So in this type of entry I'm going to just upload a bunch of photos which show some of the things we do in a 'typical' days work out here during this preliminary phase of operations leading up to the construction of our Training Facilities and HQ / Peace Hut.... Most of the pictures bellow are taken on and around the house we are currently renting in a district of the city known as Ntinda.
We are in the process of turning one half of the back lawn space into edible gardens to both eat from and learn with. Im new to the tropical gardening scene so this back yard garden is really a classroom where LUNCH is the biggest subject!
{A bean patch acting as COVER CROP to prep a very clay like red soil for other plants - im explaining leaflets and the transactions between air water and trees to a close friend.}
Above and Bellow: A close friend who goes by the name Abby came over for a long awaited meeting. For the past 3 years Abby and I have communicated via email about our projects developments and how they will fit together. He runs and home for orphaned boys and has begun doing agriculture on a few small plots of land with his boys. He is keen to learn how to do permaculture design and implement more advanced forms of food and resource production from his land. He is particularly concerned about soil degradation, something we are going to reverse in the coming months as we do workshops from his land with his youth there.
{After CLEARLY EXPLAINING that permaculture was not a spiritual belief system i felt comfortable handing my Born Again friend the Permaculture Designers Manual.}
Above and Bellow: Muggaga Brian, a serious team player for the project, has purchased a small struck load of soil which he sourced from a nearby village that farms cows.
Vastly different than the red clay like soil in the back yard this truck load which cost 60$ was a necessity for me to get the gardens growing in the back yard which has a very much clay like red earth, not suitable for starting seed in effectively.
My talented friend Sebastian Robert's has been living in Uganda for the past 6 months learning the language and culture in the city. Today he learned how to install 'no-dig' garden beds and will be helping with few other project site designs prior to returning back to Vancouver.
After hauling dirt I wanted to collect some plants i had noticed growing in the public street diches just outside our house, this lead us to a pile of OM (ORGANIC MATTER) that another local resident was tossing out. I salvaged the bush for crafting and found a pile of ready to plant Lilies which make perfect edges for in the garden.
I decided to plant the Lilies where they would have the most effects, AROUND THE SEPTIC TANK... not only will they block the view of the man wholes and keep people from walking over them at night (they have cracks and are a serious hazard) but they will modify the ambient heat which would otherwise blow over onto the garden beds from the hot concrete and metal surfaces - as well as provide homes for frogs which eat snails and slugs, and flowers for the sitting area on the patio!
Cutting a slit around the tank to break through the THICK and serious grass, we fill in some fresh dark rich soil to ensure the lilies success of transplanting.
Phoenix and Gillian, do a no dig bed which we will use as our nursery. This time we used news paper...
Wanting to get the soil to its final resting places we installed our first long bed and Seb and Gillian here are busy scattering cover crop using MOONG BEANS. I got a large sack of them for 2$. These grow very fast and provide great mulch when we substitute them for our other desired plants now growing in the nursery. notice the edge of the Cardboard sticking out far right... i always want to leave some card board exposed to show how the breakdown happens with regards to the environment of the material.
This picture was taken in the evening during a meeting with our friend and team member known as Cyrus. He has a forested piece of land we will be looking at with considerations of landing the GPH Ugandan Headquarters at. He is into holistic medicine and meditation and shares the same vision about creating a property where people "just don't want to leave once they are there."
Nothing like some good night time mulching.
Well... thats a quick and simple entry. Lots has happened since then, next up: URBAN PERMACULTURE PROJECT... at our friend Ians House.
to be continued...
