187 138 NPO ecoculturesa@gmail.com Sergio: 083 411 0809 Alex: 082 775 4115 Amelia: 078 554 6753 122 Market Street Johannesburg North Randburg 2188 June 2017 Organisation 2 nd Quarterly Report Vegetable Garden Project at Tsakani Primary School in Kagiso Krugersdorp Early this year we were approached by another charity, Adopt a School Foundation, to help them construct a vegetable tunnel that would be used by Tsakani Primary school to supplement their feeding scheme. Our goal was to keep costs down and to get maximum vegetable yield whilst limiting any negative environmental impact. We made plans to erect a shade cloth tunnel with gum-polls and irrigate using a rainwater catchment, dripline system. We used 40% Grey Shade net as it lets in enough light whilst preventing the plants from drying out, being damaged by hail and keeping temperature more constant so as to prevent frost. After chopping all the weeds out, the site was carefully measured and marked. We added 6m³ of great organic compost to improve the soil quality and water retention capacity.
A level and solid foundation needed to be constructed for the 5000L water tank to rest upon. We used old concrete blocks and a small amount of cement to achieve this.
We dug trenches to help shape the beds. Raised beds help with good soil drainage and moisture retention, whilst limiting erosion. We plan on using the tyres to plant potatoes. For over 10 days, our four member team worked through rain and shine, from early till late.
A nice thick layer of mulch was added to prevent weed growth and prevent the soil from drying out. The mulch will eventually decompose back into the soil. Spinach and cabbage grow well in the winter.
Pictures Above and Right: Capitec bank, whom had sponsored the vegetable garden, attended the official handover to Tsakani Primary school. This vegetable garden will be maintained using organic and water saving principals. It is irrigated using rainwater through a dripline system. The grounds staff from the school will maintain the vegetable garden and are being trained by Eco Culture over the course of the year.
Launching the Recycling Programme at Cosmo West Primary School Pictures Above and Right: The team demonstrates how to use the multi-bin recycling system during a school assembly. The sale of the recycling materials will generate an income for the school. Pictures Above and Left: We designed and placed about 25 posters around the school to remind the leaners which bin to use for each type of waste item.
Biogas digester at Cosmo West Primary We are sourcing sponsorship for the vinyl stickers for the bins Picture Left: Sergio Shows Mutshidzi how to use the core drill. We needed to make slight alterations on the system to allow more feedstock to pass through the pipes. Picture Below: Alex gives the feeding Pictures Above and Left: 90L orange bins were scheme kitchen staff a placed in each classroom, these are for white presentation on biogas. paper only and are emptied into the orange bins This formed part of a in the quads. Each quad in the series school of has biogas a multi-bin recycling station. workshops held with Orange = White paper the school staff. Yellow = Mixed/ coloured paper Blue = Mixed recycling Green = Organic/food waste Black = Non-recyclables / general waste White = Metals
Pictures Above and Below: Mutshidzi and Tshepo give a hands on demonstration, teaching the kitchen staff how to feed the biogas digesters. The kitchen staff now feed the digester every day.
Picture Above: The biogas digester has rapidly filled up with flammable gas since the kitchen staff stared feeding it. Biogas Slurry to Garden Fertilizer & Fruit Tree Orchard We have created our own mechanism to store the slurry from the biogas digester, which can then be used as a Pictures Bottom: Tshepo cuts piping to place around the base of the fruit trees, to protect against the weed eater ring-barking the trees and fruit tree orchard. fertilizer for our vegetable garden
Distributing Donations to Cosmo Schools Picture Below and Right: Tshepo and Mutshidzi sort through packs of educational posters, wildlife books and stationary that were then distributed to the schools in Cosmo Vegetable Gardening at West Primary Pictures below: We are still helping the school maintain their vegetable garden. From June we will start the process of training the kitchen staff to take over the maintenance, watering, weeding, planting and harvesting. Pictures: Recent harvests of spinach, beans and tomatoes from the garden and vegetable boxes were enjoyed by the learners from the school.
Climate Proofing Project at Cosmo Primary 1 The City Of Johannesburg (CoJ) has been supporting our school based environmental programmes for a few years now. This time round they hired 20 community members to help us set up and install a school vegetable garden; rainwater catchment and dripline irrigation systems; and a Biogas digester. These 20 community members would gain valuable skills that could assist them to get a job after the project has been completed. Pictures Above and Left: The new Climate Proofing team at Cosmo Primary school 1 clearing land for the schools new vegetable garden. The Eco Culture team is training managing, and coordinating the entire project.
Pictures: The community members learn how to plan and how to erect the gum-poles, fasten the wire and design the bed layout for the vegetable garden.
Picture Left: Tshepo emerges from the Jojo tank after securing the outlet pipe. Pictures Below: Fitting the rain water catchment system which will then lead to the irrigation system in the vegetable garden. Pictures Bottom: The new compost structure and the finishing touches to the irrigation system.
Picture Left: The team adds the grey 40% titanium weave shade-net. Either grey or black are the preferred colours for growing vegetables. The shade-net regulates temperature, prevents excessive evaporation and protects against hail. Pictures Below: The finished vegetable garden with dripline irrigation system.
Installing the biogas digester Pictures Below: The team was actively involved in installing the biogas digester outside the kitchen. This digester will generate methane gas from the old food scraps. It will start generating gas in about 6 weeks time. Attending Forums Picture Below: We attended the launch of Environmetorz in Eldorado and turnout for our fellow organisation. Pictures Bottom: We actively attend the Gauteng Environmental Edu network with other likeminded organisations, and often are asked to feedback to government officials. We have now been asked to sit on development) regional centre for expertise. We re feeling very proud Committee Workshops