Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: July 30-August 3, 2007
This week we lucked out by finding some extra hands
around town to pitch in with the work, since our numbers have dwindled to
one volunteer. Simply keeping up with watering the planted sites proves to
be a challenge. Fortunately some travelers came out to help the cause for
a couple days.
On
Monday, Brian and I went to the greenhouse to water and prepare more seed
beds. The greenhouse is beginning to transform dramatically as
increasingly more floor space is dedicated to the seedbeds. We are also
experimenting with soil composition. Previous mixtures contained too much
clay and would not filter water well. This hurt the germination process of
some seeds and a few of our initial batches of seeds were lost. Sand has
now been added to the soil to improve filtration and it seems to help
dramatically. I am hopeful for future seeding.
From the greenhouse we walked over to Maria Dolores
and Don Pepe to do some watering. With only two people we've had to get
creative to be able to carry all of the water and have started using
backpacks to carry double the usual amount. To cover both sites there had
to be two trips to give enough water to all of the trees.
Monday night we made friends with a group of German
travelers staying at a nearby hostel and were able to convince them to
come out for a day of work. On Tuesday, our local friend Gabrielle also
showed up and another passerby was recruited, Will from North Carolina.
With our numbers temporarily bolstered we took advantage of the occasion
and headed to Bosque Encantado to do some serious watering. With all the
extra hands it was possible to take care of the normal site there, as well
as an extra site from this year and even did some watering and a check up
on the trees from last year, which are holding up.
Will liked the Planet Drum life and decided to stay
for the rest of the week. So on Wednesday the three of us, Will, Brian and
I, watered the sites at La Cruz and Bosque en Medio de las Ruinas.
On Thursday, while I took care of some office work,
Will and Brian went back to the greenhouse. While there they turned the
compost and planted Guachepeli and Algarobo seeds in the new beds made
earlier in the week.
On Friday we got a ride with Ricardito into the El
Toro site. In addition to watering, some of the water catchments around
the trees that had degraded were improved, and some trail maintenance was
done to make getting around easier while watering. More rice hulls were
added as mulch around the trees. Will and Brian took off in the afternoon
for a weekend excursion to Puerto Lopez, and I headed to the greenhouse to
do some end-of-the-week watering. The trees look good, and hopefully more
will be sprouting soon.
Hasta luego,
Clay
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Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: August 13-17, 2007
Summary: This week was exclusively about the core
Planet Drum group, me, Brian and Lindsey. We watered all of the
reforestation sites as usual and continued planting seeds and upkeep in
the greenhouse.
Monday
we watered and weeded at the greenhouse, and also dug up a new seed bed
and mixed soil for it. Then one of the other new seed beds was planted
with Cascol seeds. After that a walk to Maria Dolores and watered the
trees there.
On Tuesday back to the greenhouse. While there we
broke open Guarango seed pods to collect the seeds for planting, and also
did an overhaul of the compost, turning the heaps and sifting some that is
almost fully decomposed. Before leaving, two more seed beds were dug up.
On the way home we watered the Don Pepe site.
Wednesday and Thursday some serious watering was
done, covering the La Cruz, Bosque en Medio de las Ruinas and Bosque
Encantado sites.
Friday
started by heading to El Toro for some more watering. On the way, we
stopped at a local woodshop and picked up some free bags of saw dust which
we will use for soil mixtures in the greenhouse. After watering we talked
to the brick making crew that works near the site, and they allowed us to
haul away some of the broken and poorly fired bricks, also for free. We
will use the bricks in the greenhouse to make platforms to raise trees off
the dirt floor.
Some
of the trees have grown to over a meter (3 feet) and the roots are growing
through holes in the bottom of the three-liter bottles and then into the
floor. This makes transplanting more difficult later on; hopefully the
bricks will prevent this. After watering at El Toro, we took the bricks
and sawdust to the greenhouse, and built the first platform for a group of
rather large Ceibo trees.
Friday afternoon Brian left to continue his travels in Peru. Thanks for
all the hard work and long hours you gave us, Brian.
