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  SUMMER 2011 Make a nutrition plan for Sunseed diet. Preserving summer fruits and vegetables. Encourage the use of solar cookers creating the day of “no gas” Seminar about sustainable living. Welcome and guide tours for volunteers and visitors. Renew the Sunseed cookbook Create a kit of natural remedies damage and pains Catering Sunseed courses Preparing and organizing the 25 Sunseed anniversary SPRING NEWS  2011 Make, preserve and keep a live sourdough for make bread without yeast and use the solar over for make bread. Seminar about sustainable living Guided tours for volunteers and visitors Spanish lessons Preserving spring fruits, vegetables and herbs. Building new solar dryers before Summer Renew the cushions covers on the living room benches Decorate and improve the volunteers’ rooms Use recycled and natural materials to make handcraft products Make natural care products like aromatics oils, natural disinfectants for cleaning, experimenting making liquid soap, natural cosmetic products and teach how to use them. Preparing the Open Day on 18th June. Guide visit and workshop whit Roquetas de Mar High school   VERANO 2011 * Elaboracion de un plan nutricional para Sunseed * Preservación de frutas y verduras de verano * Promover el uso de las cocinas solares creando el “Dia sin Gas” * Seminario sobre aspectos de la vida sostenibles * Visitas guiadas para voluntari@s y visitantes * Renover el libro de cocina de Sunseed * Crear un kit de remedios naturales para heridas y dolores. * Cocinar en los cursos de Sunseed * Preparar y organizar el 25 Aniversario de Sunseed PRIMAVERA 2011 * Hacer, conservar y mantener viva Masa Madre para hacer pan y cocinar pan en los hornos solares. * Realizado un seminario sobre aspectos de la vida sostenibles * Visitas guiadas para voluntari@s y visitantes * Clases de español * Preservación de frutas y verduras de primavera * Construcción de nuevos secadores solares antes del verano * Renovar los cojines de los bancos de salón * Decorar y mejorar las habitaciones de l@s voluntari@s * Utilizar materiales reciclados y naturales para hacer productos artesanales * Hacer productos naturales del cuidado personal y del hogar como: aceites aromáticos, desinfectantes naturales para la limpieza, jabon liquido, cosmeticos naturales y mostrar como utilizarlos. * Preparativos para la Jornada de Puertas Abiertas el 18 de Junio. * Visitado guiada y taller con un grupo de estudiantes de secundaria del IES de Roquetas de Mar.
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AUTUMN 2011 Start work with Martin, new EPF assistant. Take part in the eco-fair Ecoaltea with Sunseed stand, Compost tea workshop & presentation of the project. Publicity, Co-Organise & take part on Permaculture Course. Finish European Voluntary Service EVS application Work on the Sunseed 25 anniversary in October. Seminars on sustainable living, food production, human & environmental rights. Educational Guided Tours of the project, for volunteers and visitors. Visit with volunteers to different projects: Rodalquilar Botanical Garden, Dave’s Earthship Cuevas del Sol., etc.. Networking: – with RIE Spanish Ecovillage Network, take part in their Autumn meeting. the – with Spanish Vegetarian Association try to organise some event together – with Portuguese ecovillage Project Tribodar – with other local associations & groups Formalize collaboration agreements with several Universities & students for students placements & internships. Volunteers projects: – Lena: publicity – posters and leaflets And other bits…magazines & websites…and more…. SUMMER 2011 Co-organise visit & workshop for 3 Greenpeace summer camp groups: seed planting, zai holes, gardens irrigation, irrigation line clearing, making pickles. Publicity & Co-Organise Wind Turbine Course + Autumn courses.: PV panels, Bread & Jam, Nutrition, Compostoilet, Permaculture. Co-organise a Open Day in June & run a henna (natural body art) workshop Work on the organisation of Sunseed 25 anniversary in October. Seminars on Ecovillages & Sustainable communities; and sustainable living, food production, human, animal & environmental rights. Educational Guided Tours of the project, for volunteers and visitors. Visit with volunteers to different projects: Rodalquilar Botanical Garden, Dave’s Earthship Cuevas del Sol., etc.. Join the Union Vegetariana Espanola UVE – Spanish Vegetarian Association. With Drylands take part on Course in Almeria University about endangered species. Preparing to take part on Eco-fairs Ecoaltea. Publicized Sunseed on several UK festivals in cooperation with Wide Awake Café – Vicente Cruz. Formalize collaboration agreements with several Universities & students for students placements & internships. Volunteers projects: – Neysa – Fundraising, Research & presentation on several EU grants available. – Erin – Video short presentation about Sunseed – Hanna – University Project – Community values, research, workshop & presentation of results.      