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Some of the trees we received from City Hall. Not too promising, but I hope they live!
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A line of 23 trees line the road by the lower granadilla vineyard.
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City Hall of the county of Ibarra attempted to beautify one
of the county parks with thousands of trees, but somewhere in the politics of
the project, the idea was never implemented; the trees were left to wait, dying
in the process. Finca La Amistad was the benefactor of this project-gone-awry
when employees from City Hall dropped off 800 trees on the farm at the
beginning of last week. Unfortunately, these trees were in sad shape. They had
been growing in small plastic bags for two years, and their roots were
struggling to escape, even poking through the bags. It was amazing that any of
them had survived.
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| I'm pleased with my work.
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This is one of the little trees that is pretty healthy, covered with extra fertilizer to help stimulate growth.
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The farm hired four workers to dig holes, averaging labor
costs of 1-3 dollars per hole, to plant these suffering trees. I planted 138
trees, and in total, we planted between 300 and 400 trees this week. The
remaining trees are waiting for more holes to be dug, to cover the farm with their
life-giving characteristics. I was pleased to have the chance to participate in
this activity, knowing that I have made a lasting impression on the farm by
investing in the care of the soil that will continue to recover and be
revitalized, as the trees grow tall and strong.
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"Quality Life" sign posted by Finca La Amistad
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| With my hosts' family members, my fellow volunteers and the farm's agriculture engineer out for ice cream |
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I have one remaining week at the farm, and we have a new
volunteer from Brazil. I am blessed to know that the new volunteer will take
over my role once I am gone. The new volunteer will maintain the work that I
have done in the garden, and two more volunteers will take over in January. In
the foreseeable future, the farm is in good hands. I will leave with a sense of
a job well done and the knowledge that the transformative work being done here
will carry on with gusto.
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| Maintaining the plentiful garden |
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