Four Simple Steps to Cleaning your Seed Trays

Composting Permaculture, reducereuserecycle

August and September are the perfect months to start planting veggie seeds in Hong Kong! In order to prep before planting, the first thing to do is to clean your seedling trays. No need to buy new ones every year – it’s better to buy sturdy trays and reuse them!

First, let’s talk about why we need to clean our trays?

If we reuse dirty trays from the last seed planting, there may be some pathogens left behind from the last growing season, leaving new seedlings more susceptible to disease and dying off of seedlings. Making sure that your tools and equipment are clean is a simple way to prevent mold, fungus and other diseases from damaging your newly sown seeds.

Sanitizing is a relatively easy process and well worth it to help ensure that your seeds will thrive.

How do we do it?

There are many ways to sanitize your trays such as using boiling water or spraying them with a vinegar and water solution. Keep in mind that these methods may not completely sterilize your trays and tools.

One method that is safe and provides anti-bacterial and anti-fungal protection, plus kills mold and mildew, is to use hydrogen peroxide (H202) at 3% strength. It’s best to use food grade hydrogen peroxide since you’re growing food that you’ll be eating! You can find food grade H202 in bulk at Live Zero in Sai Ying Pun! :

So, here’s how to do it:

First step is to brush off any old organic matter from your trays with a cloth, brush or scrubber. Make sure to brush off all sides of the tray.
Grab a bucket, fill with with soapy water and wash your trays. If you don’t have a bucket, a large sink, tub or your shower will work just fine.
Next either soak your trays in the hydrogen peroxide solution or fill a spray bottle with hydrogen peroxide, spray your trays and let sit for 20 minutes.
Rinse trays and dry in the sun

Now that your trays are all cleaned and sterilized, it’s time to plant your seedlings! Stay tuned for the next post on how to make a simple seed starting mix!

NEW Compost Bin at Naivasha Primary Highway School!

Community, Education, Permaculture, Permaculture Education, Photos and Media, reducereuserecycle, Urban Rooftop composting, Kenya, Naivasha, Permaculture, rainwater collection, rainwater harvesting, regenerative, school gardens

A quick update on happenings at Naivasha Highway Primary School in Kenya. Covid has set us back a tiny bit but Elizabeth Wanjiru (Liz) and team have been back to work! The school now has a brand new, beautiful compost bin! The school staff is incredibly excited! Each phase of the project is helping to get the school closer to self-sustainability. The plan is for it to be a model for other schools.

Here’s a word from Liz: “Actually the idea (for the compost bin) came at a perfect time where people (the school) are very conscious of how to dispose and make use of what they produce! And make use of the end product by puting it into their school garden. By the way another good and beautiful news is the teachers took advantage of the vast school area and they are doing farming in there. They’re growing peas, potatoes, nightshades,and many more!”

Regarding the permaculture system, Liz says, “the school is also happy with the permaculture system since a lot now is coming to making sense – the principal of interconnection is clearly seen – though we don’t stop here, hopefully. We look forward to improving the system as we go on.”

“Just excited that despite covid, as a team we managed to make some progress with the school on the first water tank where its really helping the school since a lot of water is being used to adhere to covid measures and now we also have the educational compost bin! Still hopeful for more upgrades for this systems bearing in mind this is our permaculture model site for other schools and communities!”

Next up, we’ll continue raising funds for a second water tank. You can check out the fundraiser here

Our Urban Rooftop Food Forest! Project Update

Education, Permaculture, Permaculture Education, Urban Rooftop Grow your own food, Hong Kong, Permaculture, Rooftop food forest, urban food forest

Waste to Best Visit, Naivasha, Kenya August 2018

Community, Education, Permaculture, Permaculture Education, reducereuserecycle changemakers, communitygarden, Compost, Kenya, Naivasha, Permaculture, recyclingcenter, reducereuserecycle, wastemanagement

Once in a while an opportunity comes along to meet people who are truly an inspiration to their community and the world. This post is about James Kagwe and Elizabeth Wanjiru (Liz Shish).

I first met James and Liz earlier this year at a permaculture course held in Kenya. At that time we discussed their vision for sustainability and how permaculture has helped change their community. I was fortunate to join my friends Julie and Mark in Kenya last month and see what James and Liz were working on in their village of Naivasha. What they have accomplished is MIND BLOWING!

A few years ago, James and Liz recognized there was a huge need for waste management in Naivasha. Some areas in Kenya do not have waste collection systems in place. The locals’ habit is to throw garbage on the ground because there are no trash bins. Trash is then piled all together with no system of sorting. Garbage is literally lying all over, with valuable materials, such as vegetable scraps, adding to the problem (rather than being exploited for other uses). Animals can be seen grazing on the garbage, including plastics and other materials not suitable as a food source, while at the same time, kids are using scraps of waste as toys. Naivasha was suffering, but is not unique.

Liz and James made the bold decision to do something about these unsanitary conditions. We met up with them for a tour to show us the INCREDIBLE work they have accomplished at the 4 sites they manage. These include:
• Community Garden
• Waste to Best Recycling and Compost Center
• Waste Separation Program in the Estates
• Fully working Farm

In just 5 years, they have educated the neighbors on waste separation, begun a waste management program and built a sorting site where the waste is separated for recycling or composting. Perhaps, the most interesting aspect is that the waste is transported by burro!

The community garden was built in a space that was completely barren, with nothing but dead soil. It is now thriving, and full of life because of their amazing composting efforts (as well as their green thumbs). The garden has not only brought the community together, but also offer a place to hold garden classes to the wider community. Liz and James teach all the classes and also provide spaces for students to grow food.

Finally, we visited their farm. It is a space they use as a demonstration site to showcase different techniques where local farmers can get tips on how to grow food naturally, without chemicals and pesticides. The farmers are currently watering the vegetables and fruit trees with rainwater collected in a series of pits, each one flowing into the next, filtered naturally through the soil.

This visit was a really special treat for me as I am always encouraging people to compost and get inspired by people who are working every single day to be change makers in their communities. James and Liz have most definitely made a difference in Naivasha for both the environment as well as for its people.

Their work is an excellent example of how a small group of people can massively change a whole community. Grateful to them for doing what they do.

#changemakers #permaculture #communitygarden #recyclingcenter #compost #wastemanagement #reducereuserecycle