The kitchen garden as drawn on the San Miguel Arcangel school plans is a simple square, 5x5 meters, with four planting blocks of equal size. I’m told it won’t work as drawn, though, due to low sunlight in that southern corner. Everyone seems to agree it needs to be moved to the wedge-shaped opening located in the drawing to the upper right of the school, above the path leading to the administrative offices on the right. It’s an awkward space but that suits me fine; it presents an opportunity to move away from the rigid square.

 

Vegetables don’t need to be planted in rows, in square grids, isolated from herbs, fruits and flowers. In fact it’s both more interesting and ecological to plant mixed beds in layouts determined by soil type, sun, slopes, access to water, etc. So I’ve sketched five alternatives to the square kitchen garden, or huerta, as it’s known in Spanish, to show the teachers this week.  

 

My alternatives range from a square with curved internal beds to intersecting ovals, a cloverleaf design, a series of four interconnected hexagons, and even a sort of free-form star shape, in homage to Rudolf Steiner. The star doesn’t really work, it’s a series of dead-ends that would be a nightmare to walk with a group, but I can’t resist including it. It’s been a favorite among those who’ve seen the sketches until they consider how it would work in practice.

 

My preferred design is the clover, which interweaves three circular garden forms in an open shape that’s attractive, accessible, and fits the area well. Like all the others it includes space for herbs, small fruits, espaliered fruit trees, and a shaded sitting area adjacent to an outdoor wood-fired oven. I think it also improves the flow of the pathways around the school building.

 

Site construction manager Hernan Scalan is coming to meet me in a couple of hours to talk over ideas. We’ll also discuss parking at the front of the lot, because the city is forcing the school to build a driveway loop that threatens to eliminate much of the play space.

 

But tomorrow, as I learned earlier this afternoon, I’ll be on to something completely different. Yamile has asked that I come to La Providencia to meet the architect for the new school building and all others involved with construction. They also want me to pack my bags and move out there so we can work quickly in the next few days. I can stay in the empty school since all the kids are on vacation. Apparently they want a landscape design for the whole plot, in part to persuade the town to accept a less intrusive vehicular access plan. They’re researching codes and permits today.

 

Why not...for one thing, something has gone wrong with the water tank here in San Isidro, and until that gets fixed the nearest functioning bathroom is at the neighbors. Down the hall past the chickens, parrots, tarantulas, and Lupe the rottweiler (who decided early this morning that she was lonely, and crashed her way into my room by throwing all her weight against the door latch), through a garden wall and a maze of construction materials, outbuildings and thick vegetation, and into the shed attached to the back of the house next door. So it will be an adventure, I’ll pack my bags and see what happens...