Santo Domingo, February 5, 2016

On February 2, 12th grade students from Centro de Formación Técnico-Profesional René Descartes, in Baní, in the presence of their director Gaudy Ruíz, proudly showed the EcoHuertos coordinator their achievements.

The school orchard counts with crops such as radishes, lettuce, tomato, spinach and peppers, and during the visit received the donation of onion seeds and flat-leaf parsley, among others. The institute has adopted an environmental philosophy and collects materials to use as containers for their crops and is implementing a project to donate plants to the community in order to encourage their harvesting in yards and gardens.

El Centro de Formación Técnico-Profesional René Descartes has continued to use the orchard as a tool for teaching and learning and to develop human skills.

Related links: www.eco-huertos.org

Santo Domingo, February 5, 2016

The family orchard created on December 9th, 2015, in La Zurza, Santo Domingo, has started to see results. EcoHuertos program has continued to follow up on the family providing them with guidelines on both the harvesting and managing of vegetables.

Ramón’s family is very happy with the orchard. On one hand it represents a source of food, and on the other it is a clean and appropriate space to share with all the family members. The family has been enjoying the harvest of lettuce and cilantro, while the peppers are still growing and the tomato plants are already blooming.

The EcoHuertos Program is planting seeds and harvesting quality life!

Related Links: www.eco-huertos.org

Santo Domingo, January 29, 2016

This past Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27, Cristiana Cruz Minier, coordinator consultant of EcoHuertos, presented an Interactive Workshop on Basic Gardening to 78 students of 11th grade at Colegio Loyola, in Santo Domingo. 

The workshop was coordinated with the teacher responsible for the garden in the academic institution, Diana Murcia Sterling, within the curricular program of the Farming course. For the realization of the workshop several techniques were put into practice, such as the retrieval of previous experiences and dialoguing or questioning strategies, suggested by the Fundamentals of the Curriculum of the Dominican Republic. 

The students were introduced to the requirements for sowing, seed quality, and the production of seed beds, planting of seedlings, and transplants. Also, direct seeding, planting in containers and in bed garden, and compost, were subjects of the workshop. It deepened issues as the needs of water, light, temperature, and space for the establishment of an orchard, and in particular for some plants such as tomato, cucumber and baby spinach. It was also spoken about the importance of aromatic and ornamental plants in the garden, prepared a calendar of culture in relation to the school calendar and various projects, were suggested for such as the construction of a compost bin. 

Students participated vivaciously with questions and comments and presented the individual and group projects that have been planned for the second semester of the school year.

About EcoHuertos

The program seeks to support the creation of organic and sustainable vegetable gardens in schools and communities throughout the Dominican Republic, as well as support, through hands-on workshops, the areas of natural sciences contained in the educational curriculum. The program also generates awareness of the importance of a balanced diet, achieving a greater appreciation for and receptiveness toward the consumption of vegetables.

Related links: www.globalfoundationdd.org 

November 4, 2015

Several days ago, employees of Funglode Publishing received a visit from the coordinator of the EcoHuertos program, who stopped by to check on the ongoing chores related to the upkeep and progress of their vegetable garden. They inspected the planters, baskets, garden boxes and flowerbeds as well as got rid of leaves and weeds then refilled and aerated the containers. They also planted several types of seedlings, including baby spinach, tomatoes, basil, lettuce, chard and peppers. 

October 29th, 2015

Yesterday, under the supervision of Professor Roberto Fabián Moreno and the coordination of Cristiana Cruz Minier from EcoHuertos, students of the Technical School Manuel del Cabral, Fe y Alegría, in Santo Domingo, conditioned and sowed their school orchard. 

At 11.00 am, 25 students met at the orchard to follow instructions to prepare the orchard to the planting. They, also, participated to an interactive conversation on the basics of cultivation where the characteristics of the plants and seeds, donated by the garden IDIAF in Pantoja, were explained. 

In the afternoon, the Technical School Manuel del Cabral, Fe y Alegría, had an orchard planted with tomato, basil, baby spinach, chard, romaine lettuce, radish, pepper, onion, regular spinach and squash. 

More information:

www.globalfoundationdd.org

November 16, 2015

On November 10, the Children’s School Garden in La Romana hosted a basic cultivation workshop and work day in the two gardens created by the school through GFDD’s EcoHuertos program. Students and professors participated in an enormous array of tasks with the help of the initiative’s coordinators.

The basic cultivation workshop was held in the garden itself and consisted of dialogue and constant interaction between the program leader and the participants. This activity allowed students to analyze and apply the concepts learned about gardening in their Natural Science classes, previous workshops, and daily practice in the garden.

In addition, several Basic and Specific Competencies of the School Curriculum were put into practice: Communicative, Ethical, and Civic Competencies; Logical, Creative, and Critical Thinking; Problem Solving; Environmental and Health Competencies; and Personal Development. This workshop emphasized basic concepts related to the garden, cultivation and harvesting techniques, daily upkeep, gardening norms, etc.

The work day in the garden consisted of the following: waste removal, adding organic material to the compost heap, weeding, preparing containers to serve as seed pots, pruning, reorganization of the allotments, removing substrates from the allotments and seed pots, planting seeds and seedlings. These activities were done in groups made up of both sexes and various grade levels working in teams to foster continuity. 

We planted seeds and seedlings for basil, peppers, tomate, celery, summer spinach, baby spinach, eggplant, chard, lettuce, squash, radishes, onions, and leeks. 

www.globalfoundationdd.org