Roland's
wish since many years was: to visit Dinah Veeris, the famous
herb-woman of Curaçao. So he did, as this video shows:
Drougth
A
concern Dinah shared with Roland was the drougth of the soil. Even in
the rainy season. Many medicinal species disappear because of burning
sun, blowing wind and the totally eroded soil. Growing vegetables is
a problem too.
The
island's industry pumps away much of the groundwater. But that's not
all. The people have the habit of sweeping their garden clean. They
remove all undergrowth. So the soil is freely available for blowing
with the wind and flowing in muddy streams when there's a rainstorm.
No nutrition is left in the soil.
Videos of solutions
Roland
showed his efforts to start composting. Compost is indispensable for
the soil. The next video shows his new experiment: 'Hügelkultur'.
Organic materials are hidden in the ground, on which vegetables will
grow. The organic material fixes the moisture in the soil.
How
he builded a 'greenhouse' is shown here:
As
you see the purpose of this tropical 'greenhouse' is to give shadow.
So it's made of green 'shading cloth'. An easy way to irrigate with
plastic bottles is shown here:
Green grass growing
After
two months of rainy season the barren terrain turned to green. Grass
was growing all over! Roland first reason to let it grow was to hide
his okra plants and small moringa trees for the iguanas.
Almost
daily handy men came at his door, offering to help get rid of the
grass (for a few guilders). But the garden flourishes with the grass.
The sun does not burn on the soil anymore. The falling leaves stay in
the grass and start composting.
Greening deserts
The
next step will be: mowing the grass, but leave it there as mülch.
Together with branches and leaves of trees, the grass is a source of
energy given by nature. There's no need to buy manure.
In
this way even deserts became green again. In Brasil agriculturers
apply the principles of the rainforest, by covering the soil with
organic materials. The soil turns more and more fertile. It holds
humidity, the temperature drops a little and it even gets more rainy.
A greener Curaçao
Roland
is very glad he can help Curaçao, and the climate in the long run,
with his experiments. More people see the benefits. They ask him for
help to turn their terrain into a green oasis.
He
is also happy with this terrain at Bandabou:
All
vegetation there will stay. The paths will remain. This terrain will
be a centre for teaching permaculture. Roland will start some
Hügelkultur there, swales along vegetable beds and other experiments
to show interested Curaçaoan people how permaculture works.