OTOÑO 2011 Comenzar a trabajar con Martin, nuevo asistente de EPF. Participacion en la feria Ecoaltea con el stand de Sunseed, un taller sobre Fertilizantes vegetales liquidos y una presentacion del proyecto. Publicidad, Co-organizacion y participacion en el Curso de Permacultura. Finalizar y presentar la solicitud para el SVE Servicio Voluntario Europea. Trabajar en el 25 Aniversario de Sunseed Realizacion de Seminarios sobre vida sostenible, produccion de alimentos, origenes, causas y consecuencias, derechos humanos, animales y de la Tierra. Visitas Guiadas Educativas del proyecto para voluntari@s y visitantes. Organizacion de visitas con voluntari@s de diversos proyectos: Jardin Botanico de Rodalquilar, Earthship Cuevas del Sol., etc.. Trabajo en red – conexiones con: – la RIE red Iberica de Ecoaldeas, participacion en el encuentro de Otoño – con la UVE Union Vegetariana Espanola contacto y colaboracion, actividades conjuntas – con el proyecto ecoaldea portugues Tribodar – con otros grupos y asociaciones locales Formalizar acuerdos de colaboracion con diversas Universidades y estudiantes, para realizar practicas de estudios y proyectos. Apoyar a l@s voluntari@s con sus proyectos: – Lena: publicidad – posters y dipticos Y otras tareas como pagina web, revistas, articulos, etc… VERANO 2011 Co-organizacion de visita y talleres de 3 grupos de campamento de Greenpeace: plantar semillas, cavar agujeros zai, riego de las huertas, mantenimiento de la acequia, hacer conservas. Publicidad y co-organizacion de el Curso de Aerogenerador y Cursos de Otoño: Paneles Fotovoltaicos, Pan y mermelada, Nutricion, Water Seco de compost, Permacultura. Co-organizacion de la Jornada de Puertas abiertas y realizacion de un taller de henna – pintura-decoracion corporal natural Trabajo en la organizacion del 25 Aniversario de Sunsed en Octubre realizacion de Seminarios sobre Ecoaldeas y comunidades sostenibles; y produccion de alimentos, origenes, causas y consecuencias, derechos humanos, animales y de la Tierra. Visitas Guiadas Educativas del proyecto para voluntari@s y visitantes. Organizacion de visitas con voluntari@s de diversos proyectos: Jardin Botanico de Rodalquilar, Earthship Cuevas del Sol., etc.. Asociacion a la UVE Union Vegetariana Española Participacion, junto con la Cooordinadora de secano, en un Curso sobre Flora Amenazada en la Universidad de Almeria. Preparar la participacion el la feria Ecoaltea. Publicidad de Sunseed en varios festivales en reino Unido con el Wide Awake Café – Vicente Cruz. Formalizar acuerdos de colaboracion con diversas Universidades y estudiantes, para realizar practicas de estudios y proyectos. Apoyar a l@s voluntari@s con sus proyectos: – Neysa – Busqueda de fondos, Busqueda y presentacion de varias subvenciones europeas disponibles. – Erin – Pequeno video presentacion de Sunseed – Hanna – Proyecto Universitario. Los Valores de la Comunidad , investigacion, taller y presentacion de resultados.  
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As always this spring was a busy time for the gardens….reflected in the need for four assistants to our ever hard working coordinator Kirsty in the last 12 months! Winter and spring saw us bringing more of our terraces into cultivation and success in propagating our own plants over the spring in our polytunnel. We have begun cultivating green manures such as alfalfa to continue to increase the fertility of our soils along with our tried and tested compost teas and food waste. We hope to develop and experiment further our composting techniques this summer. New beds have been prepared in the Forest Garden and Far Terrace allowing us to demonstrate Permaculture techniques and to harvest the rewards. We continue to trail Mycorrhizal planting and continue to work on our soil fertility strategy which, uniquely, excludes the use of animal manures – other than our own human waste! Over the summer we aim to collect more of our own seed and improve our propagation results. Permaculture courses, based upon our own cultivation techniques are being organised for the autumn. Join us if you can. Early June has seen temperatures exceeding 30 degrees so improvements to the irrigation line and weeding are the main duties of our team of volunteers. And of course there is the reward of a harvest most days – see below!. After 5 years as Organic Gardens Trustee, Richard, has decided to step down to allow for a fresh input of ideas into what the future might hold for organic gardening in Los Molinos. If you feel that you would like to get involved with the Sunseed Project as a Trustee or Advisor please contact the Project to receive more details. Have a happy and sunny summer from all the garden team at Sunseed!!!Como siempre, este verano ha sido un periodo muy atareado para las huertas…. esto se ha reflejado en la necesidad de vari@s asistentes junto con nuestra coordinadora Kirsty supertrabajadora. El invierno y la primavera extendimos la plantacion en nuestras huertas y obtuvimos un gran exito en el crecimiento de nuestros propios planteles por semilla en nuestro invernadero. Hemos empezado a cultivar abonos verdes como la alfalfa para continuar con el invcremento de fertilidad en nuestos suelos junto con el compost de residuos de comida y los purines-abonos liquidos vegetales. Durante este verano esperamos desarrollar y experimentar mas si cabe nuestras tecnicas de compostaje. Hemos preparado nuevos bancales en el Forest y la Far Terrace permitiendonos demostrar tecnicas de Permacultura y cosechando las recompensas.

