A Little Tour

Here's a minuscule idea of what the Global Farm at ECHO looks like. Its really very complicated and intricate. It may look like a bunch of bushes and trees, but what makes it fascinating is that every tree, plant, shrub is placed where it is on purpose.
Andy, the farm manger, says that systems are important when you plant. You can't just think 'what is this plant going to give me', you need to ask 'what will it give me, but how else will it affect its environment'. It's a great concept, and when done properly, can make your garden richer and more purposeful than you can imagine.

Global Farm from Aaron Toombs on Vimeo.

I see an analogy of life in this. When the Bible talks about doing everything for the glory of God, it is this sort of 'systematic living' that will produce the best fruits to offer the Lord. Our lives are not segmented. They run together, each and every part. Just like in a garden, many weeds (unnecessary activities, habits, etc.) crop up in our life, and often spoil the abundant life that Christ wants to give us. It's a diligent farmer who looks at his purpose for his garden, then plants and weeds to fulfill its ultimate purpose. In the same way, it's a diligent and prayerful Christian who looks at their life and asks God 'what is the purpose of this life you've given me and how can I allow You to make the most of it'.

Bunny trouble? Try a spot of urine.

There are a lot of rabbits that live around here, as well as raccoons, snakes, alligators, etc.
Last week one of the guys I work with in the 'arid region' was complaining about rabbits eating his plants. The next day he showed me his solution. Be prepared to be shocked! He had placed urine in cups in various places around his garden. Apparently, one of the other interns tried it (after hearing about from another intern from a few years ago) and it worked like a charm.
The result for my co-worker's garden: Bunny free.
Now, I don't know how many people would be brave (is that the right adjective) enough to try such a bold move, but if your having bunny trouble, its worth a shot. Just make sure to bury the urine cups so they don't get knocked over.

Zero Graze Unit for Goats

Hey, did you ever think having your goats in one spot would produce happy, healthy, well adjusted and fat goats? Well, I didn't. In Senegal, the word is that goats love to roam and graze all over the country side. Makes sense, right? Or does it? ECHO has tried out a different approach and it appears to be a success. These goats are not miserable. They are quite socialized and very content.

Zero Graze from Aaron Toombs on Vimeo.

White Mold and Moringa Processing

When talking about composting, if you see white mold...shout for joy! Its a good thing. It helps with the decomposing of your compost pile. You don't want to see black or green. Now, as of this moment, I don't know why black and green are bad. Will surely find out as time marches on.

Moringa is an amazing tree. Its been called the tree of life. It grows great in climates like Senegal where there is very little rainfall.
Everything on this tree is useful. The leaves are super high in nutrition.
Here's a link talking about the miracle of moringa: www.naturalnews.com/022272.html

Here at ECHO they grow it and harvest it. Today, we cut the Moringa Trees down to a meter and harvested the leaves. We dried the leaves out by putting them in a DRYER of all things. Its still experimental at this point whether or not this is a good technique as we're not sure if when the temperature goes over 100F if the nutrients are effected.
I planted tons of Moringa at the Phare (www.lepharedelesperance.blogspot.com) It was fascinating to watch a tree like that grow so fast in such a harsh climate. The guys and gals I worked with got to hear me preach about the benefits of Moringa for many months. It started to rub off on them little by little. One of the ladies who was experiencing 'female problems' started drying it and turning it into powder. She started taking it in 'secret' and later on was advertising how much better she was feeling. Its really amazing to see how God created this tree, with all of its health benefits, has been placed in environments where its very difficult to grow what we in the West take for granted nutritionally.

I'm excited to learn more about this tree while I'm here to take back to the people of Senegal.