Sow It Forward Part 1

Back in January I applied for a small grant through Kitchen Gardeners International on a whim, mostly because the deadline was extended for a week and I was in a "why not?" mood. In March, I got the email that my project, out of the thousands worldwide, was getting funded. Well, damn. I guess I should get to work then. 

The grant, called Sow It Forward, gave me a few hundred dollars to start a school garden. Fortunately, that same week I met the new agronomist assigned to our community, a cool 22-year-old who I instantly liked. I talked to her about my idea for the garden and got a list of vegetables and materials to buy, then set to work training up the 4th, 5th and 6th graders. We still haven't talked about recycling and protection of the environment because we've been racing against the rain to get everything planted so it has a sufficient growing season before it all dries up in this El Niño season. Those conversations are in the works, though, never you fear.

We started by making bottle planters

one for each student, and a couple for me at home too

We filled bottles with sand during Holy Week, then lugged them all the way up the hill to the school...

...to make our first section of the retaining wall. This space will be full of soil for cucumbers and onions.

The wall slowly grew.

Then we learned how to fill seed trays with soil

And planted tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, and cabbage.

Ready for a bit of topsoil

We learned all about capillary action

and how to protect our radish and cucumber seeds from the hot San Miguel sun

The radish seeds then found a new home

We even made our own watering can

pretty sweet, right?

The neighbors got in on the action and transplanted all of their radish sprouts into a radish bed

Once everything was planted, we got to work preparing the school

We cleared out the flower beds...

Loosened up the soil... 

...And even created a new bed.

So far, working with the kids on this project has been my best experience in Peace Corps to date. I'm sure it helps that they are a captive audience and are trying to get out of class, but I don't even mind. They are attentive and hardworking, and are really learning about the process. On their week off, they called me to get together to fill bottles and carry them to the school. Today, in the hours before class started, they suggested coming to help me shovel huge sacks full of soil and load them into the truck. They even found the place where we could get quality soil in the community. Adults get into something here when they can see they will get something for free with minimal possible effort, but the kids are into just because it's something new. They had absolutely no idea what my vision was and didn't understand in the slightest why I wanted them to collect tons of different bottles, but they attacked the project with gusto and are starting to see it taking shape.

In part II, coming soon, we took advantage of neighbors digging a well and the generosity of the mayor's office to truck soil in to the school. Then we mixed it up with some ash and cow patties to get it ready for planting, and got to work making this garden a reality.