Efforts at the greenhouse show rewards.

October 22, 2004  

The Planet Drum house had a wonderfully relaxing, sober time at the beach last weekend.  Without sun or alcohol (due to the mayoral election all of Ecuador sustained from serving/selling booze), we spent the majority of our time curled up on hammocks engaging in long reads and stimulating conversations. It was a nice weekend relief.

Upon our return, we set out to tend to our weekly endeavors. The fieldwork proceeded as usual with the watering of each site.  The plants are fine.  The weekly watering has carried them through the dry season nicely.  There has been little indication of herbaceous insects feasting on the saplings however we have noticed a few bamboo watering pipes teeming with carpenter ants or termites.  I suppose they are drawn to the pipes because of the availability of water.  We have been replacing all the infested pipes (three or four) that have been discovered.

Our hard efforts at the greenhouse last week have already begun to show rewards.  The compost pit is operating (and smelling) much better.  Now you can actually feel the heat of the aerobic processes as you turn the pile.  The seedbeds, too, seem to be in a better state.  The compost added last week has helped to retain moisture in the soil. We are also watering the beds more frequently. Of course weeding has integrated back into our greenhouse chore list.  The tricky thing about planting “new” tree species is that you are not really sure what the seedlings will look like when they emerge, which makes weeding difficult. We have been very selective in our weeding process, plucking only the obvious grasses. I can only say for certain that a few Ciebos have sprouted and that the Amarillos and Fernan Sanchez have not.  It will be easy to recognize these seedlings when they do appear because their seeds are partly exposed.  We planted more Ciebo seeds and Amarillo seeds, however this time we soaked them for 48 hours to help increase the germination rate.  With all the transplanting and replenishing of seeds beds we are running low on compost.  We were expecting a shipment from the municipality this week however it still hasn’t arrived.  Any suggestions on where we can purchase compost if we need too.  I plan to revisit the Dept. of Hygiene to see about our promised compost but I do not want to but too much pressure on them.  According to Ivan the municipality hasn’t paid anyone from that department in two months and they plan on striking.

As I alluded to early in the email, last weekend the mayoral elections were held.  And the winner is?  Well it is still undecided. Currently it is a toss up between the current mayor, Leo Viteri and Jose Mendoza (political party 10).  Apparently there has been much deliberating and recounting of votes in Guayaquil and we should have an answer soon.

Sol and Lauren spent a considerable amount of time this week developing the Planet Drum Ecuador Photogallery. I hope everyone enjoys the site!  (See www. )I’m anxious to hear your comments.  Where the instructions they sent clear?  It seems easy enough for anyone in San Francisco to upload photos.  

Here is the plant inventory we took some time ago.

Cheo and Vladir have offered their assistance in helping us to locate further revegetation sites for the next planting season.  Cheo and I will be spending the day together on Wednesday checking out sites and speaking with landowners. Vladir intends to speak with some friends about our work.