Meet Shay Olivarria | Permaculturist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shay Olivarria and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shay, what do you attribute your success to?
My ability to bring people together. After hosting seed exchanges for three years with local non-profit, Golden Valley Events,, last year I decided to add a mesquite pancake breakfast to the seed exchange. It went really well. I asked Permaculture Golden Valley for volunteers and I asked Sew Inclined to sew reusable bags for the event. This year, these events have grown into a two day permaculture event. The community has pitched in to make it happen. Explaining the simple thing each stakeholder can do to help, officially asking them for help, supporting them to accomplish the task, and then acknowledging their contribution has been the only way I could have accomplished my vision.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am really excited about Mesquite Weekend. When I first started talking about permaculture, water harvesting, zero waste, composting, and planting native trees I think people were a little put off. The people I’ve engaged with were really interested in making their properties look great but I don’t think they gave much though to why using natives and improving the soil mattered. It’s been fun to see people learn about the native foods we have right here in Arizona that will grow with little help from human hands. I just posted an article about wolfberry in the Mesquite Weekend Facebook group and someone responded, “I had no idea that this berry was edible. So glad I never pulled them out! Thanks for the information.” That really made my heart happy. Lots of people have come to the mesquite pancake breakfast because they had no idea our velvet and honey mesquite pods were edible. I’ve heard people call them “trash trees”. Even people that like mesquites tend to go for non-native Chilean mesquites because they don’t have thorns not realizing that our natives have adapted to live in our climate so they can take the hot and the cold, they have long taproots to withstand drought, and because the roots go so far down, they are less likely to be uprooted during a windstorm plus the flour made from the pods is low on the glycemic index so it’s great for diabetics.

The work is really about going into communities and letting people try things. Nature speaks for itself. At the fair during Mesquite Weekend we’re going to have experts talking about beekeeping, composting, planting new trees, and growing mushrooms. Once people see how easy it is to make small changes that make a big difference, they’ll be hungry for more information. We all want a happy and healthy community and we can get it with a little bit of work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I wanted to show a friend a good time, I’d start in Tucson at the cactus farm then we’d camp a few days at Cowtown Keeylocko. We’d drive up to Phoenix and do some foraging for native foods. After a few delicious meals, we’d head up to Mohave County. We’d visit the 200 year old mesquite tree in Kingman, we’d visit the Hualapai Mountains, we’d head over to Peach Springs to learn about the local ecosystem and culture from the Hualapai Nation, and we’d end up in Golden Valley to camp under the wide open skies on my property. I’d never really given it much thought but this is a really good itinerary. I’m gonna schedule a trip for my bestie asap!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to shoutout local non-profit Golden Valley Events. They have supported me from day one. They have let me use their space, volunteered for events I’d planned, helped me fill out applications, and generally provided the support I’ve needed to grow Mesquite Weekend. In particular, Veronica Gutierrez, Elena Malaro, and Anita Peralta have provided a wealth of expertise over the years.

Website: www.GVMesquiteWeekend.com

Facebook: Mesquite Weekend

Image Credits
I took them myself at home. There is no one to credit.