Dawn from the Lookout Garden, the last installment of the Statia PDC course.

The Miriam C. Schmidt Botanical Gardens, managed by STENAPA are a public space with a very different character and function then the previous sites we studied. Located on the Atlantic, windward, side of Statia in the remote south end of the island, the gardens are usually receiving a fair amount of rain while the steady tradewinds provide a constant cooling breeze. However this last winter has been extraordinarily dry and warm. Keeping the display gardens fresh and green is quite challenge.

The gardens also provide a living space for interns and volunteers, which also makes this a unique site to study. Zone analysis shows how zones of usage have areas of overlap, but are also specific to the different types of users of the garden.

Soil samples showed a generally poor soil, typical of volcanic soils. The exceptions were soil from the under the compost bins and one of the veggie patch beds, which showed good nutrient levels and an almost neutral pH.

Design exercises included designing course elements, composting and mulching strategies and zone one elements around the intern house / visitor centre.

Today we sampled the soils at Congo Preserve. From the top fence of the property down we tested the pH, NPK and did a visual and smell inspection. Our sample from the top smelled of a rich earthy dirt, was moist and covered with a lush perennial meadow. The second sample from a tan-tan (Leucaena) bush was dry and powdery. Our third sample came from a field that was plowed last year and covered with an aromatic flowered plant. Nice soft, crumbly soil. The last sample we took from under the mango and guava trees. Results from the tests to follow soon.

Last night we discussed setting up and organising permaculture courses and workshops. What is takes in terms of resources, planning and promotion. During our work today ideas kept bubbling up for educational activities for local people, adults and children; for farmers on neighboring islands, especially if they were to further teach local farmers on their respective islands.

Tomorrow the terrestrial excursion is on the programme. A trek through the northern hills, with their very own dry & hot climate and historical remnants of slave settlements, plantations and sugar mills.

Monday: day 7 of the PDC course.

Building work on the bee farm. Using locally available ‘waste’ materials like salvaged car tyres, sand excavated from road and building works we are building a shelter for the beehives at the GreenBlend farm. It’s a simple technique developed by Michael Reynolds of Biotecture International in the US. Stacking tyres in running bond, placed in arcing shapes and pounding compacted soil into them. It creates sheltering walls that absorb heat, form a solid structure that has been rated for earthquakes, strong winds and fire resistance.

We finished the soil analysis on two more sampling points and finished up on day 8 with lots of tree planting for the windbreak that Claire presented the night before. It’s always great to work with responsive clients that turn design suggestions into action. Many thanks to Lois and Laurens of GreenBlend for their hospitality and the learning opportunity they provided.

Wednesday, day 9 of the course, we started at Joshua Spanner’s place: Congo Preserve. Located at the site of a Free Blacks village, a place of historic significance on the island, it was immediately obvious from first impressions that this is a very different property. The slope and orientation makes for a big portion of the property to have very mild winds.

Day three of the PDC course we looked at soil properties of the Cultuurvlakte. Prelimenary results differ from expectations. Instead of alkaline soil we found it to be slightly acidic, despite regular watering with mildly alkaline water from the well. The soil samples also appeared to be quite low in conventional nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus in NPK-tests.

Perhaps the chemical and physical properties of the claylike soil bind the nutrients and make them less available to both crops and to test kit reagents.

In the evening we screened the fascinating story of Power of Community or how Cuba survived Peak Oil. In the 1990′s Cuba was hit by both oil crisis and economic embargoes by the USA. Cuban government embraced permaculture to solve many of its problems with collapsing food production, housing, transportation and the overall design of their island community. Remarkably the Cuban population experiences the same kind of health (as expressed in low child mortality rate and high life expectancy) as the USA at about 10% of US energy usage.

During the evening session we discussed the opportunities for assisting the Statian community to be more self-sufficient by cooperation. Providing slips and seedlings for traditional local and well adapted vegetables, herbs, fruits and staple corps like sweet potato, banana or plantain. Most people would like to grow more in their own garden, but would not necessarily buy locally grown veggies or fruit from a shop or farmer. A nursery providing young plants that would do well in peoples gardens might be just the right leverage for co-sufficiency in this island community.

The first weekend of the course was opened by a wonderful marine excursion with captain Gadget, who took us to Jenkins Bay for a snorkel in crystal clear Caribbean blue water.

Mildred, Steve, Andrew and Tess finished the Saturday with a sumptuous meal, made with all local vegetables and three species of fish caught by Steve. Thanks for sharing this wealth of local natural treasures.

The second day of the Statia PDC 2013 started of with a typically brilliant dawn. St Kitts seen from the lookout garden of the Botan, crowned with the balsamic moon.

For fieldwork we surveyed the GreenBlend farm property and practiced staking out contour lines. We started a new mushroom culture with Pink Oyster mushroom – a species adapted to the Caribbean region. Then propagating lemon grass as a weed barrier around the plantain field.

This afternoon we surveying a serendipitous project, greening Wilhelmina Park. A park with a history as ‘slave market’. Not a market where slaves were the subject of trade, but a market where slaves traded produce that the grew in their own provisioning gardens. It has now been restored to its original function with a monthly market of locally produced food and other products made by residents. We are invited to design the ‘green’ aspects of the garden to enhance the area.

Last night we learned about the design process and permaculture ethics in a lively discussion of established concepts and current affairs. After a delicious vegetarian curry dinner we watched DIRT! – The Movie, a moving documentary about our relationship with the living skin of the earth, its fabulous properties, how we nearly destroyed it and what we are doing to restore it.

Tonight we have design exercises, permaculture design principles and some science on the programme.

Yesterday, 5 February 2013, the first PDC course on Statia kicked off with a round of introductions of the participants. Each time I feel very fortunate to meet these great new people with wonderful stories, talents and courage to learn something new.

We finished the arrival day with a beautiful and tasty meal, prepared by Mildred.

Today was our first day “in the field”. We visited the farm of GreenBlend’s Laurens Duijveman on the road to Zeelandia. We walked the land and recorded first impressions. Met with Laurens, Lois and Louise and talked about past present and future of the project.

Never a dull moment on Statia, we soon found ourselves involved with donkey business, talking about feeding pest vines from the farm to hungry donkeys that are rounded up by the Statian government and trying to find immediate, medium and long term solutions to feeding livestock on Statia in general.

Checking up on the experiment with pink oyster mushrooms, we found it doing really well on waste wood stumps left over from a landscaping project. Great potential for producing a valuable food source once we create a nice shaded and moist corner on the farm, perhaps as part of a windbreak.

For lunch we had an invitation to come up with a design for a park in Oranjestad that is regularly used as marketplace for fresh produce and other local products.

Tonight we are showing the brilliant and inspiring movie DIRT! A must-see film for anybody interested in sustainable communities. It all starts with a healthy and resilient soil.