality occasionally manifests in our community life, and it has been the most shocking aspect for me since the beginning. I have noticed the presence of many undefined and unofficial ranks within the community.”

“I believe that we haven’t deeply reflected on what we are currently doing and where we want to consciously go. Our energies seem to be scattered and lacking focus, going in various directions.”