The Jlal at-Tormos organic farm proved to be a very interesting site to visit - and it gave us the chance to share a bus ride. It was an hour-long ride to Joun in the Chouf caza but it was well worth the trip.

Jlal at-Tormos is located on an arid slope that has seen extensive grazing and wildfires for a good number of years. Nestled inside a wind barrier of fir trees, Jacqueline Jreissati and Mostafa Sleiman have single-handedly regenerated the soil and planted different varieties of fruit trees and vegetables the organic way. The farm sends fruit and vegetable baskets to subscribers all year and constantly experiments with new varieties.

It was interesting for us to see some of the permaculture concepts we learned about being applied in this small spot. The famous "3 Sisters" guild of beans, corn and pumpkins was especially visible on many terraces. Betty and Mostafa traded recipes for promoting effective microorganisms as we made our way downhill to the farm's chicken coop.

After we got back to Saidoun and had a hearty lunch, we talked a little more about group dynamics and non-violent communication. We then returned to our assigned sites and continued mapping under a hot sun until dinner.

The evening was a very special one as we initiated a talking circle and really opened up to each other.

We now come to the bittersweet realization that we are three quarters into the course and we are really intent on making the best of the time we have left.

See you tomorrow.

For those of us who were lucky enough to grow up when it was still possible to play in the dirt - not on concrete or asphalt playgrounds - today's session about soils was a welcome trip back to a happy childhood.

As for us at SOILS Permaculture Association Lebanon, it felt like today was our birthday and everything was really about us!

We started the day by shaking hands with soils: clay, loam, silt, and their distant cousin humus. It's important to tell what kind of soil a land has, to determine what types of plants are suited for it or what regeneration methods might be needed. Instead of going to a laboratory, there is a fun and easy way to determine a soil's composition: playing with it! The texture of a soil, its color, how easy it is to roll it into a mud ball, and other "tests" are usually a good give-away. Mixing soil with water in a jar and letting it rest also helps observe its different components as they deposit in layers, starting with the heaviest.

We took a glimpse into the relationship of soil with everything around it, from water to trees, decomposing matter, microorganisms and bacteria, mycelia, small animals, etc. Klaudia then talked us through connecting with the soil in a longer meditation exercise to become part of all the interconnected elements it supports.

Our friends from the neighboring villages had heard about our "soil testing" so each brought us soil from their village for comparison in the spirit of good-natured competition.

In the afternoon, we all worked on building a bed with mulch sheets in the garden of Bassam Khawand, our friend and a member of SOILS who is also participating in the PDC. The finished product looked so nice he immediately adopted it and promised to look after it.

That's it for today. Stay tuned to find out the secrets of trees after tomorrow's sessions.

We've all learned about the water cycle in school and we take it for granted, but we never imagined it could be fun to revisit it until today.

The day started under a hot beating sun until we "experienced" the water cycle with a meditation exercise that left all of us in awe. No sooner had we finished than we heard the rumbling of thunder in the distance and a light rain started falling. It kept drizzling well into the afternoon and gave us a unique chance to witness not the one but 2 rainbows that can rarely be seen together with the naked eye.

Klaudia and Betty explained Bill Mollison's 4 directives when it comes to water. The guiding principle behind these can be summarized in 3 words: Slow, spread, sink. They concern methods of reducing water waste and soil erosion (we soon found out water and soil are very intimately linked together), harvesting rainwater and moisture, and also using clean water both for our bodies and when releasing it back to the earth.

It was then time for our afternoon practical session with our friends from the village. Betty surprised us once again with exotic recipes using natural ingredients to encourage effective microorganisms in plants and in soils. Preparing these formulas turned into a treasure hunt around the village, looking for such things as green shoots, bran, chicken manure, coal, rice water and other unlikely ingredients.

And that effectively laid the groundwork for tomorrow's topic: soils.