The Ladies carry some biochar to incorporate into the first vegetable beds learning how this will give Hope Sakuma's vegetables strong healthy roots, improve soil structure and increase our soil's ability to store planet-warming CO2.
The first day of farmer field school wraps up sees Ladies from Makelekos, Robomp and RoGbin combine to turn the clods of rich Sanda soil in the precision beds into a fine tilth, ready for seed, utilizing Hope Sakuma's new small hoes as Project Coordinator Amabest explains how working the biochar into the soil will give the Ladies's vegetables healthy roots and enhance our soils' ability to store carbon for hundreds and thousands of years.
Day two and although it's now too late to plant fresh onion seed the Ladies are shown how to prepare half an onion bed making neat ridges for the seed.
The Ladies learn all about zero tillage from Amabest - planting a crop directly into the soil on land untilled since our rice harvest. This minimizes soil disturbance and soil erosion in dry season as they dig a small hole to pack with Azolla Biochar bocashi fertilizer for direct sowing of some binch (beans).
Day three and the Ladies are shown how to dibb 1/2" holes and carefully transplant onion seedlings before watering them in.
And then over two days the Ladies transplant half a bed of seedlings into seventeen prepared beds in short order - two more than esteemed Amabests' best estimate. What a fantastic job Ladies!
The Makelekos, Robomp and RoGbin head ladies and deputies wrap up the week posing in front of Hope Sakuma's first hut knowing they've done a truely fantastic weeks learning at our first farmer field demonstration school.
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