Chatoyer Garden's ecological farm is located up Maloney, nestled high up in the lush, verdant mountains of Vermont. Named after Chief Joseph Chatoyer, the National hero of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; honored for his resistance against the colonial forces to protect his beloved homeland Hairouna. Luke is telling how "following in the legacy of J...

In the July Building weekend 2018 we started the sheep production at RVA for real and now we have developed a system of raising sheep while also growing fruit trees on the same area of nearly two hectares of land – a so-called silvopastoral system (forest + pasture). We are using Allan Savory's grazing method, the holistic land management system, w...

Interview from the movie in making  “The benefits of making organic gardens and leading a natural life”. Lucie: What happened with the food we are eating and why is organic food production necessary? Danail: The food on the shelves today is produced in unethical manners. Instead of the food we eat being our medicine, it is exactly the opposite...

Living at RVA, I became the master of the seeds, thanks to Tessa’s dedication to teach me all about them! And I’m so happy about it!!! Seeds are fantastic! These little dry insignificant beads can give life to your lettuce, tomatoes or even mango tree!!! Can you imagine? Because building gardens for people is nice, but not sufficient to keep them a...

In the past 2 months, I have started to work on several projects on the Island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Working in the organic garden is one of my favourite tasks. I never thought I would like working outside in the heat digging and getting my hands dirty so much! Let’s be honest, I had been running from it for a long time! Growing up o...

I have worked with Permaculture for a couple of years along side Luke Punett and one day I decided to do the actual Design course to become an instructor myself. I signed in on an online permaculture design course with Geoff Walton and the Australian Permaculture Institute. The course lasted 14 months and was based on the permaculture design manual...

Seeds are fantastic! These little dry insignificant beads can give life to your lettuce, tomatoes or even a huge mango tree!!! Can you imagine? As the master of seeds here at RVA, I have the privilege to work with them at least twice a week during what we call Common Action. What does it mean to work with seeds? Well, with my accomplices, we set se...

"An organic farmer is the best peacemaker today, because there is more violence, more death, more destruction, more wars, through a violent industrial agricultural system. And to shift away from that into an agriculture of peace is what organic farming is doing." - Vandana Shiva Dear Readers In this blog you will see a lot of beautiful pictures fro...

When I first heard about permaculture, I didn't really have a concept of what it was. I knew that it has something to do with the garden and producing your own food, I knew it was organic and based around sustainability, it was a little alternative and out there on the edge (Principle 11: Use Edges and Value the Marginal). In the last 10 days, I ha...

People start organic farming for a lot of reasons, as a hobby, a way to eat healthier, to reduce their grocery spending, to earn extra income, etc. There are also many people (like myself) who do it for philosophical reasons as part of a value system. That is not to say that I don’t enjoy my work in the garden or on the farm, it's tiring and in my ...

The term ' Permaculture ' is a portmanteau word for 'permanent agriculture' and 'permanent culture'. Permaculture is basically an agricultural system which focuses on the natural way of practicing agriculture, maintaining the ecological systems and not strictly adhering to the systems followed in modern agriculture. This system of permaculture gard...

  One of the easiest ways to ensure success in your garden, especially a vegetable garden, is to incorporate mulching into your garden preparations. This doesn’t have to break the bank, but it will provide you dividends in the abundance of vegetables you will harvest from your garden. Whether you live in the city, countryside, or suburbia, and...

Intercropping is defined simply as growing two or more crop types on one field. The practice of intercropping has actually been around since farming began. Modernization of farming equipment has changed our farming practices into what they are today, which is largely mono-cropping. Mono-cropping is planting only one crop on a field that was adapted...

The crop rotation is a thousand years old technique that has been proven to help the environment, improve the soil and so many other things. Crop Rotation This system is the practice of growing several dissimilar or different crop types (or no crop at all) in the same area and in sequential seasons. Historians believe that farmers in the Middle Eas...

The organic garden at RVA is based on Permaculture principles, which view the garden as an ecosystem, and applies a holistic systems approach to fertilization and pest control. Plants are positioned on a garden bed according to their respective plant families. In this way, by mixing plant families, the fertilizer requirements of the diverse plant f...

By Sebastian Lopez Our organic garden at Richmond Vale Academy consists of four green houses. One of them is dedicated exclusively to producing our own seeds. Being able to produce your own seeds is challenging, but is a very critical point to be sustainable. It is not only providing the perfect conditions for the plants, but also dealing with unex...

The organic gardening is very important to Richmond Vale Academy, not only because it provides food security to the school, but also because it is a way to show local people how to be climate compliant through implementing climate-smart agriculture techniques. This is why a useful organic pest control is really important for the garden in RVA. But,...

At Richmond Vale Academy (RVA) the students are an active part in the management of the vegetable garden. The garden in RVA provides daily fresh food for the kitchen. The Garden at RVA RVA believes that education is about practical experience. So, the knowledge that the students get by spending active time in the garden will allow them to...

Climate Compliance Student (Bio Char) By Jasper from Belgium The first months I spend time to study topics about rebuilding soils. True this process of learning I became very passionate about this topic so I decided that I really wanted to work around this topic as my Richmond Vale climate compliance action. My first action was to observe what was ...

Our Climate Change Activist program focuses on making St. Vincent a Climate Compliant Country. This entails working shoulder to shoulder with Vincentians to build sustainable food and energy production systems; as well as leading an overall sustainable lifestyle. Consequently, the March Team for the program is working on a BioChar project that seek...