The National Electric Company “Electric Tree” campaign with Planet Drum used nearly all of 3,000+ trees that were in the greenhouse. After a ceremony at the greenhouse on November 10th, a few contractors returned to pick up additional trees for distribution throughout the province. After giving out most of the saplings at the greenhouse to the National Electric Company, the greenhouse was organized and cleaned […]

We increased compost production at the Astillero greenhouse site as organic waste piled up. One morning was spent doing maintenance to clean up the area and have more space for working. On another morning, we turned the compost piles to facilitate decomposition and collected fruit seeds from over-ripe oranges.

One of the hillsides above the road in the Bellavista neighborhood has been selected for communal gardening and revegetation. Further up the hill are a dozen large trees planted by Planet Drum in the past (c. 2005). Nearby, we are already making compost at three homes for fertilizing plants and trees. We planted another 20 trees with deep roots to strengthen the erosion prone hillside […]

After meeting with one of the residents in the Bellavista neighborhood, Martha, about planning a community garden project, Planet Drum suggested that some of the residents (mostly women so far) could help collect kitchen scraps for compost production and soil regeneration. Compost piles need shade, easy access for adding organic waste, and small amounts of water on a regular basis. Three groups of residents are interested in […]

The Astillero neighborhood is located near the bridge to San Vicente, just outside of downtown Bahía. Planet Drum is building a satellite greenhouse operation there with our local contact, Jose María. Since September, Planet Drum has been collecting organic waste from the Bahía market and bringing it to Astillero to make compost there. Now we are building elevated seedbeds to grow seedlings. A second seedbed has […]

Grosella is an endemic fruit tree which produces a small, yellowish acidic berry, which is sold in bags with salt an pepper as a snack. They can also be pickled, candied, or even turned into a wine. Jose María is Planet Drum’s contact in the Astillero neighborhood  where we are producing large quantities of compost. He has a big Grosella tree in his backyard with fruits […]

While regular Planet Drum greenhouse operations at the Catholic University continue to flourish, we are also strengthening community outreach with two Bahía neighborhoods that have been project collaborators for years: Bellavista and Astillero. Last year, Planet Drum constructed an elevated seedbed made from recycled materials in the Bellavista community and coordinated seed collection, planting, and transplanting  with local residents, who produced native fruit trees to plant […]

As a member of the Cordillera del Bálsamo biological corridor, Planet Drum will be participating with fellow member, local landowner and long-time Planet Drum revegetation partner, Ricardo Lopez, to implement a bee-keeping project to boost local pollinator populations and generate honey production. The project will be funded in part by the United Nations Development Fund Small Grants Programme. In the first stage of the project, we […]