Day 20 - Conuco Building (agroecology)

By popular demand (thanks guys), I'll feature the conuco garden in my day 20 write-up, thank you for your votes! I think it is appropriate timing as Wednesday, Day 20th of the program actually was the day that we went and dug our conuco bed. The next entry focus is currently intended to be cultivation and harvest, with a little on the banana circle garden we dug and planted.

As you may remember from my Day 13 entry from Sustainable Building, before colonization the Taino indians present here in the islands. There is still a lot of native culture brought with the many conquering peoples, traders, and slaves, but some of the traditional farming and building techniques have been lost. The conuco farming was a way to propagate seeds to maximum yield, very much in-line with the ideas of permaculture. However, much like the bohio, not many people on the islands employ this type of technique.

Reylbeck Mercado Vacca is an apprentice here and a master's student at Gaia University, an accredited alternative university that focuses on student-driven action learning. Rey has been studying the indigenous people and has been tending the Mandala Garden, the first garden on the farm created with mounded beds. Rey was our teacher in this activity.

The conuco is a method of farming that piles large amounts of organic matter in with the soil to create a mound. Over time the organic matter will break down into the soil, enriching it, and reducing the height of the pile. Some methods call for the large sticks to be burned, a technique employed by a lot of early agriculturalists. We decided to use an area where a large amount of bamboo and other branches had been knocked down in the hurricane. This is in close proximity to our bohio structure we built, so it is fitting. Once you pile a large amount of decomposing sticks, grass, and other organic matter (food scraps, whatever you have on hand) you cover it in dirt and let it sit. To catch any of the soil bring run off in the rain, we dug a trench around the outside edge. This large, round pile will now sit for a while to decompose and get ready for planting.

Planting a conuco employs the techniques of gardening on levels, utilizing a small bed to grow many different crops. In the center of the raised bed will be a fruit tree and then out from there will be the larger climbing beans, cassava, and down to the lower layers of ground crops. The tainos would have planted guanábana, yautía, squash, mamey, papaya, pineapple, achiote, sweet potatoes, yams, corn, etc. The idea behind this bed is to plant only indigenous varieties in order to understand more fully how the culture lived and thrived.

St. Croix was once the breadbasket of the Caribbean. The fertile soil brought sugarcane plantations and destructive agricultural practices. By the time the slaves were freed--and later really given their freedom through revolt--so much of the topsoil had already been washed into the sea. Agriculture remains a vocation to be looked down upon and this once productive islands now imports well over 90% of its food.

This weekend is the Agricultural Festival and Food Fair (Ag Fair) and the theme of this year is "Bring back the Breadbasket." I hope that some of the local people are inspired as I am to do something about this sad fact.

Day 19 - Intro to the Farm (Focus Area)

Tuesdays and Thursdays we meet with our Focus Area instructor and work on our individual projects. Because my focus is on farm-based education and tourism, I am lucky to have Nate Olive as my evaluating instructor/mentor. He is the Program Director here and a PhD student at UGA researching small island tourism development. Also, he is a great person to talk to because he gets me excited about the programs here on the farm and what I can do to improve it, be a part of it, and learn. Thanks for all of your support, Nate!

As part of my project I am putting together a media preview to help market Bush Skills Rendezvous 2009. I've worked in the media long enough to feel like I can drum up some attention and much-needed press for what goes on here. I hope that by putting together an event prior to Bush Skills we can get at least a small feature story in one of the local papers to increase our attendance. I hope!

As I mentioned in my last post, VISFI is not just about growing tomatoes. We do grow some KICK ASS tomatoes, along with salad greens, eggplant, cucumbers, pumpkins, peppers, and other veggies (winter/dry season crops). Creque Dam Farm is the only USDA certified organic farm in the Caribbean. Other farms may practice organic farming, but a few years ago the farm received a grant to cover the costs of getting certification so the management went ahead and jumped on the hurdles and dealt with the government red tape. However, when this current certification expires there are reasons that they may choose to not renew.

