Welcome to MyFarm weekly. This is the place you will find anything and everything we have been up to here at the farm.
Wow…what a week we have had at the farm.
The Learning Labs have been jam-packed all week with children exploring, playing, and learning. We have rekindled the relationship with the local school and now use of the Learning Labs is in their timetable… Fantastic news for us, and more importantly the children. We are now seeing feedback from all over the world that children who attend Learning Labs on a regular basis have far better grades than those who don’t. Now the children at Nema Kunku school can build the foundations for learning right here at MyFarm.
We are now working closely with the ministry of education in The Gambia to try and make sure that the 30 Learning Labs across the country are operating at the same standard as ours at the farm. We are busy planning trips around Gambia and coordinating with facilitators to give them the training they need to make the labs the educational wonder that they are.
The new volunteers have settled in nicely and are already part of our family! They have been challenged to organize educational activities outside of the labs during the children’s break time. This has combined our innovative Learning Labs with the other departments at MyFarm perfectly, something we have always wanted. This week the children engaged in eco bricking, biodegradable wast timeline, and helping the garden team create the nurseries for the growing season. It’s all just falling into place 🙂
Environmental Cooperation Is Key
This week has also been a week of environmental cooperation and sharing of skills and knowledge. MyFarm has worked closely with Growing Green Communities to help them on their mission to connect, empower, and inspire environmentalists within the country. We helped them organize and run their 3rd eco event of the year. This month’s theme was ocean conservation and saw workshops and talks around the subject, in the beautiful beachside location Leybato Beach Hotel. It was a fantastic day for everyone who attended. Eco-friendly vendors, including a stall for us, were dotted around the palm trees facing the sea, the perfect setting to get people talking and thinking about improving the state of the marine ecosystem within the country.
Isatou, our head of processing had an extremely busy day. She was selling on the stall all day and did 2 incredible soap-making workshops that the guests absolutely loved. Gambia Ocean Hero’s and their team of volunteers crowded around Isatou, all desperate to learn her secrets to soap production… all were given a sea salt soap we had made in advance.
Thank you Growing Green Communities for inspiring change in Gambia. All the environmentalists left with a new energy to carry on their respected environmental fights.
In The Garden
Thanks to some very generous donations, this year we are planning our most diverse range of crops ever! The garden team has been super busy preparing nurseries around the farm, ready for transplanting in a few week’s time. The first seedlings are already starting to emerge for our tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, cabbage, and lettuce. Watching them grow will be almost as fulfilling as eating them in a few month’s time.
Now the rains have virtually stopped the garden team is back to watering. On such a big farm this can often be the main task for the day. So the boys are now developing systems to make this easier on the whole team.
The garden team had a little secret project last week, that they were so excited to show the team. They spent their breaks crafting an amazing new piece of furniture. Made entirely out of fallen palm branches, the chair they create is awesome, and the whole team will enjoy chilling on it very soon.
Fantastic week from everyone at MyFarm. Well done team.
The processing team has also had a very busy week this week. They were preparing all their stock for the Growing A Green Gambia event mentioned above. And their stall looked fantastic, the best at the event :). On the stall, we had a selection of everything, including the last of this year’s delicious Mango Jam, which sold out within the hour 🙂