September 17, 2004   The weather has returned to its dry, cloudy self and we have continued on our path of watering, repair and maintenance. We did finally got in touch with the landowner from Guayaquil (Miguel) and sent him a note asking to meet in person and a copy of the contract we have, written from the muncipality, that describes our services.  I hope to meet in […]

September 3, 2004  This week’s accomplishments include the usual dry season tasks, watering all the sites and transplanting saplings into larger containers, as well as some extra activities. The greenhouse underwent a little maintenance. Some of the green covering had come loose and needed to be reattached to the frame. It was just general wear and tear that’s to be expected. I assure you that […]

August 24,2004 In the field: Everything got watered both this week and last. We also managed to mulch all the sites over the past two weeks. We used a combination of plantain stalks and cornhusks as mulch. Once the material is collected from the food market (we secured a sympathetic source for the plantain stalks and cornhusks), we have to break it up into manageable pieces. […]

August 13, 2004 Due to the volume of volunteers we had this week, we generally broke up into two groups each day. At the greenhouse:  More plants were transplanted into larger containers.  The past transplants are at various stages of ugliness while in  recovery.  The fencing around the compost pit was fixed, replacing some poles and tightening the mesh.  We arranged for the university students to water the greenhouse […]

July 23, 2004  We finished another site with the bamboo pipes and the last two are near completion.  We also transplanted another forty plants.  We have been  collecting our plastic bottles (which we use as containers for plants) from the beach. We went on the ridge walk from La Cruz to Leonidas Plaza yesterday.  Astounding!  We all enjoyed it immensely. With Marcelo as our guide, I was […]

July 22, 2004 The week has been extremely full and lively thus far. In regard to finding new sites:  I will connect Miguel this weekend.  He seems like a good lead and I’m excited at the prospect of planting in the El Torro basin.  Perhaps our presence there will encourage Pedro and his brothers to commit as well. We have the ridge walk from La […]

July 17, 2004 We have progressed tremendously with the implementation of the bamboo watering system, which involves several steps: collecting bamboo, getting it cut, de-corking the pipes, painting them and finally placing them in the ground.  The entire project has cost us nearly nothing to implement ($6). We collect the scrap bamboo from local construction sites and them transport it to the lumber yard.  There […]

Letter May 29, 2004 Hey Peter,I’m feeling much better! Here is the week in review for May 24th thru the 29th. Monday we started the barbed wire fencing at Jorge Lomas Canal.  We accomplished an amazing amount in one day, thanks to the help of two very enthusiastic sojourners from the USA.  Wes and Zan had been staying in Bahía since the previous Thursday. (I had met them […]

May 11, 2004   Hey Peter, The fencing project is giving me a pain in my stomach.  We bought some barbed wire and tried, unsuccessfully, to put together a prototype this afternoon.  I have some doubts about the use of barbed wire in areas where there are children (Jorge Lomas Canal and Hill). Also it seems the soil is just too unstable to place the wood stakes in the ground at […]