De me un pepino, de me un pepino! These are the words that ring out whenever I arrive at the greenhouse garden located just behind the children's center on the North farm. Usually the words are accompanied by five or six smiles and as many hands tugging on my shirt. That a cucumber can bring such anticipation and joy is pretty remarkable. A simple pleasure, cool and crisp, provided through a combination of planning, sowing, and tending married to God's direction of the symphony of life in the soil and the rain.

Spring is in full swing here on the North coast and the farm is literally bursting at the seams with the evidence of God's provision and blessing. The three year old oil palms, once barely noticeable against the background of tall grass and brambles, have overtaken the 23 acres that make up the North farm. Their frawns stretching out to one another as if to hold hands. Presenting their first fruits, each tree displays burnt orange colored clusters of palm kernels. Each cluster providing much needed income to help maintain the physical and spiritual healing ministry of the hospital. Down the road on the East farm, the two year old palm trees are joyfully maturing through their adolescence. Joined by 200 freshly planted seedlings, this 16 acre palmera will, God willing, begin to bear fruit next year. All told the almost 40 acres of African oil palm planted over the last 3 years on Finca Loma de Luz has the potential to provide self-sustaining and significant income support and possibly even energy independence for the hospital and children's center.

Although oil palm production is the cornerstone of the Finca Loma de Luz farm plan, each crop and animal has an important role to play, not just in providing food and income, but also in providing nutrition, protection and ecological balance. A case in point are the flocks of sheep and broiler chickens that work in concert with each other to help feed the palms, control weed competition and reduce insect and parasite problems. Our small flock of sheep has grown in the last month with the births of 6 lambs. These sheep graze the palm alleys and turn once out of control weeds into delicious and nutritious meat. Last month we butchered three nice sized lambs (about 90 lbs. each) and local demand for the meat was impressive. In fact we sold it all before yours truly got his share. Behind the sheep come our pastured boiler chickens. These amazing birds grow from fuzzy little chicks to almost 5 lb monsters in just 6 weeks. The birds spend their first 2 weeks of life in a large brooding pen and then the next 4 weeks live in bottomless pens, called “chicken tractors'. These chicken tractors are moved each day giving the birds a clean environment, which eliminates the need to use prophylactic antibiotics, and allows the birds to scratch and snack on the parasite grubs that the sheep leave behind in their manure. Thus the chickens get free protein to help them grow and our sheep enjoy less intestinal parasite problems. Every 2 weeks we travel to the bus station in La Ceiba to pick up another batch of 100 day old chicks, and every 2 weeks we butcher a mature batch of 100 broilers providing all of the hospital's and children center's meat needs and giving us roughly 200 lbs of healthy, hormone and antibiotic free meat to sell in the local community.

And so the symphony of life is performed on the farm. Our hearts sing along. We praise God for his provision. We worship Him along with all of creation. Like children happily calling out “de me un pepino” we lift our smiling faces and tug on God's shirt tail, knowing something refreshing and wonderful is about to come from His hand.

Mistakes

Mistakes. We all make mistakes. Wise people learn from other peoples mistakes and smart people usually don't make the same mistake twice.

I made a notable mistake last month. I say notable to differentiate this particular mistake from the hundreds of other mistakes I made last month which, by and large, went unnoticed.

Don't worry. No lives were lost, nor were any baby seals harmed in the wake of my mistake. Although some time and money has been lost, no sub-prime, credit default swap, Lehman-esque repercussions are likely to be felt.

Thomas Edison made mistakes. More than 1000 of them on the way to the light bulb.

My boss is not upset with me about my mistake. (at least as far as I can tell)

But here it is, a little after 2 in the morning, and I'm writing about my mistake.

What I'm trying to say, in my own Dickensonian way is... I made a mistake.

The mistake?!

I mulched.

Mulched.

Like, you know, piled up some chopped grass.

Technically mulching wasn't the mistake. Mulching is an excellent practice that, when done by people who think things all the way through, adds beneficial organic matter to the soil while increasing it's water holding capacity and reducing erosion.

People who think things all the way through.

I know some, even married one (matrimonial choice excepted), but I'm more of the “think things all the way through right AFTER you do it” kind of guy.

So here I am thinking things through. Thinking out loud, so to speak, with those of you still reading.

So, as I said, mulching, or rather the circumstances surrounding what I'm sure will be called the “great mulching incident” or “mulch-gate” must be considered.

Here's what happened.

March and April of last year we planted about 850 African Palm trees in our East field. Young palms ask for very little during their first few years of life. It's simple really. Just feed them a couple of times a year, keep a small patch around them free of competing plants, and protect them from pests. We did the best we could, given budget constraints, to meet their simple requests and, with the exception of one isolated area, seemed to be well on our way to a mutually beneficial working relationship. Then at the beginning of this year we decided to try something. Something that we reasoned would reduce our need for expensive fertilizers and also cut down on, or maybe ever eliminate, our use of herbicide. That something was mulching. We would meet 2 of the 3 simple palm tree requests in one, trendsetting, chemical dependency breaking moment.

