December 6, 2013

On Friday December 6, 2013, the EcoHuertos program held a garden creation workshop at the Braulio Paulino Polytechnic school in Tamboril, Santiago.

Along the side yard of the Eastern wall of the educational center, we set up plastic gallon containers along the walls, and erected a perimeter fence around planter boxes that had been previously stored at students’ homes. The fence, 9 by 15 feet, was made with recycled wooden pallets. Old rubber car tires were also used to plant seeds, which were donated from local tire repair shop.

Students collected coconut shells discarded by coconut water vendors, and broke them up to be used as substrate base for the planter beds, as they retain humidity and add nutrition to the soil. One of the students also brought some organic compost he had made at home.

All the students from the November 15th EcoHuertos Induction Workshop took part in this activity. They worked with their Physical Education teacher alongside the carpenter in building of the perimeter fence.  They cleaned up debris and other useless material from the area, pruned trees and prepared the beds for planting.

They planted the following: leeks, tomatoes, green beans, passion fruit, eggplant, ginger, garlic, peppers, celery, spinach, okra, beets, carrots, radishes, onions, melons, cucumber, parsley, basil, lettuce, cilantro, rosemary, lavender, oregano, pennyroyal, peppermint as well as some ornamental plants like bromeliads, Huernia(from Milkweed family), Snake Plant and Sedum.

The students demonstrated incredible energy and wonderful spirit throughout the whole morning. They worked as a team and dedicated their positive energy and time to creating a fabulous garden.

Congratulations!

December 2, 2013

On Monday December 2nd, 2013, EcoHuertos program held their garden creation workshop at the Quisqueya Education Center in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.

A vegetable garden made up of nine planting beds was created, the edges delineated by thick tree branches which were pruned from nearby bushes. Each planter was divided into three grids, which were used for the students to pair off into groups and plant in each one of them.

Students from the EcoHuertos Induction Workshop, held on November 8th attended the activity.

Students, several teachers, the gardener and the school director all got involved in a dynamic example of teamwork.  They cleaned the area of everything they didn’t need, pruned trees and bushes and prepared the planting beds.

Wide arrays of vegetables were planted, including: radishes, tomatoes, leeks, green beans, spinach, carrots, onions, okra, lettuce, celery, beets, eggplant, and basil as well as aloe and oregano.

The event was pleasant and fun, characteristic of the contagious childhood energy that circulated around the vegetable garden.

Welcome to the EcoHuertos Program!

November 28, 2013

On Thursday November 28, 2013, the EcoHuertos Program held a garden creation workshop at the Republic of Paraguay School located in Santo Domingo.

Students from the EcoHuertos Induction workshop, held on November 12th attended the activity.

At this school, a roof vegetable garden was created using 4.20 m x 3.30 garden beds, in keeping with the measurements designated by the school.  For the construction of the garden, recycled wood was used to create a perimeter fence around the beds. Students helped build the perimeter fence, cleaned the dirt and debris and anything else not needed for the roof garden. They pruned trees and prepared the beds for planting. The edges around the boxes were secured by rocks collected at the school. In addition to the flowerbeds on the roof garden, other students got inspired and created a couple of neighboring flowerbeds to grow vegetables.

The following vegetables and fruits were planted: tomatoes, leeks, parsley, basil, beans, lettuce, spinach, melons, eggplant, pepper, garlic, celery, beets, carrots, radish, onions carrots and oregano.

November 21, 2013

On Thursday November 21st, 2013, the EcoHuertos program held a garden creation workshop at the Ave María Polytechnic School in Santo Domingo.

November 20, 2013

On Wednesday November 20, 2013, an EcoHuertos garden creation workshop was held at the Capotillo Education Center, located in Santo Domingo.

Due to the limited amount of space available at the school, the vegetable garden will consist of vertical cultivation along the walls utilizing recycled gallon containers and three planter boxes 1 X 0.5m² in diameter.

Students from the previous induction workshop celebrated on October 30th joined the activity.

The group prepared the substrate, gallon containers and planter boxes.

The following seeds were planted in the boxes: tomato, radish, parsley, beets, basil, lettuce, eggplant, celery, green beans, spinach, pepper, chili pepper, leeks, okra and cilantro.

Ornamental plants were planted in the vertical wall garden to beautify the school, as well as some aromatic and medicinal plants such as: sage, oregano, and hawkweed.

The children, parents and teachers that participated in this activity looked happy and expressed how wonderful it was to get together and build their school garden.

November 15, 2013

On Friday November 15, 2013 the EcoHuertos program held an Induction Workshop at the Tamboril Secondary School in Santiago.

A total of 33 participants attended the workshop, including students, teachers, school personnel as well as parents.

