First Bolivar Garden Saturday of the Season: A Carrot Harvest
During the first Bolivar Garden Saturday of the new school year a lot of time was spent cleaning and pruning up our plantains and harvesting heirloom carrots by student volunteers!
A new academic year – A mature agroforestry plot
We start the new school year revisiting our agroforestry plot which is now in its 6th year. The plot has matured, there is a lot of shade from our plantains and other trees. Nitrogen fixing trees, mata raton, are growing well and are regularly pruned to give nutrients directly to the coffee through their organic […]
Planting of YUCA
Our right hand man and amazing custodian, Hugo Guerrero, suggested that we could use the terrace to plant yuca, Casava mantioc. Hugo got “seedlings” and planted them just as we were finishing off for the school year. Hugo has done a great job and we are leaving the yuca to grow in the school terrace […]
Greenhouse planting for the summer with the 5K Verde Race and Don Simón Coffee
Getting the greenhouse ready for planting for over the summer months has been hard work and has involved all students. Beds have had to cleared and weeded, and sowed with new vegetables. Unfortunately, our nice big beef tomatoes were attacked by maize worm – an effect of growing maize with tomato – something we shall […]
Visit by CIRAD regional director – Dr Philippe Vaast and Dr Olivier Souniga
During the Bolivar Garden Saturday, we were pleased to host Drs Vaast and Souniga, experts in coffee and cacao to the school garden to informally assess the work that we are doing and to give advice on what should be our next steps. The location of the cacao plot were discussed, as was the spacing […]
Assessing and marking out of the Cacao Plot
Following the ratification of the project, students have been tasked with measuring the location suggested, and seeing where cacao seedlings will be planted. It was discussed with students how to best minimize soil erosion and nutrient run-off and so as with the coffee plantation, students are using basic methods using an A-Frame to determine the […]
The inventory
Data has been collected by students during many sessions of the class. It has been pleasing to see how students have taken to this task, taking responsibility to complete it and ensure the map is up to date with accurate and correct data. First results indicate that we have over 100 different types of tree […]
Cacao plot defined and project ratified by Rectoria.
I have met with Dr Nagy, Mr Tim Shirk, and Dr Fayadd to spell out the justification for the Cacao plantation, together with a suggested location and a tentative number of 75 plants that can be planted. Students and I have been researching the spacing of plants, the planting density and the requirements needed for […]
Visit to see Cacao collection and learn more about Cacao with Agrosavia
Agrosavia in Palmira has a large collection of different clonal types of Theobroma cacao, the scientific name for cacao. On the 29th March, all agriculture students together with myself and Mrs Katie Neal visited Agrosavia to learn about cacao, see their collection and visit their arboretum of tropical fruit trees. The day started with us […]
Visit by agricultural scientists – experts in cacao and irrigation systems
During Agriculture class we were pleased to host a visit by Dr Julian Mateus of Agrosavia and Javier Gutierez from Hidroequipos, to have an open discussion about our proposal. They looked at the plot, answered questions regarding our plans and gave advice on whether to select one cultivar or multiple clones. Students were actively engaged […]