On November 17 we had the third workshop about The influences of medicinal plants in Permaculture. The objective of this theme was to introduce the importance of medicinal plants within permaculture environment. For this workshop we had the support of the trainer Simon Leja Bixcul.
|Starting with the theoretical part!|
The workshop began with the theoretical part, knowing the roles of medicinal plants in the cycle of Permaculture. The theme also comes with a subtopic on the influences of the Moon in the Medicinal plants. The ancestors had a great respect for nature they believed that everything that exists has life. Some network members were unaware about these beliefs so that showed some interest. Also, the trainer gave an explanation about the soil conservation. This practice is very effective to prevent soil erosion. Permaculture refers to the sustainable use of natural resources.
|Chopping the soil and cleaning the plank!|
To increase the interest of the participants, the trainer gave a demonstration using the natural resources that were to reach into the medicinal garden of the foundation. It was a very participatory practice because all the network members helped in gathering resources for the preparation of a plank with medicinal plants. The first step was to define the layout of the plank and the type of soil conservation needs to be implemented. The board was very uneven with a slope so the trainer decided to design within the plank steps to prevent soil erosion and also for the barriers he used stones that were on the garden. The next step was to chop the soil. While some members were chopping the soil, the others were working on the selection of the seeds with the help of Robert who is in charge of the foundation medicinal garden. When the plank was ready, the trainer added some compost to retain moisture in the soil. All participants planted all seeds collected from the medicinal garden. Finally the plank was covered with leaves of trees and shrubs to retain water in the soil.
|Selecting the seeds to be used on the medicinal plank|
|Adding organic material to maintain moisteure in the soil!|
|Covering the plank with some leaves of trees and shrubs to retain water in the soil.|
The uses of medicinal plants are local resources that contribute to reduce the level of pollution by avoiding the use of the chemical. Participants were excited to be able to create their own plank using all the process of Permaculture.