SLAOUI AND MUD BRICKS

As the house is going up, the slaoui just keeps on producing more blossoms and squashes. It is slaoui tajine time! Kaoutar will 

be making it tomorrow over the outdoor burner.

 

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE A HOUSE!

The studio will be a wedge shaped structure, curved in the 

front. Today the guys finished the rock layer and got a 

good start on laying the steel for the foundation. 

Another load of the mud bricks was delivered today, 

and good progress was made on the walls.

In just under 4 hours of work cutting the smaller branches up, this is the piteous pile I produced. It is definitely time to call in the troops.
 

LOADED ZEITOUN TREES, RAMPANT SLAOUI AND WAGON LOADS OF MULCH

If you zoom in here you can see the abundant 

crop of olives we have this year.

These plants are a squash that is called slaoui here, and bottle gourds in other areas. They are so lush and beautiful. Abdoul has eaten a couple already and he said they were delicious.

I saw a bunch of olive trees that had been cut down on a 

neighboring property and asked if I could buy the smaller 

branches with the leaves. I will use them as mulch, fertilizer and 

in the compost. I had four of these wagon loads delivered. It will 

be a tremendous amount of work, but worth it. I hope.

 

THE WALLS GO UP!

Things are getting exciting at the garden home!

 

BUILDING PROGRESS

The guys work six days a week and I am continually amazed at how much work they can get done. Other than the trucks that deliver supplies and a small push dirt compactor, everything is done with hand tools, wheelbarrows and human labor.

 

CONSTRUCTION

 

END OF SUMMER

 

Summer is winding down, and the olive trees are bearing so much fruit that we have to prop up some of the branches to keep them from breaking, and we can no longer walk upright in this area of the property. Zoom in on this photo!

Both of the palo verde trees have grown considerably, and most of the other plantings survived the brutal summer heat. The mounds of soil are from the foundation trenches-finally, construction on the house and studio has resumed.

And, I saw a dragonfly.