August 20-24, 2007
Summary: This was another week with only one volunteer, and thankfully plenty of help from our Ecuadorian friends, and even a little rain to make the watering possible. Since Brian left last Friday, there was only me and Lindsey left.
On Monday we went to the greenhouse to check in on things, watered the plants and seed beds, turned compost and did some weeding. From the greenhouse it was a walk to a nearby Ceibo tree that I had spotted dropping seed pods, and collected fallen seeds and with some long sticks were able to knock down a few more intact seed pods.
Tuesday morning we bought some Bamboo which will be used for the construction of a storage container at the greenhouse. Ricardito drove the Bamboo poles to the greenhouse, picking up our friend Marcelo on the way. At the greenhouse the building supplies were dropped off and three new seed beds were prepared by mixing soil. I met with a coordinator at the Catholic University to talk about the possibility of a biology class helping to do species identification in Bosque en Medio de las Ruinas. Then we drove over to the Maria Dolores and Don Pepe sites and watered the trees there.
Overnight it rained a decent amount in Bahia, and I decided that it was unnecessary to water the La Cruz and Bosque en Medio de las Ruinas sites this week. On a tip from our friend Cheo, we found out about a large Pechiche tree in the Astillero barrio that is dropping fruit, where seeds can be collected. So on Wednesday we walked over there to check it out, and collected a bag of Pechiche seeds and while there noticed a number of small Pechiche saplings growing out of the rubble of the abandoned lot. We will return later this week to transplant the small trees to the greenhouse. Then took the bus to the greenhouse where seeds we had collected were planted in the freshly made seed beds. Construction began on the storage bin.
On Thursday Cheo, Marcelo and Ricardito all pitched in to help out.
We first drove into the El Toro site and watered there. While there another load of free, unwanted bricks from the brick-makers was picked up and transported to the greenhouse. Then we headed to Ricardito’s farm and watered the Bosque Encantado site. In the afternoon there was a reunion of the Eco-amigos representing various groups, where among other topics the possibility of a field trip to our friend Baron’s farm in Rambuche to pick up a number of native saplings that they have growing there was discussed, and a possible reforestation site in the Jorge Lomas area, just outside of Bahia. That evening, our good friend Andy, a volunteer from over two months ago, also happened to show up. He had been traveling in Colombia and made his way back to Bahia to help out again for another couple weeks. Welcome back!
Friday it was back to the lot in El Astillero with the Pechiche tree to dig up baby trees that were growing out of the sand, broken concrete, bricks and dirt. A few more seeds that had fallen since we were there on Wednesday were also collected. We took the trees to the greenhouse where they were placed in three-liter bottles that had been prepared with soil to transplant the seeds.
In total we collected and transplanted one-hundred and twenty Pechiche trees. Before leaving, the extra Pechiche seeds we found as well as a batch of Guarango seeds were also planted.
Hasta luego,
Clay
Reader Interactions