Proximas actividades

Despues de 5 años como Trustee de Huerta Ecologica, Richard ha decidido dejar su puesto para permitir nuevas ideas para`las huertas en Los Molinos. Si crees que te gustaria involucrate con el Proyecto Sunseed como Trustee-miembro de la Junta Directiva o consulente, por favor contactanos y recibiras mas detalles. El equipo de huertas de Sunseed os deseamos un feliz y soleado verano !!!!
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Sunseed News

Sunseed’s closure for the whole winter gave us an opportunity to do major works on all the photovoltaic systems. This put Sunseed in a really low energy situation as the amount of solar energy available is lowest in the winter anyway, let alone when we were dismantling the frame of the solar panels or shut down the system to make essential modifications. We managed to deal with this situation with the introduction of Green, Orange and Red days which give clear guidelines of what appliances/services can be used on a given day taking into account the weather forecast and the actual state-of-charge of our solar battery system.

The overall aim was to optimize the efficiency of all renewable energy systems on site. Anja – a German masters student on Leonardo placement – has been a great help in achieving this and as we progressed she gained a more in-depth knowledge of photovoltaic systems in return.

We started with Isabella’s house: we had to relocate the solar modules to a more easily accessible location which also had less shading from nearby trees. The proposed new location was assessed and the optimum seasonal angles were calculated by computer simulation software: without any investment we were able to increase annual solar energy production by 18%. The failing inverter had to be replaced which gave us an opportunity to redesign the 12V system to operate on 24V, thus reducing transmission losses in cables by 75%. The new inverter was installed and the battery bank reconfigured which left only the lighting system to get a total revamp. We identified the most frequently used areas and installed low-voltage energy efficient lights (CFLs) so that they operate even when we have to switch the inverter off (this happens if we have e.g. 5 consecutive days of cloudy days). The other rooms got normal (i.e. easily available and cheaper) 230V lightbulbs. Corridors and stairs where lighting is mainly used for access, got alternating switches and LEDs installed. The reason for this is that CFLs need about a minute to warm up and get to their full brightness, while LEDs give their maximum output instantly. Overall, we reduced the electricity demand of lighting by 38% while providing 24% more light, thus increasing the efficiency of the lighting system by 52%.