There in lies the rub. 2 out of 3, as it turns out, is not enough. All three requests are equally important and non-negotiable.

Remember how I said that we were having success “with the exception of one isolated area”? Well our lack of success in that area was due to rats. Shortly after planting, rats killed about 90% of the palm trees in one small area of the farm. This area is isolated by a seasonal creek bed, and our efforts to keep the problem from spreading seemed to be effective. Rats kill young palm trees by gnawing through the base of the tree. Ask any wise Honduran palm farmer how to avoid problems with rats and he will tell you to keep the area around the base of the tree clean, free of all weeds and debris. Hey, but what could they know. After all I've read over 3 books about growing palm trees and these guys can't even spell Elaeis guineensis.

Waiter, might you recommend a good wine to go with my crow?

You see, by putting a big pile of freshly chopped mulch around each and every palm tree in the East field I was creating the perfect environment for a rat population explosion. Rats know a good thing when they see it and, in just a matter of 2 weeks, they managed to destroy something close to 30% of our beautiful, healthy palm toddlers. That's like more than 200 trees.

So let's recap. Brad has an idea. Brad rejects the advise of people who know what they are talking about, Brad implements said plan. Brad looks on sheepishly as Brad's boss tells him that the neighbor of the palm field can hardly sleep due to the loud chewing noises emanating from said field. Brad seeks advise from people who know what the are talking about (but can not spell Elaeis guineensis) and enacts emergency palm field clean up legislation. Hondurans wonder how much more of Brad's “help” they can take.

Worst part, this won't be the last time.

Best part, whatever good is produced from our palm fields, heck, anything good that results from my time hear in this place will be a clear, unmistakeable witness to God's grace, and He alone will get the credit.

Most funnest jobs

One of my most funnest jobs is working alongside kids in their school gardens. I love to see their excitement and pride as new plants emerge from the seedling trays. My cup overflows as we dig, rake, laugh and even sing in the hot sun while preparing the raised beds and laying out the drip irrigation lines. I marvel at these little farmers' abilities to grasp big biological concepts and solve problems with them. These gardens have so much to teach us. They teach us that attention to little things can make a big difference. They teach us how to be patient and hopeful. They teach us that God designed a wonderful system to sustain our basic needs, and that when we work with His design, and not try to outsmart it, He blesses us with delicious and healthy food. I see and feel Christ in these little ones. I feel His pleasure as we worship Him with our work.





















P.S. I need to say a special thanks to Life Church in Murrieta, CA for helping us get the Gardens going, and to Hope Seeds for generously supplying all the seed we need.

Soap Box

OK, so I've waited a long time to write this blog. Most of my friends disagree with me on this issue, and, by nature, I dislike confrontation. Not only that, but most of my friends are smarter than me and so when there is an issue of disagreement, odds are I'm mostly wrong. This, however, is just something that won't leave me alone, so I'm going to break one of my “nearly unbreakable” personal codes and speak. (By the way, that code is: It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.)

Here it is; I am opposed to Arizona's new “immigration” law.

I'm not opposed to the part of the law that makes being in the U.S. illegally a state crime. It's already a federal crime, so that part's nothing new. Now it's just double illegal. (As a matter of full disclosure, I find U.S. immigration law to be repugnant and contrary to the high ideals that underpin our freedomocracy.)

Secondly, I don't really care about the arguments that focus on state vs. federal obligations, jurisdictions, et al. To me that is all just political blah blah blah.

What I am opposed to, and what won't leave me alone is this idea. In Arizona, U.S.A., law enforcement officers may (or must as I read it) act on a “reasonable” suspicion that immigration law is being broken by requiring the suspicious person(s)to immediately prove their innocence. And that, tragically, certain people are “reasonably” suspicious of breaking the law solely by virtue of their skin, hair, and eye color.

Not too distant history should cause us to shutter at this idea. We should be nauseated to remember the place that laws and tactics like this one took mankind in it's recent past. I am reminded, as I read some supportive comments of nice Christian folk, that we are not better than the people who chose those paths, no less susceptible to propaganda that demonizes and dehumanizes. If anything we are weaker and more susceptible. If anything the media forces that shape our world view and opinions are more crafty and powerful.

Please, let's turn back. Let's not accept, or worse yet be cheerleaders for, the lowering of our standards of fairness, justice and righteousness, even for the sake of our security and comfort. As Christians, people who's citizenship is not in this world, let's act better. Let's find and promote solutions that bring glory to God and demonstrate Christ's example of selflessness, mercy and above all love.

Chicken Tractors

Whats that you say? Chicken tractors??!!

