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UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2009Thanks to the enormous support and generosity of the Torrington Connecticut Rotary Club, the horticulture program is up and away!
Horticulture Vocational Program Word in from Mekele is that the staff & students will harvest the first crop of spinach over the next couple of days. If all goes according to plan, we should also see the harvesting of the first yield of tomatoes and onions in late March. Latisha and the other cooks will finally be able to make homemade shiro (local vegetarian stew) with vegetables from the school garden. Haile and Kahsu have setup a rota so that the students can take turns in helping out in the garden. The horticultural project was broken down into 3 phases as this will allow the staff to oversee the setup and maintenance in a more manageable way. In October, we kicked off the first stage with the construction of 2 reservoirs. Gerhe (proctor) built an underground reservoir beside the borehole to gather the overflowing water and the newly installed pump then pumps the water to the overground reservoir which is located beside the garden. To prepare the site, we uprooted a handful of eucalyptus trees (as their leaves are quite toxic and harm other plants growing in the vicinity). A local farmer then ploughed the site twice as the land had to that point been left fallow. The following week, we planted spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, onions and potatoes. The onion & tomato seedlings germinated and were transplanted to the main garden in December. The next phase in March will see the clearing of the land beside the bridge, here we will expand the range of vegetables and plant green beans, carrots and zuchinni and some fruit trees (such as guava and papaya). The produce will be used by the cooks in the students’ diet and any excess will be sold to the local community. Solomon also plans to set up a nursery as another income generating activity for the school.
Gina Killikelly
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