Can You Guess How Many Cocoa Trees We Have?

This week we got to work mapping out all of the trees on the land.  Cocoa trees grow best in partial shade, so they are planted alongside other trees, such as citrus or banana trees. This helps keep the soil rich and the cocoa beans flavorful.  Mapping out the property was a tricky but rewarding task that helped us get to know every inch of the land!

Mapping out all the trees on the cocoa farm.

So, how many cocoa trees do we have?  We have 274! 

Tomorrow we will continue to transplant banana trees at the school garden and get the beds ready for a vegetable garden.  The goal is to use the vegetables to supplement school lunches in the cafeteria.  The school garden is part of a 4-H program that students participate in on Wednesday afternoons. Students, program coordinators and the Principal are looking forward to adding veggies like cucumbers and tomatoes to the lunch menu.

The first vegetable beds at the school garden.

CFFI Welcomes our First Intern!

CFFI is excited to welcome our first full-time intern, Lucienne Cross.  Lucy will be helping Kimon and Rawldon in the cocoa field as well as working on projects like the school garden and a training workshop.  Lucy lives in Brooklyn, New York and is interested in sustainable agriculture and food security.  She will be contributing to the blog for the next month and we look forward to hearing updates on these projects!

Kimon, Lucienne and Rawldon in the cocoa farm.

This week they have been clearing the underbrush from the farm, and transplanting banana trees to clear out the school garden for vegetable beds.