DAY 4: FROM DOMINIC TOMMASI:

Day 4 has come to a close. Today we were visited by Steven Silvestrini, a student at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. Steven is a botanist who works for a cooperative at his school identifying the plants of the Caribbean and comparing the flora to what was present in the 1970’s with a goal of understanding how the flora has changed over 50 years. He visited us to explore the subtropical rainforest in which the farm is located and teach our group how to identify the plants. Steven taught basic plant anatomy, how to identify local and foreign plants and every volunteer got to cut and preserve their own unique plant using a press. While we weren’t identifying plants groups continued working in clearing the forest for seeding beds and completing th farms toilet. After dinner, we watched the documentary The True Cost which focuses on the fast fashion industry affects global climate change. Tomorrow we will head to local farmer person’s farm/home to help him plant bananas and plantains.