And finally we saw it, what is possible when a earthship greenhouse pushes the boundaries. Of course the Phoenix is a million dollar home, the finishes alone how years of painstaking work, but if instead of a single family rental with a mostly ornamental garden, it was a multi-occupancy model for communal living the greenhouse would be feeding 4-6 people fairly well. The blackwater botanical cell (the leach field of yesterday;s post) is actually inclosed in the greenhouse and there re a lot of thriving plants in the actual interior as well. With such a lush garden the greenhouse is beautifully humid rather than baking hot and with birds and fish in a pond with running water it feels more like an ecosystem. Perhaps these elements, as well as the hours put into this rental by the staff, are what help it thrive and remain pest and disease free.

It was truly heartening to see such a paradise after all the scraggly, unloved looking gardens of the intern housing. I don’t believe there was a single intern who wasn’t struck dumb by what they saw, of course there were the classic Mike Reynold excentricities like a fireplace that became a waterfall, raised bedrooms, underground walking in robes accessed by a spiral staircase and another bedroom screened by plants rather than a wall, it was rather playful and fun.

After the day was ended I visited Sam and Jason both tucked in bed for a nap, then heard Griffin and Joe drop by, after chatting with them, other Dan and other Jason with his infectious high pitched barking laugh arrived for a chat and a look at the Tower’s W.O.M. and stayed for a nice little rant I had bottled up about food security. They left and Reid came to take a photo of the bottle wall at sunset and we chatted about banana plants and permaculture and Briz arrived for a photo of the wall as well. Meanwhile Dylan was making surprisingly good camp stove pizza to share. It was all rather lovely, and made me realise as much as I felt ready to move on from this dusty place I would miss all the lovely interns I have shared the experience with. Two days to go.

What are your unforgettable experiences? Have you stayed in touch with the people you shared them with? Or were they a moment in time that burnt so bright then faded away?

We lined the pit with used plastic to prevent the EPDM waterproof membrane from getting holes. the membrane was cut so it was only a foot or so below the top of the hole. (Excuse the imperial, I’m not in metric land anymore.) We folded over an inch of the edge and nailed it to the pit’s earth walls making sure it was not too tight to avoid the nails ripping the membrane when it is weighed down with gravel and earth.

the inlet brings in the blackwater, the solids have been separated out by the septic. It is very important that the overflow on the other end is lower than the inlet by at lest 4 inches to prevent blackwater flowing back into the building. The holes in the pipe allow the water to enter the leach field. It must be level and the “rock bulb” of river rocks holds the pipe in place.

In the grey water botanical cell the water from the basins and shower are filtered through the inlet by what use to be a woman’s stocking before entering the botanical cell, once it has gone through the rocks and plant roots it’s used to flush toilets, a pump is required for thisat the outlet end.

The perforated pipe is covered with plastic so the gravel doesn;t block the holes.

Do as the weeks wore on the interns got tired of sand and dirt and there was a lot more hijinks on site between wheelbarrows full of mortar. When filling barrows with dirt stopped being fun Joe wheeled Jason around between breaks, Ron knew exactly the right time to deliver donuts to keep up moral and rocks became juggling balls.

Then after a hard day in the dust we let our hair down at the Alley Cantina. Dancing to a live band and an introduction to shuttleboard; wordplay duels with a cowboy and rocking out to RESPECT by Aretha. Then home in high spirits with a slightly worse for wear Jason coming out of his shell and speaking in an Irish accent he didn’t have before and a penchant for touching people’s faces (how the hell did he keep his fingers so soft in this dry climate, tell me your secret!). It was all a great time, one of our best nights, but all things must be tempered with a little sobriety. Poor old “Minnesota, you betcha” Jason fell asleep in his chair at the Towers and clonked his eyebrow on the floor. Woken by a sheepish Sam we checked him for concussion and then when he checked out left him be too his incoherent grumbling, Good luck Sam. It was funny once we knew it wasn’t going to end in tragedy. Ah youths.