Clay Plager-Unger
Clay Plager-Unger is the former director of Planet Drum Foundation's Eco-Ecuador project.
November 24-December 5, 2008 Summary: Dryness forces us to water some of the most exposed sites. We did major repair work on the roof of the greenhouse. Many, many, many holes for plants were dug. And we commenced planting season with a group of university students! On Monday, Jaime and I went to the greenhouse to transplant some of the last trees that will be part […]
November 10-21, 2008 Summary: Trails are cleared and holes are dug at the new revegetation sites in preparation for planting. Jaime and I do some final site acquisition scouting to secure the few remaining locations that will be planted. On Monday we finished opening trails at the Astillero site. We returned Tuesday to construct a Moyuyo stake staircase at the approach, which is rather steep. […]
October 20-November 7, 2008 Summary: With new sites for revegetating in 2009 secured, we began breaking trails at three of them. There were celebrations in Bahia for the anniversary of the county and President Correa made another stop in Bahia to check up on the Bahia-San Vicente bridge progress. And I took a trip with Ramon and students to Parque Machililla near Puerto Lopez. The […]
September 15-26, 2008 Summary: We shift our energies towards securing revegetation sites for planting in the coming rainy season. In the greenhouse seedbeds that were planted a few weeks ago are ready to be transplanted, adding even more trees to the arsenal. Still no new volunteers. On Monday we are at the greenhouse transplanting Guarango, Chirimoya and Cascol trees into three-liter bottles. Tuesday was for […]
September 1-12, 2008 Summary: I return to Bahia from a reverse culture-shock laden vacation to the United States. While I was gone, Jaime held down the fort and was fortunate enough to receive a heavy rain thus saving him from having to water (alone). Despite the lack of volunteer forces, Jaime and I persevere. The rain while I was gone appears to have been a […]
August 4-18, 2008 Summary: Our volunteer numbers continue to dwindle, but we carry on watering. More seeds are collected, prepared and planted in beds in hopes that a bunch more trees will germinate and be ready for planting in 2009. I leave Bahia for a visit back to the US of A and close the doors of the house for a week and a half. Andrew […]
July 21-August 1, 2008 Summary: We spend one week continuing the water routine, then it rains over the weekend and we get to spend the next week in the greenhouse and out in the field collecting seeds. Major progress is made in organizing, planting seeds and transplanting trees in the greenhouse. On Monday we head to the Don Pepe revegetation site and water the trees. From […]
July 7-21, 2008 Summary: Many of the volunteers finish their stays with us. After getting so far ahead during the whirlwind week of work with the Canadians, I decide to take a weeklong vacation in the mountains. Back in Bahia, we continue watering the sites and two new volunteers, Stephen and Gina arrive. On Monday, William and Jaime depart to do some traveling around Ecuador before […]
June 23-July 6, 2008 Summary: More volunteers show up and we prepare for a visit from a group of Canadian volunteers from the ‘Children of Ecuador’ organization. This group spends six consecutive days working with us and we accomplish nearly a month’s worth of work in that time. Over the weekend Mica and Danielle from New York and Andrew from L.A. arrived. Monday morning we gave […]
June 9-23, 2008 Summary: A second week in a row without volunteers. Jaime and I do what we can in the greenhouse and I successfully acquire my permanent work visa in Guayaquil. Then more volunteers begin to show up and we tackle watering and site maintenance. Monday I translate more of Ramon’s reports and edit Bioregional education materials. Jaime cleans weeds at the greenhouse, waters the […]