Participants analyzed and posed questions such as: What is a vegetable garden?  Why do we want one? What do we have and what do we need to create one? How should we organize ourselves to create a sustainable vegetable garden? Answers to each of these questions were important for developing the concept of a garden and to establish individual and group commitments.  We presented ideas about the different types of vegetable gardens as well as what types of plants we can grow and how to care for them, among other things.

Dynamics of reflection:  “Why a vegetable in this school? The responses: “We want a vegetable garden to leave behind for future generations of students, to learn about the types of farming and cultivation our grandparents did and to provide healthy food for our daily consumption. Also, these gardens put us in touch with nature in a healthy way.”
As is the custom in our Induction Workshop, in addition to donating two copies of “How to Create a Vegetable Garden” to the school library, we explained the manual’s content and utility as reference material to support garden creation.

Finally, the group visited the site chosen for the garden, to look over the space, review steps involved in planting and setting group expectations for the creation workshop.

November 12, 2013

On Tuesday November 12, 2013 an Induction Workshop for the EcoHuertos Program was held at the Republic of Paraguay School in Santo Domingo.

There were 47 participants at the workshop, representing the educational community, including students, teachers, support staff, administrators, directors and parents.
Everyone cheerfully took part in the presentation, group discussion and brainstorming session. They analyzed and responded to such questions as:  What is a vegetable garden?  Why do we want one? What do we have and what do we need to create one? How should we organize ourselves to create a sustainable vegetable garden? Answers to each of these questions were important for developing the concept of a garden and to establish individual and group commitments.

Ideas were presented about the different types of vegetable gardens as well as types of plants could be cultivated as well as basic care techniques were reviewed. The group also received copies of the manual “How to Create a Vegetable Garden,” that will serve as a resource guide for the creation of school garden.

The workshop concluded with a site visit to location where garden will be built. Cristiana Cruz Minier, EcoHuertos program coordinator, took advantage of site visit to review the steps involved in garden creation and set clear expectations for the group.

Students from the Paraguay school showed great interest and desire to get involved in the creation of the vegetable garden and shared their past experiences with gardening and growing food.

November 11, 2013

On Monday November 11 we held an EcoHuertos Induction Workshop at the Unión Panamericana Secondary School in Santo Domingo.

There were 24 participants at the workshop, mostly third year high school students and teachers.

Through various dynamics we built a gardening concept and presented ideas about the different types of gardens and plants we could grow and how to care for them.

One of the work dynamics was to define why the center needed a garden, to which they responded: “We need a garden to produce food and to share what we grow. We also want to experiment with the plants and get to know more about them, teach others and enjoy their beauty.”

We gave each participant a copy of the manual “How to Make a School Garden” and we also left two copies for the school library. We explained the content of the book and how to use and consult it.

The group established individual and group commitments among those in attendance regarding their future school garden.

The last part of our activity was for the whole group to visit the space where they intend to plant the garden. Once there, they talked about their future garden and let their imaginations go with regard to all they could contribute to this school community.

November 8, 2013

Friday, November 8th, we did an Induction Workshop for the EcoHuertos Program at the Quisqueya Educational Center in Santiago de los Caballeros.

There were 40 students, teachers, personnel, support staff, and parents at the workshop.

The presentation was a recount of all the marvelous happenings throughout the day. They introduced the concept of a garden and the different types of gardens, what plants we can sow, how to care for them, etc.

One of the working methods was aimed at defining the reasons why the center needs a garden, and the answer was: “We need a garden because it creates a direct connection to the community. The garden will motivate the staff to promote more in their own communities, and in addition, it’s a medium to work as a Center Project in order to enjoy many other activities like World Food Day, for example.”

Individual and group commitments were arrived at regarding the future of the garden. We gave each participant the manual, “How to make a school garden,” and explained how to use it.

Our final activity, as always, consisted of a group visit to the site chosen for the garden. Once there, they had to decide the future of the garden and brainstorm about what they could do as members of the community to help the garden.

November 6, 2013

On Wednesday, November 6, we held an EcoHuertos Induction Workshop at the Youth School Club in Development on Tiradentes Avenue, La Agustina in front of the Cristo Libre de Cristo Rey Park rotunda in Santo Domingo.

There were 39 participants at the workshop, comprised of students, teachers, staff and parents.

It was very comfortable to be in the classroom where the following signs were hanging on the wall: “The garden can help us with our economy,” “We can build with our own hands. We are making our garden,” “Together we can build our school garden.”

Through various work dynamics we defined the garden concept and presented ideas about the different types of gardens and plants we could grow and how to care for them. We gave each participant a copy of the manual “How to Make a School Garden” and explained the content of the book and how to use and consult it.

Finally, the group established individual and group commitments among those in attendance regarding the future of the school garden they will create.