An update of our past work.

Over the years, we've planted many thousands of trees.  It's hard to show what the results of these efforts look like - in part because, as they say, it's hard to see the trees from the forest.  But here's a picture taken this spring of some land in Beda which used to be just a bare rocky slope.  It may not look like much, but this is the result of reforestation.

 

IMG_9889.JPG

Starting a new nursery in LaSucreie

We've been working with some wonderful people in the community of La Sucrerie to create a new nursery.  This is a great example of how the Haiti Tree Project works.  We find partners who have a strong desire to reforest their community and then we work with them in multiple ways.

First we provided education through a seminar led by an agronomist Jean who talked about the importance of reforesting around the gardens and gardening in terraces to stop erosion and mudslides. (apologies for the blurry pictures!)

Agronom meeting

Agronom meeting

Then we provide tools and tree seedlings.

Tools of the trade

Tools of the trade

And then everyone gets involved filling seedling backs with with compost and good soil for planting hardwood trees.

IMG_0450.JPG

We're really excited about the enthusiasm everyone has for this project!   We appreciate everyone's help so far in making a small, but meaningful difference in our world!

When life gives you lemon (trees) - plant them!

Lemon trees can take quite a while to grow - even in Haiti where the climate is warm and wet - but there's a shortcut.  Use lemon branches grafted on to existing root stock.  You get a healthy larger tree!   

They're a little more expensive than regular seedlings but we think that the results justify the investment.  Talking about investments - have you considered helping us?

Loading up trees

Loading up trees ready for distribution.  These are 1000 fruit trees, mostly Mango Madam Francique.  We're getting them from Les Cayes to distribute in the mountains of LaSucrerie. 

This Friday March 16th will be their first training seminar on reforestation with 300+ villagers. 

IMG_0080.JPG

It's planting time!

The rains have been good and we're busy acquiring and distributing native fruit trees.  We've even been expanding to several new villages.   Mostly we're focusing on Mango Madam Francique this season.  It's a native fruit tree to Haiti, and it's mangoes are so delicious Whole Foods Market goes out of its way to import them every summer. 

 

It's been a while - but we're still busy planting trees!

citrus_14.jpg

 

 

We've been a bit quiet of late - in part because the fall is a quiet time of year for planting, but also because, as a volunteer run organization here in Raleigh, sometimes we get busy doing other stuff!

But here's some news from Haiti...

We've distributed all the lemon trees that we raised.  This is great news, lemon trees grow fast and provide a really valuable crop to the local people.  It's a win-win.  We tackle deforestation and provide a valuable cash crop.

Those lemon trees that were planted two years ago are growing nicely and have started to produce lemons.  These trees survived the drought really well.  We'll be planting more lemons in the future!

We're in the process of figuring out the budget for next year so we can buy seedlings and plant more trees.  We're also thinking about creating a tree nursery up in the mountain so the people who live up there won't have to come down to get trees.

As always - we appreciate all the support!