By Cristina Gratiela Chiran | Development Officer
As the fertile season is swiftly approaching in India we now have the resources necessary for making the most out of the agricultural land that we have in our Organic Farm at the Dayspring Home.
We are in the process of buying farm tools, that will greatly improve our productivity and efficiency. We will buy two wheelbarrows that will help us carry the vegetables from the farm to the Dayspring Home kitchen. So far the children have been putting them in bags and carrying them on their back. However, because the bags become very heavy they are damaging the children's health. Therefore we made it our priority to purchase the wheelbarrows which will turn vegetable and fruit picking and transportation into fun activities. This will make the children more eager to get involved in farming activities.
We will also buy farm tools including four trenching hoes (two of 6 inch - wider and two of 4 inch - narrower), four wooden grass sickles, six shovels, four forks (including a manure fork, hay fork and plantation fork), four bill hooks and four pruning cutters (that are much needed for the tree branches), an axe and three hedge shears. We will purchase one or two grass-cutter machines as well. We will also buy safety equipment such as gloves, glasses and boots for our farming staff and for the children to use.
These materials will help us to harvest the land and take better care of the goats, chickens and cows at the farm by providing a better living environment for them. It will also enable us to make farming and growing food a fun and safe activity for the children at the Dayspring Home.
They will now spend some of their free time learning how to use the new tools. Buying more of the same type of tools will enable us to have our two farm staff showing the children how to use them. In this way, the children can also work in the farm in small groups which will make farming safer and more fun.
Our Project Coordinator and Farm Manager have already started looking into the best shops where we can purchase all the equipment from and have been participating in agricultural exhibitions in order to stay up to date with the latest developments in farming and implement some of them at our Dayspring Home too.
It's fantastic because the children experience farming and eating in a holistic and circular way. They learn how to grow their own food from a young age and develop a sustainable approach to farming and to the environment that will follow them throughout their life.
Thank you for your help, we could not have done it without you!
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