John's Next Step

OK, mushrooms. Love them or hate them. I’m in the former group but I have family, on the “in-law” side, that are solidly in the “hate them” group. I am interested in seeing if mushroom can be raised on these tropical islands for several reasons. Actually, I saw that mushroom could be raised on Dominica so now it’s just figuring out if they can adjust to my microclimate. Why my interest? First, mushrooms are a good source of protein and other nutrients. I would like them in my diet and I would like to encourage others to include them as well. (But I don’t want to buy imported ones from China.) Second, mushrooms, given other favorable environmental factors, can be grown on “waste products” - such as cardboard boxes, wood chips, coffee grounds, cocoa pods, banana stems/leaves, coconut waste, sugarcane bagasse, and other organic material available on the islands and other developing countries. Third, as mushrooms can be dried for use later they could be more easily exported or ...

Prayers with the new fire Happy Easter for those who celebrate the holiday. All the best to others who celebrate Passover or other occasions. Spring is a time of new life in the northern hemisphere.  I arrived back in Grenada on Saturday after a week in Dominica. I attended the Easter Vigil, which Catholics recognize as a bit of a ceremony. Mass and other things on Sunday, so this post comes in on Monday, a holiday on the island. Candle in the darkness The post this week will be short because I’m still processing everything I heard and saw, so I've added pictures. This was my first chance, between travel restrictions, prior commitments, and school that I was allowed to visit my community of Tete Morne in Dominica since Maria. Overlook from Tete Morne to Sourfriere  Some time after Maria, still a better view of the Sulfur Springs I wanted to return for a variety of reasons. I was able to tell the principal, teachers, and students that I think they ...

Last week was about preventing soil from washing away and this week is about building up the soil. We have damaged our land, air and oceans but we can also improve them, particularly the land for growing crops. Helping nature build up the soil is something everyone can do. Cleopatra Cleopatra declared earthworms sacred because of their contribution to soil fertility. I agree with the ancient Egyptians. The first thing I do in a new garden is to turn over a spade fork of ground and look for those vital creatures.  I found one in my 3 by 7 foot section on Grenada. Still, it was more than my Ghana garden of laterite soil or the new home in Missouri. Laterite soil for my garden (zia pits shown) had almost no organic matter Years ago I moved into a new house in Missouri. The developer had stripped away the topsoil and the A layer of subsoil leaving second layer clay subsoil for the lawn. This was great for the kids who could just go out and pull some clay to make li...

What to do? Peace Corps volunteers don’t go different country, a different culture, and frequently a different climate (tropical) to solve problems for people. We also don’t ride white horses, but that is likely some safety and security issue. We bring our our training, knowledge, and experience to smart people so they can develop their own solutions. These people have likely already faced and solved more problems than we can ever know. After a lot of watching and listening we ask, “have you ever tried this” and “did you know about such and such”. We say “some people have found this other way also works”, rather than “do it my way”. We can bring some additional resources, but our budget has never been one that we throw money at a problem. We work best when the people make their own decisions, do the work, implement solutions and sustainable change to make their lives and our world better. With this in mind, I turn to describing situations and methods that might be applied...