We also did maintenance work on the ram pump (a gravity pump supplying the whole village with water) and the irrigation line (which provides water for our gardens), organized the workshop a bit more, repaired the solar motion-sensor floodlight and took part in many interest groups on how to improve Sunseed in many different aspects.

We also designed a DIY battery monitor/solar&wind data logger system based on the open-source Arduino platform and unconventional components. This will be installed at Isabella’s hybrid solar/wind system for us to be able to analyze the data and to see the effects of further improvements while serving as an educational tool at the same time for university students.

In the next few months we will be focusing on the optimization of the two other house’s PV systems. Starting from April, Marlene – a German MSc Process Engineering intern – will take part in designing a low-cost solar tracker (based on open-source Arduino as well) for the main house which will provide us with more electricity for the best price-performance and the least environmental impact.

If you are a university student looking for a research project or an internship in alternative technology, if you would like to get involved in specific projects or if you are simply interested in working in the AT department, please have a look at our project pack and feel free to contact Csaba – the AT coordinator.

csaba

 

Sunseed’s closure for the whole winter gave us an opportunity to do major works on all the photovoltaic systems. This put Sunseed in a really low energy situation as the amount of solar energy available is lowest in the winter anyway, let alone when we were dismantling the frame of the solar panels or shut down the system to make essential modifications. We managed to deal with this situation with the introduction of Green, Orange and Red days which give clear guidelines of what appliances/services can be used on a given day taking into account the weather forecast and the actual state-of-charge of our solar battery system.

The overall aim was to optimize the efficiency of all renewable energy systems on site. Anja – a German masters student on Leonardo placement – has been a great help in achieving this and as we progressed she gained a more in-depth knowledge of photovoltaic systems in return.

We started with Isabella’s house: we had to relocate the solar modules to a more easily accessible location which also had less shading from nearby trees. The proposed new location was assessed and the optimum seasonal angles were calculated by computer simulation software: without any investment we were able to increase annual solar energy production by 18%. The failing inverter had to be replaced which gave us an opportunity to redesign the 12V system to operate on 24V, thus reducing transmission losses in cables by 75%. The new inverter was installed and the battery bank reconfigured which left only the lighting system to get a total revamp. We identified the most frequently used areas and installed low-voltage energy efficient lights (CFLs) so that they operate even when we have to switch the inverter off (this happens if we have e.g. 5 consecutive days of cloudy days). The other rooms got normal (i.e. easily available and cheaper) 230V lightbulbs. Corridors and stairs where lighting is mainly used for access, got alternating switches and LEDs installed. The reason for this is that CFLs need about a minute to warm up and get to their full brightness, while LEDs give their maximum output instantly. Overall, we reduced the electricity demand of lighting by 38% while providing 24% more light, thus increasing the efficiency of the lighting system by 52%.

We also did maintenance work on the ram pump (a gravity pump supplying the whole village with water) and the irrigation line (which provides water for our gardens), organized the workshop a bit more, repaired the solar motion-sensor floodlight and took part in many interest groups on how to improve Sunseed in many different aspects.

We also designed a DIY battery monitor/solar&wind data logger system based on the open-source Arduino platform and unconventional components. This will be installed at Isabella’s hybrid solar/wind system for us to be able to analyze the data and to see the effects of further improvements while serving as an educational tool at the same time for university students.

In the next few months we will be focusing on the optimization of the two other house’s PV systems. Starting from April, Marlene – a German MSc Process Engineering intern – will take part in designing a low-cost solar tracker (based on open-source Arduino as well) for the main house which will provide us with more electricity for the best price-performance and the least environmental impact.

