While we've mentioned the "Alternative School" a few times on this blog, there has been little reported thus far. The goal is to do something different, get the kids out of the classroom and teach them about organic farming and teach an English lesson about agriculture every session as well. Thursday was our 4th session and we taught the Jalurn Suk School 4th-6th graders about grafting trees. Weeks 2 and 3 we had a little trouble keeping the kids' attention (although the girls in our class always pay better attention than the boys), even when we taught them about bugs. This week, however, after a short introduction in the classroom, we got right out into the fields to do some grafting.
The 40 students all rode bikes out to P Pakphum's farm and we got damp coconut husks ready in small plastic bags. The damp husks will create a good micro-climate for budding on the stems of the trees. The students, in the five groups they organized (chickens, pommelos, rice seeds, fishes, papayas), worked together to carve the grafts and place the damp bags on the exposed bark. Pakphum, Samrat and Lungrot, who have been really committed to our "School" from the beginning, all helped teach the students correct grafting technique.
A finished graft on a guava tree (above) will hopefully yield a healthy bud in a few days. Next week - compost. We'll start our vegetable garden in November, after Fall break.
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