One of those reasons is Humanure. What does that SOUND like it means? One of the most interesting structures on the farm is right here in Cabana Land (the students all live in primitive cabanas nestled into a hill). One of the structures also built into this hill is our composting toilet. Yes, you read that right. There are two latrine toilets, each with a large drum storage container at the bottom. When one fills up it is topped with a lid and set to compost for a year. After a year of microbial growth and decomposition human waste can be used as the rich fertilizer that it is. Now, for the purposes of our USDA certification we are not currently using human waste on our crop production, we use fish poop, chicken poop, cow poop, horse poop, rabbit poop, goat poop, etc. The pathogens in human waste can be broken down and rendered just as harmless with proper maintenance. It may seem pretty gross at first, but it is the ultimate in conservation of resources and sustainability. It's not just "nightsoil" anymore.

Which would you like me to talk about next; the chicken tractors, Cabana Land, the tree house, the conuco we just built (taino farming practice), compost and soil, or other request?

Steve, I haven't forgotten your request for information about pest management, we just haven't gotten to that lesson yet! However, we do use the chickens for some pest management, along with beneficial planting relationships to attract good bugs and crop rotation to keep bad bugs and microbes from building up. I'll tell you when I know more!

Day 18 - Agroecology/Organic Farming

I'm skipping community night tonight and the opportunity to watch "The Future of Food". While I want to see the movie, I have a bit of a headache and need to catch up on what's been going on here. Have you seen it? It seems like my kind of movie; King Corn, Fast Food Nation, Supersize Me, and other movies that just make me so angry at the state of the food industry.

Week 4 topic is Agroecology. OK, another term that coming into this program I had an idea of, but not a real understanding of the meaning. Agroecology can be defined as the application of ecology to the design and management of sustainable agriculture/ecosystems. This is a whole-system approach to agriculture and food systems were developed based on traditional knowledge, alternative agricultural ideas, and creating local food ststem experiences (eating within region/season). It links ecology, culture, economics, and society to sustain agricultural production, a healthy environment, and viable food-farming communities.

My kind of stuff.

There are many comonalities with general permaculture principles and a lot of what we are doing this week builds on the foundation of the lectures from two weeks ago.

Some of the principles that we will talk about this week are:
- use renewable resources
- minimize toxics (eliminate pollution, especially in food production)
- conserve resources
- conserve soil
- conserve water
- conserve energey
- conserve capital
- manage ecological relationships (integrate livestock, intercrop, covercrop, manage pests, etc)
- Adjust to the environment
- diversify (landscapes, biota, products, etc)
- empower people (use indigenous knowledge, transfer knowledge to the community)
- manage whole system (benefits, not just profits)
- maximize long-term benefits (build soil, learn, strategy)
- value health (human, cultural, environmental, animal, plant)

While we have been planting on and off, harvesting, and learning about the innerworkings of the farm, this week is our real introduction into organic farming methods.

So many people ask me, 'where can we buy your tomatoes?' Yes, we are currently selling our produce at the new co-op at Beaston Hill, but that is not our priority. It's interesting. I will get into the set-up of the farm in my next post, but I just want to introduce this idea here. The goal of Creque Dam Farm is VISFI, not to sell annual crops. We grow mainly to feed the people on the farm, the people who come for Slow Down Dinners, and to supplement income. We grow people.

The mission of the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute is to provide a working educational farm enterprise that integrates sustainability in education, environment, and community through quality instruction in Agroecology and related fields.

Day 17 - Sustainable Building (my first introduction)

This unit on sustainable building got me thinking about where I've seen these concepts in practice, both successfully and not so well.

From 1986 - 1992 I went to elementary school in Reston, VA. Although I lived in Herndon, I was able to ride to school in the neighboring town with my mother. Because I traveled to school I had the opportunity to experience going to Terraset Elementary. Terraset was built in the 1970s, at a time when energy conservation was just becoming a real social issue. The school was built into the ground and designed to retain heat and cool through it's thick walls (thermal mass) and green roof.

