July 11-15, 2005
We’ve been having some beautiful weather recently, interspersed with the gray skies and misty air.
All four volunteers arrived, two on Monday and two on Thursday night. Together with Jackie and Carley there are now 6 volunteers. After another week, we will be down to 4.
We spent time at the greenhouse transplanting trees from baggies to bottles, repairing one of the outside seedbeds, and putting up a bamboo fence attached to the football field side of the greenhouse. The bamboo came from the very goal posts of the football field! They were given to us by Horacio, the Head of Maintenance, because the bamboo was old and he didn’t want them playing football there anyway for the time being. We also sowed seeds – cedro, guachapeli and guachapeli balnco, palo de vaca, amarillo and colorado. The seeds were old (from last year) so if they don’t germinate, we will plant fresher seeds on top. One of the compost piles is nearly ready to be transferred to the compost storage area.
We watered needy trees at Jorge Lomas Casas, and found little mammals living in some of the pipes! They look like they could be possums? We also watered all three km 8 sites, and filled in where the kids may have neglected at Inter-Americano. Most trees are surviving at all the sites.
Two of the trees that we planted around the football field in Leonidas Plaza were replaced upon request because they had died. They continue to be watered by the family there.
The bodega downstairs was completely cleaned out and reorganized, and we found quite a few goodies in the process! Such as a few chairs, a hammock, paint scapers, a surf board case, etc. We filled in the tree ID chart on the wall, complete with drawings, and did some other home improvements.
Jackie and I visited Fundacion Futuro’s new greenhouse in between San Vicente and Canoa. We learned a lot from them and got some seeds (cedro amargo, marañon, manglario) as well. They were very helpful and are willing to collaborate with us in the Seed Bank project, although we still have to talk more about it.
I also went to a greenhouse inland from Canoa to see some cedros that the owner is donating to whoever will have them. We may take some back to our greenhouse when the municipio goes to pick up theirs.
Planet Drum was also part of a crew which released a green sea turtle that had been kept in captivity for months at the Universidad Tecnica. It had been rescued from fishermen who would have killed it, but it was being kept in such terrible conditions and for way too long at the university that it probably would have died anyway had Johnny Delgado not been convinced to agree to let it go.
Talk to you later,
Heather
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