Colladère cooperative and farm, established on land provided to MPP (Mouvman Peyizan Papay--Farmer's Movement of Papay) to manage and care for. This is one of the areas of the farm where the Road to Life Yard crew is establishing some of the same techniques that they've worked with at MPP's training center in Papaye. In a small, fenced in area, approximately 45' X 60' (about 15 X 20 meters), the crew, led by Wilner Exil, has a compost pit (1 X 1 X 1 meter), five vegetable beds (1 X 4 meters), approximately six banks of over 30 vegetable tires and one bank of six tires with african redworms (Edrilus eugeniae). The structure painted black to the right is a drying shed that the crew uses for drying moringa leaves to make powder.
Above is one of the areas at the Colladère farm where the Road to Life Yard crew is producing moringa leaves and processing them into moringa leaf powder.The Road to Life Yard crew recently cut back the trees to increase leaf production and to provide light for the pigeon peas growing amid the trees. We used the cuttings to feed our goats at the center in Papaye.During the five years since we began experimenting with moringa production at the farm, the crew has tried a number of different techniques for improving soil fertility and increasing leaf production, including the use of Canvalia (Canavalia ensiformis) planted under the trees. Canavalia improved soil fertility when we cut it back and hoed it under, but while growing, it significantly and negatively affected the trees' development.
All of the land where we are working with moringa at the farm had soils degraded by over farming and erosion.
The map coordinates for the Colladère farm are: 19º 13' 00.48" N, 72º 01' 38.7" W. On Google
Earth you can zoom back to images taken in 2003 and see some of the changes as the crew has planted hundres of moringa trees. Click on the photos to see more detail.
3 comments:
Hi Mark and Jenny.
Thanks for your recent reflections, one year after the earthquake. I'd like to ask you which way to pronounce your last name. As I speak to Church members about your work, I'd like to pronounce it correctly. I'm writing about you for our Church newsletter.
We look forward to learning more about your work in the coming year. Keep us posted on your travel plans in the U.S. Are you planning to be in any of the western states?
With loving support and prayers,
Carol Trabing, Calvary Presbyterian Church, Riverside, CA.
Carol,
I never seem to see these comments until weeks afterwards, or months.
My last name is pronounced the same way as you would say hare as in "rabbit." In fact, rabbits are something of the family mascot.
Koro,
Are you saying that farmers plant Canavalia ensiformis instead of Soy? What is the product and what is the market value? Are you talking about the dried seed?
The information I have read indicates that while the Canavalia seed can be made to be edible, it takes a good bit of processing. Boiling, dumping the water and boiling again, for example.
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