The school certainly had a green roof. It was always neat as a kid to get to play games of tag on the grass mound that the school was built into. I would occasionally look down into the library while other classes were being read to by the librarian. The solar pannels did not function the way they had been designed and were eventually deemed a safety issue. I remember the year they came in and took them down. Even though solar was a failure at Terraset, the administration always made a point to teach us about energy conservation and innovation.

You can read more about Terraset here.

This was cutting-edge at the time and should be used as an example of a step in the process of creating functional green buildings. It wasn't a failure, a lot of kids came out of that school knowing that you can build a home with a garden on the roof, you can be cool and shady in the summer without cranking up the air, and that building structure is only limited by the creativity of the designer. It was a funky-looking school, but I appreciate the lesson now.

Day 16 Sustainable Building

I am a few days late, but the sustainable building week was intense and it has taken me a few days to put together my response.

There are design concepts that were introduced that absolutely inspired me. Climate responsive design goes beyond just using a percentage of sustainable materials, and conserving energy and water through efficient appliances.

From: http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/

Passive solar design refers to the use of the sun's energy for the heating and cooling of living spaces. In this approach, the building itself or some element of it takes advantage of natural energy characteristics in materials and air created by exposure to the sun. Passive systems are simple, have few moving parts, and require minimal maintenance and require no mechanical systems.

Operable windows, thermal mass, and thermal chimneys are common elements found in passive design. Operable windows are simply windows that can be opened. Thermal mass refers to materials such as masonry and water that can store heat energy for extended time. Thermal mass will prevent rapid temperature fluctuations. Thermal chimneys create or reinforce the effect hot air rising to induce air movement for cooling purposes.

Wing walls are vertical exterior wall partitions placed perpendicular to adjoining windows to enhance ventilation through windows.

I am looking up some images of home design to get ideas for building in the Pacific Northwest. A passive solar heating/cooling system is very doable and from what I've seen here, can be quite beautiful. I will write more about using the angles of the winter and summer sun and ground cooling. I want to build a home with a root cellar, a sun room, a central open kitchen, and a design that mimics the natural landscape and regional climate.

I still haven't seen the Cozy Shack here on the farm. The Cozy Shack is a home that Dan built out of a shipping container. There is a lot you can do with one of those, for cheap, using recycled or renewable materials.

Learning Contract

Because VISFI does not use a quantified grading system for this course as a student I am required to determine and customize my self-accountable standards for success. I will only be able to consider my completion of this program a success if I fulfill the goals that I have set out for myself.
Nate Olive, as my focus area instructor has gone over the following goals with me and will be evaluating me on my effort:

1. To blog my experiences. I would like to work on being a better communicator while sharing this experience with people who may find benefit either through me directly or through seeking their own opportunity to undertake this type of activity.

2. Video. I would like to interview each student about his/her final project, course completion, and reflection. This will be included in the blog and if time permits I will burn copies to DVD for interested students.

3. Backpacking skills. I love camping, but like so many things I do not know how to do a lot of things on my own. As a way to conquer this lack of confidence I'd like to make a friction fire, cook a meal, and camp out one night (either with Wendy or with other students who are interested).

4. Find my simple joy. I am working toward being involved in the activities around me, not just as an observer. I will remind myself to appreciate my days by writing in my journal one simple thing that made me smile that day.

5. Future. Of course, one of my most significant goals is to tackle the great "what's next?" I will make a mind-map of future options, along with continuing to write down the questions that pop into my head in regards to the "what do I WANT to do query."

6. Exercise. I love to exercise, but it's hard when I don't have set gym-time or very much time to myself at all. I will start EVERY day with at least 5 good sun salutations and work on increasing my flexibility.

7. Dive. I am partially in the Virgin Islands to get in some diving time. I am setting the bar low with 4 tanks, however, I have a lot of competing activities and a limited amount of free time.

Day 14-15

It's a good morning to be alive.

