Putting my Hands where my Mouth is

Yesterday was our first day of tree planting! I have waited over a month since I got here for this moment.

On Monday, we had loaded tree seedlings we had sorted out into a truck and dropped them off at various farms. Yesterday morning, it was not raining for the first time in a week, and we headed out right after breakfast. Our first stop was a farm where the trees were to be planted in little patches between stretches of coffee and banana plantation. The holes where the trees would be planted had been made by a team of people in the last two weeks.

First, we had to haul hundreds of seedlings from where they had been unloaded at the farm to the holes they would be planted in. This was the most difficult part. We loaded the seedlings into plastic crates and carried them, two people to a crate, through grass, coffee, and bananas, over barbed wire fences, and up and down hills, to the planting sites. Once the seedlings were there, we placed one seedling by each hole and sprinkled some compost as fertilizer into the holes. Finally, we could begin planting.

Alex loading seedlings into a crate.

Castanha do Maranhao seedling next to a hole, waiting to be planted.

The planting process itself is easy. The hole must be filled in to the depth of the seedling, then the seedling must be removed from its bag and slotted into the hole. Finally, soil must be filled into the space remaining around the seedling. Here is a video demonstration!

Just as we finished up planting on the first farm, it began to pour rain. We ran for the farmhouse and waited out the rain on the farmer's porch. After we had washed our hands (a dire necessity, as you can see at the end of the video), he gave us coffee, cake, and cachaça (of which I had only a small sip).

View from the farmer's porch.

After we were sufficiently dry and warm, we headed to Limeira for lunch and a trip to the supermarket. I have regained my appetite with a vengeance after my food poisoning adventure a week and a half ago, and require many snacks between meals to keep me going. I have the feeling that by the end of my stay here, I will have eaten my way through most of the cookie aisle in the Rosario da Limeira supermarket.

Lunchtime! Rice and beans, noodles, veggies, and an egg (which I was very excited about)! And some fresh mango juice to go with it!

After lunch and shopping, we loaded back into the Iracambi-combi, the bus we travel in, and headed to more farms for planting. With so many volunteers, planting goes quickly, and all in all we planted 431 trees yesterday!

The Iracambi-combi.

Holes are not just homes for trees...

At the last farm we went to, we were welcomed into a poultry-filled yard with coffee and cheese. There was an impressive peacock displaying his tail feathers, and Deivid stated that he wanted to get a peacock when he moves into his own house.

This farm had us planting the trees on a slope right above a pond, which will be great for filtration when the trees grow bigger. Again, we had amazing luck with the rain: it started POURING right as we got back into the combi.

Slope above the pond. We planted 150 trees in this area.

We headed back to the farm with the poultry and were welcomed onto their porch (a theme I am recognizing) for more coffee and fried manioc root. We waited out the rain and enjoyed the food and good conversation. This was the most coffee I have had in a long time, and it was a good reminder as to why I tried to avoid it: I ended up hyper with shaking hands about a half hour later. Luckily, I drank the coffee early enough that I was able to go to sleep that evening.

Manioc and coffee.

I have learned that planting the trees is only the very tip of a very tall mountain. In order for the trees to be actually planted in the ground they will mature on, they must first be collected as seeds, identified, and germinated under specific conditions. They must then be left to grow until they can be planted into the bags. Once that is done, they must be left to grow there from a few months up to several years and watered frequently and kept under ideal conditions in that time. On another level, the farmers must be contacted and educated about the importance of the trees and taking care of them. Once they agree to allow us to plant trees on their property, the grass must be cleared and the holes dug with machinery, because the soil is often solid clay. Then, after the trees are planted, they are monitored for two years to measure their growth and survival rate.

That being said, however, there is something intensely satisfying about the act of planting a tree. So much of today's climate change action is focused on the action of planting trees, and it feels like by being here, I am finally helping. It's not enough: millions upon millions of trees must be planted to make a difference. But every tree I plant is one tree closer to that number. You may be familiar with the expression "put your money where your mouth is" (meaning that if you say you support a cause, you should not only say you do but also do so monetarily). In my case, it feels like I am putting my hands where my mouth is: I talk about the importance of reforestation, and now I am here getting my hands dirty putting trees into the ground.

I know many of the readers of my blog are also supporters of reforestation. Now I am asking you to put your money where your mouth is by donating to Iracambi. Amazingly, with all of the effort it takes to raise a tree and take care of it after it is planted, it only takes $5 USD per tree. Please help Iracambi plant a tree, or a couple trees, by donating to them (preferably on December 3rd on the GlobalGiving website). If you donate, send me a message and I will dedicate a tree I plant to you and send you a picture of it! With the help of the world's generous people, it is possible to plant a forest, one tree at a time.