In the first week of the Summer 2013 Kalu Yala internship, the farm in the valley received a tremendous jump start from the renowned Central American permaculturist, Stephen Brooks. Along with his expertise, he brought over 100 varieties of fruit trees and herbs. It was an honor working alongside him and learning from him. Now Kalu Yala has a legitimate farm and an a better start to the Summer 2013 than I ever imagined.
After finishing up our agriculture orientation on Monday and Tuesday morning, we desperately needed a substantial rain. Our soils were dry and clumpy and we feared for some of our crops. The sun was beaming relentlessly Tuesday morning and a good rain seemed like a distant dream. Sure enough, after lunch the rainy season lived up to its name and the largest storm the Summer 2013 interns have yet to see in Panama hit the valley. We all rejoiced as all of our things got soaked. Galvanized to maintain high energy and productivity on the farm, the agriculture program kept up the hard work and began to craft a more focused vision of the future of the farm. This week we:
• extended the chicken area
• created more beds
• made trellises for massive cucumber plants
• cleared areas for projects and trees
• worked on our new greenhouse
• began extending our fence line in order to plant new plants and incorporate some exciting new projects being taken on by some of our interns
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The agriculture interns will be keeping Kalu Yala’s followers posted throughout the summer on our progress on the farm and with our respective projects. All of us are extremely excited for what this summer will do for the farm. The farm has boundless potential and our project ideas will come to fruition soon. We have a great team who knows it will be Kalu Yala’s most productive semester yet and we are blessed to be a part of it.