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| Stopping for a pose after everything was wrapped up! |
On Saturday, May 18th Khom Loy staff travelled to Holy Infant Orphanage, a Catholic-run boarding house and school in Mae Sot, Thailand. Together with several staff members and students we ran an indigenous microorganism (IMO) workshop that gave students the experience and skills to make cheap, effective and safe fertilizers for their new garden.
IMOs all involve the process of microbial fermentation using a number of agents, including sugar, salt and rice-rinsing water. They are made with materials that are usually cheap and easy to find in the local environment, which dramatically reduces the costs of gardening when compared to using chemical fertilizers.
When made successfully, these IMOs provide useful things like lactic acid bacteria, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and benefical spores to soil, so that vegetables can grow strong and provide great results. The overall philosophy behind using IMOs is that one should manage the soil first and foremost, not manage the plants themselves.
Check out our photo album with many pictures from the training, or see a few examples below!
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| Working on the ingredients for fermented plant juice (FPJ) and fermented fruit juice (FFJ) |
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| Nothing says Christmas like organic fertilizer with tinsel used as rope! |
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| A Dominican sister next to Holy Infant's newest patch of garden! |
