In October I made a visit to Magareza Mixed High School in Kitengela where I have planted 417 trees since January this year with 20 students from the public high school to empower them on planting and farming techniques as well as rehabilitating the soil in this arid region, as further detailed in my free report for September.  I am pleased to observe a roughly 70% survival rate with many of the berry, avocado and mango trees starting to bear fruit!

The soil in Kitengela is primarily comprised of black cotton soil, which is not very porous, compacted, and lumpy when its waterlogged as there is tight bonding of the clay particles when exposed to moisture. Contrastingly it is extremely hard during dry weather. Therefore, to improve drainage and allow the roots to better penetrate the soil and anchor we mixed in cow manure with the soil whilst planting all the trees. As the manure decomposes it releases nutrients that are absorbed by the bacteria and microorganisms in the soil which binds with the soil particles and forces the concentrated clay particles apart. I believe the addition of manure and heavy mulching to reduce water loss was the reason that we had such a high success rate.

The trees that did not survive mostly consisted of the moringa species and after evaluation it was because we planted many of the moringa when they were too young to survive the harsh heat as they are more fragile than the other tree species and take a longer time to root and acclimatise.  The moringa that did survive were more robust as they were planted when they had grown much taller. Therefore, when there is a future planting trip, we will be sure to only plant moringa when they are at least half a meter tall.  

In preparation for public schools to open a line of sinks in the driveway of the school were installed by the government. (A picture of this is attached). The water from the sinks is directed into the area where the trees have been planted so that it may be recycled as means to irrigate the planting ground.

I am ecstatic to see that some of the trees have grown even taller than me! I cannot wait for the students to enjoy the fruits when they open schools.