Feb. 23

We had our first large harvest at the Buwala orhanage! We harvested cucumbers, zuchini, beets, radishes, several salad varieties, many herbs, and more. It was great to see so much color on the children's plates and to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
We have continued our cooking classes at all our project sites. The ladies from the Allan Stine clinic loved their veggie wraps and are slowly incorporating greens into their diet. They have also made their first salad sale to a local restaurant who will continue to purchase salad mixes from the garden. This money will help with garden upkeep and pay a bit extra to the women who take care of the garden.
We have continued our home gardens with both HIV groups. After everyone learned from the demonstartion gardens, we have been able to build each home garden in one day with the help of all the group members. After digging beds, planting, and fencing we will return later for transplanting, weeding, mulching, and pest control. One person has been identified as the local teacher and will be there for any questions that might arise in the future for the home gardens. This will give sustainability to the projects after we leave the country.
This week we will continue with the home gardens as well as build a garden at a Montessori school in Jinja. The garden will help with the childrens lunch diet as well as teach agriculture practices to the kids. We will also be transplanting tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and eggplants at the Buwala orphanage farm. We got the help of agriculture expert Patrick Wiggins this week so things should run quite smoothly.