If you are a university student looking for a research project or an internship in alternative technology, if you would like to get involved in specific projects or if you are simply interested in working in the AT department, please have a look at our project pack and feel free to contact Csaba – the AT coordinator.

csaba

 
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Sunseed News
  • Improvements to the monitoring of the water distribution system
  • installation of new flow meter and pressure gauge
  • Installing new PV modules
  • Installing new inverter at Isabella’s and converting the system to 24V:
  • including wind turbine, wind controller, battery bank and lighting
  • Improving all PV mounts to have adjustable seasonal tilt
  • Improving lighting and wiring where applicable
  • Refurbish Solar Hot Water system and prepare
  • Thermal Mass Stove for winter
  • Irrigation line maintenance ongoing
  • Mejora del sistema de monitoraje de la distribución del agua: instalación de un medidor nuevo de corriente y de medida de la presión.
  • Instalacion de nuevos modulos de Paneles fotovoltaicos
  • Instalacion de un nuevo inversor en la Casa Isabella´s y realizar la conversión del sistema a 24 V: incluyendo aerogenerador, regulador del viento, banco de batería e iluminación
  • Mejora de los montajes de PV para tener inclinación estacional ajustable
  • Mejora de la iluminación y conectar donde sea posible
  • Restauración del sistema solar de agua caliente y preparar la estufa rusa – Kachelofen para el invierno
  • Mantenimiento de la acequia
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SUMMER 2011

  • Irrigation line maintenance
  • Re design washing area
  • Working on windows, door frames & insulation for the house.
  • Working with caña
  • Re-design kitchen
  • Built furniture & bench
  • Refurbishment of ECM workshop
  • Reciprocal frame roofing includes: using recycled materials, living roof, rainwater catchment from the roof, drainage systems.
  • Re painting the houses, Geoff’s & Gayes.

SPRING 2011

  • Working with caña:
  • New caña bridge built with volunteer/intern Freddy Harris.
  • River & pools cleared from caña
  • Built a boat
  • Shredding for sawdust to be used in gardens.
  • Made shade structure for the outside patio area
  • Re-made outside information point, with caña and new roof with shingle tiles made out of recycled pallet wood.Other works includes:
  • Made information board from pita (agave) wood.
  • Extensive repairs of our irrigation line.
  • Re-build of our clay oven
  • Course on Kachelofen Thermal Mass Stove
  • Clay brick making.
 

VERANO 2011

  • Mantenimiento de la acequia
  • Re-diseñar la zona de lavado.
  • Trabajar en marcos de ventanas, puertas y aislamiento de las casas.
  • Re-diseñar la cocina
  • Construccion de mobiliario y bancos.
  • Renovar el taller de bioconstruccion.
  • Construccion de un techo de soporte reciproco, que incluye: uso de materiales reciclado, techo “viviente”, recochida de agua de lluvia, sistema de drenaje.
  • Renovar pintura en casas de Sunseed, Gayes y Geoff.

PRIMAVERA 2011

  • Trabajo con caña:
  • Construccion de un nuevo puente de caña con el voluntario/estudiante Freddy Harris.
  • Limpieza de caña del rio y las pozas.
  • Construccion de un bote de caña.
  • Triturar y transformar enserrin para utilizar en las huertas.
  • Construccion de estructuras de sombra para el patio
  • Nueva area de informacion, con caña y tejas de madera de palets reciclados.Otros trabajos incluidos:
  • construccion de un Panel informativo con madera de pita (agave).
  • Grandes trabajosa de reparacion en la acequia.
  • Mejora del horno de barro.
  • Curso de Estufa Rusa Kachelofen de masa termica de alto rendimiento.
  • Construccion de ladrillos de arcilla.
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Sunseed News
Here are some of the highlights of what we did.
  • Installed new 930Ah traction batteries at the Main House
  • Wind turbine course – installed a 1kW turbine at an off-grid cortijo
  • Annual maintenance of the Sunseed wind turbine in the Solar Garden:
  • rotor alignment, balancing of blades, protective coating
  • Built open source wind turbine controller circuit and dump load
  • Major overhaul of the ram pump
  • Installed a battery monitor to Isabella’s using an M10 bolt as a shunt
  • Irrigation line maintenance – cleaning pipes, fixing leaks
  • PV course – designed and installed off-grid PV system at Isabella’s
  • Measured IV curves of all the different PV modules
  • Software simulation of all three PV systems with PVSyst
  • Helped with refurbishment of the cana bridge
  • Hosted Greenpeace scouts for irrigation line maintenance
  • Several AT tours
  • Visit to Plataform Solar
  • Wind turbine article for Ecohabitar magazine
 
