After an early breakfast of french toast and exotic local fruits at Stephanie & Viking's house, the group was excited to get to the farm and get working! As we walked to the farm, our cute lil friend Cassandra (shown above) joined us for a stroll. This little girl was with us a good portion of our trip, and her giggles kept the group smiling throughout our stay. Stephanie then walked us around the demonstration garden to tell us about what they have planted and what needs to be accomplished, and to introduce us to our big project.
The garden was definitely in its infancy, and our project for the day was to rebuild a wattle hut that had been destroyed during hurricane Dean. The hut would serve many purposes once complete, including providing shade for volunteers & workers, showcasing educational posters and information on organic permaculture farming for the school groups that will come to the garden, and it may even be used to house volunteers who come to work on the farm in the future.
After Stephanie left we began to work on the Wattle hut, luckily we had a team of Jamaican comrades to show us how wattling is done. Basically the process involves measuring out branches to fit the length of the walls, sawing these branches down to the right size, and weaving them around a middle post (between the 2 outside posts) to secure them in place. It was a blast, and to watch the hut's walls and even windows get put into place was a gratifying experience.
By the end of the day we were wattling like champs, and we were amazed at how much we had accomplished. Although we did not finish the entire hut in 1 day, we finished most of it and by the following afternoon we had completed our big project.
No comments:
Post a Comment