THE COMMUNITY KITCHEN ENERGY TRAINING CENTER NURSERY COMPOST TOILETS DOMESTIC WATER USE

Garden Haiti

In Sadhana Forest Haiti we have established a small vegan (stock free) organic permaculture garden. Although our main activities are tree distribution, tree planting and seed propogation in the nurseries, we believe that the garden can serve as a good demonstration plot for the local population. We mainly focus on soil building at the moment as Sadhana Forest Haiti is located on a rock bed so soil is very scarce. We also actively participate in helping the people of Anse-a-pitres, by providing technical expertise to establish kitchen gardens in their homes.

Building Soil

We use many methods to create and collect soil in Sadhana Forest Haiti. Some of the methods we’ve used are:

  • Amrit Mitti
  • The Knights Templar Method
  • Raised Layered Beds – with Nitrogen fixers
  • Waste Water Sponges – We divert water from our hand washing stations and kitchen sink to a hole that is constantly fed with organic matter. We plant around the circumference of the circle and the roots get moisture and nutrients from the center that is fed with organic matter and water.
  • Composting – We collect our kitchen scraps and create compost from them. We also have composting toilets which help us create rich humananure compost to plant trees and use in the garden.

Water Catchment

In Sadhana Forest Haiti we are trying to implement several techniques of water harvesting which will eventually help us to acheive our goal of zero run off on the land. Living mostly on bedrock means that we have to come up with creative solutions to slow the water down and stop the organic matter from being washed away. We do this by building contour bunds and gabions with little rocks(which we have plenty of) and discarded old clothing. The organic matter which would otherwise be washed away gets collected on either sides of these bunds and starts building soil and bio mass. We are constantly experimenting with creative ideas to build the fertility of the land and to acheive our goal of zero run off on the land.

Food Forest

(Forest Garden)

The primary goal in the garden is to eventually turn it into a functioning food forest (forest garden), this means the garden will function the same way a forest does (lower canopy, higher canopy, ground cover, climbers, vines etc.) and will virtually be a system that mostly takes care of itself, the same way a mature forest does. This is the reason we try to mainly focus on planting perennial low maintenance species and building good soil to maintain a food forest.

What We Grow

Sadhana Forest Haiti’s campus site is located on 4 acres of rock bed. We focus on zone 1 and zone 2 planting inside our campus compound.

  • We grow salads, such as parslain, chaya spinich, rosella hibiscus, and moringa tree.
  • Mixed fruits such as papaya, pineapple, banana, plaintain, mango, passion fruits, guanabana, avocado, tropical almond.
  • Herbs such as basil.
  • Staples such as squash, watermelon, corn, peanut, yucca, pigeon peas, beans.

We are constantly experimenting with new ways and methods with locally available resources that can help improve our garden and the gardens of the people of Anse-a-pitres. To learn more about the above mentioned methods and any new methods you can follow our blog here:

 

THE COMMUNITY KITCHEN ENERGY TRAINING CENTER NURSERY COMPOST TOILETS DOMESTIC WATER USE