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Imagine a place where everyone is aware of their impact on the environment, trying to minimize their ecological footprint. Imagine a place where people know a lot about different aspects of sustainability and love to share this knowledge with you. Imagine a place where people care a lot about the wellbeing of themselves and the people around them, where community life and knowledge sharing is written in capital letters. Imagine a place where people respect all this without being dogmatic. All this surrounded by stunning nature under the Andalucian sun. Sounds like utopia? It isn’t! So stop imagining and get yourself down here! I arrived at Sunseed early morning without really knowing what to expect. Fifteen smiling faces where sitting at the beautiful outside area, attending a workshop about impacts of non-organic cleaning and beauty products and invited me to join. Only one week has passed since that moment – a week full of weeding, planting and harvesting, knowledge sharing about renewable energies, irrigation systems and organic agriculture; a week full of incredibly delicious food, jam sessions around a campfire and at the neighbour’s house and extended walks in the beautiful mountains. A week that inspired me so much, that motivated me so much to keep on working to realize my dreams and to be the change I want to see on this planet. Sunseed is an amazing demonstration that it is possible to minimize your economic footprint without losing your quality of life. It shows how enriching it is to live in a community, to share your knowledge, how delicious vegan food can be and how beautiful life can be if we break out of the circle that office work has to be the centre of our lives and fears for the future ruin the joy of the moment. I can recommend everybody to stop spinning the hamster wheel, to come here to join Sunseed, get inspired and spread the idea in the world. Franziska Kohler – Volunteer at Sunseed Feb-March 2011 Imagínate un lugar donde todo el mundo se consciencia de su impacto ambiental, tratando de minimizar su huella ecológica. Imagínate un lugar donde la gente sabe mucho de aspectos diferentes de la sostenibilidad y le encanta compartir este conocimiento contigo. Imagínate un lugar donde la gente se preocupa mucho por el bienestar de ellos y de las personas a su alrededor, donde la vida en comunidad y el compartir conocimientos está escrito en letras mayúsculas. Imagínate un lugar donde la gente respeta todo esto sin ser dogmático. Todo esto alrededor de la naturaleza preciosa bajo el sol andaluz. ¿Suena como utopía? ¡No lo es! Así que dejáte de soñar y ven aquí! Llegué a Sunseed en las primeras horas del día, sin saber que esperaría. Quince personas con caras sonrientes estaban sentadas en el hermoso patio, asistiendo a un taller sobre los impactos de la limpieza y productos de belleza no ecológicos y me invitaron a unirme con ellos. Sólo una semana ha pasado desde este momento – una semana llena de actividades como quitar las malas hierbas, sembrar, compartir conocimientos sobre las energías renovables, sistemas de riego y la agricultura ecológica; una semana llena de comida increíblemente rica, sesiones de música alrededor de una fogata y en la casa de un vecino, y largos paseos en las bellas montañas. Una semana que me inspiró tanto, me animó tanto a seguir trabajando para hacer realidad mis sueños y ser el cambio que quiero ver en el mundo. Sunseed es una demostración fenomenal que nos muestra que es posible minimizar la huella ecológica sin perder la calidad de vida. Nos demuestra cuan enriquedor es vivir en una comunidad, compartir tus conocimientos, como de deliciosa puede ser la comida vegana y como preciosa puede ser la vida si dejamos aparte el ciclo de pensamiento de que el trabajo de la oficina tiene que ser el centro de nuestras vidas y los miedos que tenemos sobre el futuro, que destruyen la alegría del momento en el que vivimos. Puedo recomendar a todo el mundo que pare la rueda en la que corre como un hamster tras el dinero, venga a Sunseed, se inspire y difunda  la idea por el mundo. Franziska Kohler – Voluntaria en Sunseed Feb-Marzo 2011
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