DECEMBER WEEK 1- Organic farming, repurposing and waste management

 

As we move further towards the end of the year the real December heat is building up. Lucky for us we had a little rain over the Full Moon period but now it looks once again to be hot and dry. Fingers crossed we will get a little more rain in the next weeks. 

As the weather dries we have started to see some of the fruit trees beginning to ripen their fruits. This is a good time of year for anyone with Mango, Banana, Papaya, Oranges, Lime trees. Fruit like the Mangos in the crate below can bring in between Ksh 15 and 25 per piece depending on the size. For anyone looking to start farming it is advisable to plant lots of fruit trees early on during the start of the rains.

Some of the items in the photos above, Bananas, Mango, Passion Fruit, Papaya, Pineapple, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Cherry Tomatoes, Eggs, Basil, Dill, Oregano, Rucola, Lettuce, Mint, Thyme, Parsley and Edible flowers for garnishing the dishes at the Nomad Beach Bar and Restaurant.

Since our first posts about some of these ongoing projects those of you who are following may notice quite a big difference in some of these photos. Above left we have a very basic example of 'REPURPOSING' on the farm. We have a new generation Passion Fruit trying to find a place to climb. Rather than spend time and energy to make a Trellis for this little Passion we just used a broken electric power supply cable.. which the Passion Fruit will now climb as it reaches into the tree nearby.

One of the repurposed Jacuzzis on the Nomad farm showing the success possible in growing notoriously difficult Basil. We are constantly fighting with pests here but with the raised bed, care and the 'Organic Army' of pest controllers we have done ok.

Above on the left one can see how we have used some parts of the 'husk' of Coconut trees to act as mulch to lower the rate moisture is evaporated from the soil and also to keep the soil temperature down in these hot months to come. Soil that gets too hot can damage or kill your crops as well as any of the positive microorganisms in the soil. Protect and nurture your soil! (Above right) this was a recent mornings 'harvest' of Black soldier fly larvae, or 'BSF' for anyone trying to avoid a tongue twister. These guys went to the Tilapia fish on that morning, some days they go to the Chickens.

In a recent post on waste management we described how we had been digging and raking through 'waste' sand and soil to try to remove any larger non-biodegradable items, we then tried to see if this soil which we considered to be mainly compost (from decomposed timber) with small flakes of micro plastics could be useful to grow anything. We went with sunflowers and cucumbers which then germinated (Above Left side) and then began to grow healthy (Above Right Side)

One of the other ongoing projects seen above is the repurposing of tens of thousands of glass bottles from The Sands at Nomad hotel and The Nomad Beach Bar. These bottles are being used as building blocks in structures which, when finished will be quite a sight to see.

As REPURPOSING goes, this Passion Fruit above was lucky enough to have a trellis built for it. If you look closely you will notice the fibre glass poles which were the supports for Windsurfer sails before they were broken or worn.. at least they didn't become trash. 

Onto Waste Management and following on from our last post where we had been clearing the workshop areas and raking through dirt to remove waste. 

We already have colour coded separation bins throughout the hotel and restaurant but we found it necessary to have one central location where already separated 'waste' items could be stored before it is transported to various locations for recycling or repurposing etc. NB- This system's set up is necessary to implement with training for staff members as it is often not clear what constitutes Paper, Plastics or Other waste. 

Above and below we have some photos from this past week's HDPE plastic recycling. Plastic bottle tops are collected from used bottles or even off the beach (below), these are cleaned, separated according to colour, dried and then shredded. To see some of the results of this 'waste' being recycled visit the Marine Centre at The Sands at Nomad any day between 3 and 5pm. Also located at the Marine centre is the Conservation Education Society and Diani Turtle Watch.