My decision to come here is part of a process beyond learning farming skills and techniques. I knew that when I was leaving DC, I was leaving behind a life that I was not satisfied with. It's also a lifestyle I have no intention of returning to. It is important for me to take advantage of this opportunity to take time for myself and focus on the questions that I try to quiet with distractions. Focus.

I'm starting Day 16 in the Sustainable Building Unit, but I haven't been keeping up my journal as much as I should. Building is a reminder of my own limitations and it's hard to not be frustrated. I'm not tall enough to put up the beams. I'm not confident in my circular saw skills to cut the angles for the rafters. However, I am a good helper. I'm observant and pick up the slack wherever I can. I record numbers. I have to embrace the things I can do. I know that saw skills will come with practice, I have to be patient. It is the desire to learn that is the key. I often ask myself why I didn't learn these things from my parents. I was lucky, it is not as though my parents weren't GOOD at the skills I wish I had acquired.. they were too good. My sisters were both very artistic so nothing I could do was ever quite on their level.

This is me time.

Weekend Reprise II

This weekend I got to participate in the "reef" aspects of the "Ridge to Reef" program. Much thanks and love goes out to my sister Wendy, her boyfriend Mark, and her awesome roommate Pam who took me out with the St. Croix Dive Association. It was a treat to get to head out early morning, catch some incredible wrecks in Butler Bay (down to almost 110 feet!), BBQ on the beach incluing lobsters we just caught, then a long, shallow dive under the Frederiksted Pier. Wow. This is the life.

We saw turtles galore, two sting rays, parrot fish, scorpion fish, sea horses, moray eels, a HUGE barracuda, and plenty of other things that I can't identify. I realized that I need a good hand signal for "cool" or "awesome" or "I don't know what the hell that is but I think it's really neat." I need to work on that. It was really refreshing to get down and explore some of what this island has to offer in terms of marine habitat.

Sunday, the blessings continued as Ryan's parents invited us over for a superbowl sleepover. It is such a beautiful thing to get to know the families of people you care about, they teach you so much about how they came to be who they are. Also, having even more of a support network/family here is such a great comfort.

My mom got her tickets to come down for Bush Skills at the farm! We are going to have such a fun time. A lot of what I'm doing here is farm-centric activities, but being here is not all work and no play. We have a lot of fun on and off the grounds. It's been wonderful getting to know this group of people I would have not had the opportunity to meet otherwise. I do not take for granted how lucky I am.

Day 13 - Bring on the Bohio (Sustainable Building)

Monday we began our unit on sustainable building. The culmination of our education on building skills, practices, and materials will be the complete construction of a "Bohio." I've mentioned this a little before when we were preparing the land by digging the swale. The land has been leveled and cleared and we are ready to learn by doing.

What the hell is a Bohio anyway?

The indigenous peoples of the Caribbean were the Taino Indians. The Taino people lived in bohio homes, a round wooden structure with a tall pitched roof of thatch palm or grasses. The word "hammock" comes from the Taino word 'hamaca' as they had very little furniture and slept in woven hammocks. We will recreate this structure in a 20 x 20 building made of hard wood, bamboo walls, an earthen floor, and a palm roof. The bamboo we have growing in abundance and the thatch palm we are gathering from places on the island that have thatch palms on their property. Because the palm requires a lot of maintenance and pruning no one has turned down our offer to trade services.

Day 1 - We outlined the circle that will be the outer wall, dug the post holes for the 8 support beams, and stood the poles using tamped earth to secure them. At the end of the day we had all eight six-foot poles standing along the circumference of the circle, aligned with the 20-foot octagonal center post. It was a hard day of work, but at the end we could look at this special place we had created and forward to seeing this project to a lasting conclusion.

This building project has me even more determined to build my own place someday. The principles and tools I'm learning here are putting me on the path to being able to do that.

Marshall, who is a student here focusing on sustainable building is working hard with John Vining, our master carpenter. As we get closer to final project time I'm excited to see what they do. It's very refreshing to be surrounded by this type of enthusiasm along with the principle of completion. I've seen entirely too many unfinished projects.