Monday April 26, 2004
The three of us cleared trails at the Universidad Catolica site. The unexpected rain over this past weekend initiated a green growth spurt and the undesirable vegetation has been running wild amongst our transplants.
The thorough work we had done previously at the site paid off. We were able to maneuver through the site much easier than previously (if you remember last time it took two days to complete the work). All the plants we found are in good shape.
Tuesday April 27, 2004
In late morning Bevan and I gathered supplies to construct new seedbeds at the greenhouse. We hired a local truck to haul four 9-meter long pounded bamboo “boards” to the greenhouse. It was quite an advantage.
In the afternoon we planted at Jorge Lomas Canal. Twenty-two plants in total; 12 Algarrobos and 10 Guachepelis were placed in a semi-wooded section about 30 meters from the canal. There is better quality soil in this area (containing plant debris and donkey manure) and I’m confident that the drought-tolerant sapling will have a better chance of surviving here.
Wednesday April 28, 2004
To the greenhouse we ventured to replace seedbeds and construct an elevated platform for our bagged transplants. The elevated platform was constructed with the intent to deter transplants from re-rooting themselves into the ground (which they often do by ripping through their temporary bag homes before we can get them to a permanent residence).
The construction was slow and we did not finish the tasks at hand.
Thursday April 29, 2004
Michael and I finished the seedbeds in the morning. Once we got our technique down the work flowed more freely. We re-filled the beds with our special soil mixture (sand-clay and compost).
In the afternoon I began to respond to ten new volunteer applications. Some of the candidates show real potential. Our recent advertisement has attracted quite the international crowd (Ireland, London, Portugal, etc.) and a nice diversity of skill sets and experiences. I am excited about working in the future with many of these volunteers.
In the early evening I had an informal meeting with a local ecologist that is working on revegetation projects in San Vincente (the town across the river from Bahia). Amongst other things, we discussed the idea of starting a local seed bank. Collectively, we would work to gather the seeds of local plants in the Dry Tropical Forest, learning how and when to collect, store and propagate these native species.
Friday April 30, 2004
Back to the greenhouse to straighten up the remainder on the mess we left after two days of construction.
In the afternoon we planted 19 additional plants at Jorge Lomas, all Guachepeli. It rained again last night (although not too hard) and we took advantage of the opportunity by planting more trees.
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