Day 1 on the Kibbutz: the fun begins!

My day started at 8:30 am with Shahaf, an Israeli whose doing a “shin-shin,” which is a volunteer program Israeli youth can do for one year before going to the army. We had a delicious breakfast with french toast, veggies (my favorite), all kinds of cheeses, yogurts, and of course Israeli coffee. Nothing like a filling israeli breakfast to start your day!

After breakfast, I went on an amazing tour of the Kibbutz, which was packed with information – my jet-lagged brain was like a sponge, attempting to soak up as much as possible. It started in the Bustan, which is the eco-village where all of the eco-interns live. I learned about the base structure of all the buildings, which is clay, straw, water, and old trash the kibbutz recycled in order to make the skeletal frames. I find the trash part to be the most inventive – they use old tires, plastic bottles, glass, soda cans, and just about anything else you would normally throw away or recycle. This is the base of all of their structures, not just the living quarters – solar ovens, benches, tables, light structures, other buildings, just about anything. This could TOTALLY be done at camp too. We would have to adapt a few things because there's a different climate, but that's very easy. One of the number one things to keep the structure together is to coat the final product in oil, which keeps it from deteriorating from rain/water. On the kibbutz, they use the left-over cooking oil from the kitchen. I also did a little bit of research on straw-bale structures, and figured out that for wetter climates, a skeletal framework of either wood or metal allows for a stronger base and protects it during construction, which is the most vulnerable stage in the process. Another important thing is to prop your straw-bale structure on either rocks or stilts, in order to keep the ground moisture out. In the eco-village, the dorms are built on top of a layer of rocks, then there is a layer of steel to keep termites out.

Bustan Neighborhood Dorm

The solar ovens are also a great thing to bring to camp. They have 2 kinds – one that acts the same as a very large magnifying glass, and another that's more of an enclosed oven structure, used for breads. The magnifying ones are boxes lined with foil, covered with a clear plastic, then a mirror that reflects the sunlight through the plastic onto whatever you're cooking. It can get to about 100º Celsius, which is about 212º Fahrenheit. Hot stuff! There is a different version of this oven that utilizes a huge satellite structure covered with a mirror that you tilt towards the sun, then set whatever you're cooking on to a shelf that's connected to the structure, mimicking the way a stove-top works. The other structure is a mud dome constructed of the same straw-bale mixture that encapsulates heat inside, acting as an oven to bake breads. You light a small fire inside of the dome, choke it with the small door till the flame goes out, which creates heat inside the dome hot enough to bake breads and such. 
 

My picture didn't come out too well, so here's a picture of the solar oven stolen off the internet.

One of the other cool things I learned was the geometric dome structure. It's one of the strongest foundations you can build something out of, and is very easy to construct. Most of the buildings have a geometric foundation, and are then covered with straw-bale.

A major component of Kibbutz Lotan is their composting toilets. Here's how they work: next to the toilet there is a bucket of straw. When you use the bathroom, flushing is replaced by pouring straw down the chute. The straw absorbs the smell and keeps bugs from moving in. The waste falls into large trashcan bins and, when they are full, they are removed, covered, and allowed to sit for a year. After the year is finished, the compost can be used for gardening. Titled as “humanure,” these toilets serve as a way for the members of the Kibbutz to give some of their own nutrients back to the ground, so to speak.

Guess what's under the lid...

The rest of my day was spent working in the garden, where I made “seed-balls” and weeded like no one has ever weeded before. The seed-balls are an awesome activity to do with any age – you literally make a paste out of clay, soil, and water, then add seeds of whatever you want. From there, you form little balls, which house the seeds from wind, bugs, and other harmful extremities. When it rains or gets wet, these little homes dissolve, placing the seeds directly into the ground and ready to grow.

I spent my evening watching an incredible sunset over the Adom Mountains, then eating and getting to know the Green Apprenticeship participants. Most of them are from all over the states, college-aged and passionate about the earth. One of the most useful pieces of advice I received today was about adaptation – everything that is done on this Kibbutz is specific to THIS climate, and it's important to remember that any permaculture design and/or sustainable practice has to be adapted to the particular environment; what works here may not work somewhere else. It's all about doing your research before hand, then giving it and go and seeing what works and what doesn’t!