One of the best parts of my job is trying out various agricultural techniques to see how they will work here in our tropical lowland climate. My latest experiment involves a device called a chicken tractor. Chicken tractors are small, easily moved, bottomless chicken pens. Each day the pen and chickens are moved to a new area, allowing them to fertilize the ground, eat bugs and generally enjoy a healthier life due to the fresh grass under their feet. My hope in this experiment was that I could successfully raise fryers for sale to the local community. Fryers are a fast growing chicken, specifically bred to gain weight quickly. A fryer can reach market weight, about 5 pounds, in as little as 6-7 weeks. Coming into this experiment I was concerned about several things. Would the pens protect the birds from predators; possum, skunk, snakes, dogs, et al? Would I be able to adequately shield them from the heat? Would I be able to raise them free from antibiotics and hormones and still get the feed conversion ratios needed to be profitable? Well next week we will butcher our first batch of 30 birds. They are progressing towards the 4-5 pound goal very well, with many of the males well over 4 pounds already. I have had no problems with predators and, even on some pretty warm days, the birds did fine. We haven't had one sick bird and all of the birds have been pre-sold. All in all better than hoped for results. Best of all, there has been great interest among local folks in building there own chicken tractors. God willing, we will expand our flock over the next few months. I am hoping to be able to produce and sell 120 birds every 2 weeks. This project if successful will provide one half time job caring of the birds and 1 day of work twice monthly for 3 women butchering and cleaning.

All in all, everyone's a winner. (except the birds)

International Election Observer

OK, so my resume grew longer and even more varied this weekend as I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Honduran presidential elections. Lest you think I'm now some kind of big-shot, I should tell you that I was not chosen by some double secret international panel. I volunteered. Secondly, as far as I can tell, my qualifications to receive this high honor were that; one, I am not a Honduran and two, I do not have any outstanding arrest warrants.

That said, participating in this once in a lifetime opportunity was an extraordinarily uplifting and gratifying experience.

All told, I visited 10 different polling stations covering a 25 mile area on Honduras' rural North coast. Polls opened at 7 A.M. And closed between 4 and 5 P.M. (Poll officials were allowed to keep the poll open the extra hour if they saw a need). Observing an election is pretty straight forward. One simply observes and takes notes.

Here is a quick summary of the things I observed:

1. People smiling

2. People taking pride in their country

3. Young people helping their grandparents

4. People waiting in line

5. Young soldiers standing in the shade

6. An Army general casually talking with election workers and voters

7. Election workers taking great pains to count and document the vote correctly

8. Press people sitting around with nothing sensational to report

9. Honest, sincere, simple, profound democracy

Granted, these are things I hoped I would see. Some people reporting on the situation and election were hoping to see much different, much uglier things, and from their accounts, they were not disappointed. I can confidently say, however, that no reasonable or truthful person could have spent the day with me and reported anything other than an orderly, open, accessible and even uplifting day at the polls.

So where does all this leave Honduras?

From a external, diplomatic view, that very much depends on the worlds power brokers. They, not the people of Honduras, will decide how Honduras participates on the world stage.

Internally, even with Sundays impressive showing, I'm afraid little will change. An unjust power base still runs the country, as it did both before and after the “coup”. The poor and marginalized (who make up something close to 70% of the population) will have little or no voice in policy making and will receive little or no justice from the legal system. Corruption is likely to siphon much of the money and most of the goodwill from public projects and international aid.

It doesn't have to be this way. Maybe Hondurans will begin to believe that they can bring about real and lasting, positive change. Maybe Hondurans will reject corruption, not just at the highest levels, but in their personal dealings as well. Maybe Hondurans will demand a justice system that neither favors the rich or the poor. Maybe Hondurans will show the rest of the world what God's kingdom could look like. Maybe this should be the mission of the Church and all Christians in these coming days.

Simple Bucket Drip Irrigation System

One of the projects that I love best is working in the local schools with school gardening projects. Keeping the garden beds watered consistently can be a bit of a challenge. A neat kit that I learned about last year at ECHO's annual conference is this simple 5 gallon bucket drip irrigation system from Chapin Living Waters.


Bucket Kit
photo credit:
http://www.chapinlivingwaters.org/Bucket-kit-for-chapin.jpg

The kit comes with everything you need (less the bucket) including 100 feet of drip tape. This can be used as four 25 ft lines, two 50 ft lines or a single 100 ft line. I'm testing it using 2 lines on my 3 ft wide, 25 ft long raised bed.

This week I installed the kit onto a newly prepared garden bed in front of our house. I made a simple stand to hold the bucket 1 meter above the raised bed as prescribed in the easy to follow instructions, installed the lines and trip tape and in less than 1 hour had a nicely functioning garden watering system.

Now I just fill the bucket twice daily on non rainy days and the soil under my layer of Rice straw stays perfectly moist.

These kits will be a great addition to our school gardens, and I think the kids will have a great time setting them up and showing them to their parents. School starts back up after the first of the year and I'll be sure to report and share photos of our progress.


Prepped Raised Bed


Drip Bucket Veiw 1


Drip Bucket View 2


Special Connector To Attach Drip Line To
Bucket Fitting (Included in kit)


Agua!