Hasta luego,
Clay
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Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: August 20-24, 2007
Summary: This was another week with only one
volunteer, and thankfully plenty of help from our Ecuadorian friends, and
even a little rain to make the watering possible. Since Brian left last
Friday, there was only me and Lindsey left.
On Monday we went to the greenhouse to check in on
things, watered the plants and seed beds, turned compost and did some
weeding. From the greenhouse it was a walk to a nearby Ceibo tree that I
had spotted dropping seed pods, and collected fallen seeds and with some
long sticks were able to knock down a few more intact seed pods.
Tuesday morning we bought some Bamboo which will be
used for the construction of a storage container at the greenhouse.
Ricardito drove the Bamboo poles to the greenhouse, picking up our friend
Marcelo on the way.
At
the greenhouse the building supplies were dropped off and three new seed
beds were prepared by mixing soil. I met with a coordinator at the
Catholic University to talk about the possibility of a biology class
helping to do species identification in Bosque en Medio de las Ruinas.
Then we drove over to the Maria Dolores and Don Pepe sites and watered the
trees there.
Overnight it rained a decent amount in Bahia, and I
decided that it was unnecessary to water the La Cruz and Bosque en Medio
de las Ruinas sites this week. On a tip from our friend Cheo, we found out
about a large Pechiche tree in the Astillero barrio that is dropping
fruit, where seeds can be collected. So on Wednesday we walked over there
to check it out, and collected a bag of Pechiche seeds and while there
noticed a number of small Pechiche saplings growing out of the rubble of
the abandoned lot. We will return later this week to transplant the small
trees to the greenhouse. Then took the
bus to the greenhouse where seeds we had collected were planted in the
freshly made seed beds.
Construction
began on the storage bin.
On Thursday Cheo, Marcelo and Ricardito all pitched
in to help out.
We first drove into the El Toro site and watered
there. While there another load of free, unwanted bricks from the
brick-makers was picked up and transported to the greenhouse. Then we
headed to Ricardito's farm and watered the Bosque Encantado site. In the
afternoon there was a reunion of the Eco-amigos representing various
groups, where among other topics the possibility of a field trip to our
friend Baron's farm in Rambuche to pick up a number of native saplings
that they have growing there was discussed, and a possible reforestation
site in the Jorge Lomas area, just outside of Bahia. That evening, our
good friend Andy, a volunteer from over two months ago, also happened to
show up. He had been traveling in Colombia and made his way back to Bahia
to help out again for another couple weeks. Welcome back!
Friday
it was back to the lot in El Astillero with the Pechiche tree to dig up
baby trees that were growing out of the sand, broken concrete, bricks and
dirt. A few more seeds that had fallen since we were there on Wednesday
were also collected. We took the trees to the greenhouse where they were
placed in three-liter bottles that had been prepared with soil to
transplant the seeds.
In total we collected and transplanted one-hundred and twenty Pechiche
trees. Before leaving, the extra Pechiche seeds we found as well as a
batch of Guarango seeds were also planted.
Hasta luego,
Clay
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Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: August 27-31, 2007
Summary: This week was still somewhat low on staff and it
was a bit of a struggle to cover the watering of the sites, but we were
able to take care of them, and even had some time to work in the
greenhouse.
On Monday compost was picked up from our friend Don
Luis Dueñas and taken to the greenhouse, where we watered the plants.
From there we went to Maria Dolores and Don Pepe to water those sites.
On Tuesday there were some extra hands from a couple
of friends who were passing through Bahia. We went to the greenhouse and
collected Algarobo seeds, and will try feeding them to Ricardito's pigs to
see if they will germinate in the fertilizer. Ceibo seeds that I collected
last week were planted in a new seedbed.
We also
moved some of the Lucaena trees onto bricks to avoid having their roots
continue to grow into the ground.
Some
weeding was accomplished, and Andy finished work on the storage bin.
Watering El Toro, took the whole morning Wednesday
because there were only three people.
Thursday
we watered La Cruz and Bosque en Medio de las Ruinas.
Bosque Encantado was watered Friday with the help of
our friends Cheo, Marcelito, and Blas. From there we went to the
greenhouse to water the plants for the weekend.
September is looking slow for volunteers as well, so
hopefully help will continue to come from our Ecuadorian friends.
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