The Koroinen Ecological Cultivation interview
Ecological Farming Lecturer at Turun Ammatikorkeakoulu David Stokes interviews Omar Badawieh and Annika Aalto who are both students working at the cultivation project on the 13.06.11: This is the first of three summer interviews by David Stokes that aims to give an insight into the “ups and downs of life down on the farm” at Koroinen and how those involved learn the art of Ecological Cultivation.
On a cool wet Monday morning in mid June after the first heat wave of the summer, Annika Aalto and Omar Badawieh sit and relax having their mid morning coffee break and shelter from the welcome heavy down pours of rain sweeping across Koroinen in the historic centre of Turku. They have both volunteered to work part of their summer at the Turun Ammattikorkeakoulu Ecological Cultivation project based at Koroinen.
Omar has been involved with the practical side of the project from the start, on the second of May. Annika on the other has taken over from her fellow student Saara only on the first day of June. So Annika has nearly completed her first two weeks at Koroinen and is still like Omar, getting to grips with the changeable weather and the many activities that the successful growing of annual vegetables requires!
DS: David Stokes
AA: Annika Aalto
OB: Omar Badawieh
DS: Annika: What did you hope to learn from working outside in the summer?
AA: I wanted to learn about growing organic food and something useful too. It seemed better than working in a supermarket? It was also less pain and more enjoyable than some of the other course this year such as chemistry.
OB: I needed a summer job. Also time for a holiday afterwards, exactly the kind of job I hope to do! I hope to work for an NGO in a development project in the Global South where I can use my recently gained knowledge to the best effect. There fore this Ecological Cultivation course would teach me a lot about soil management, growing and practical application which I haven’t done before.
DS: Annika what brought you on to this course - Ecological Cultivation?
AA: I am interested in social problems, and sustainable food production. I think that the only option is organic farming. In the long period of time all non-organic methods of farming cause soil problems such as erosion, lack of soil moisture and pollution by nitrogenous fertilizers and pesticides. I hope that by doing this course I can develop an understanding of the big issues about world food shortages and the social problems this causes, such as about the lack of food and how it causes price rises, food riots, and world insecurity; Also pollution and soil problems. I also am dreaming that one day I will have a small field of my own to cultivate, and so this course will be a step to fulfilling that dream.
DS: Omar what do you want to get out of this personally?
OB: I want to know how I can grow food. I have heard about an organic project in Helsinki that has rented a farm where they can grow food that feeds those involved for the whole year. Each person pays 300 to 500 euros, as well as works two days a month in exchange for a share of all the food produced. This is what I want to set up here in Turku!
DS: What have you both learnt already in the short time you have worked here at Koroinen?
AA: Plants have a tough time! Because Cold kills, heat kills, too many weeds kill but water helps! I have made a salad bed with both lehtisaladii and riccola and they are growing well. Also the maize I sowed is growing and the kesäkupitsä (corgettes) are really growing big in their individual compost heaps. So it feels wonderful to have made all these plants grow. I also have learnt that I don’t like using the wheel-barrow when it is as hot as 35 degrees as it has been last week!
OB: I have also learnt that it feels good to see results from my work. I now realize how hard it is to grow the food that is in the supermarket, and it makes be value what I buy much more, because it is so hard to grow it well! Also when the sun comes out it really is amazing how fast the plants grow!
AA: The fact that plants can grow in this terrible clay soil, that is so hard and like concrete makes me respect the force of nature much more! But what else I have learnt is the difference between good fertile soil and poor soil without much organic matter.
DS: How well do you think the theory and the practice compliment each other?
OB: At the moment not so much because we have not made a compost heap but we are doing it this week. However we did learn about how soil works. The importance of air and organic matter for healthy plant growth and how it should look like as it is in the lava (raised bed) and how it poor it looks in the peltolohko (blocks).
AA: Yes I now really know the way soil structure should be since I have been handling it. In class the theory was clear, but now the practice has made it much clearer in how it affects plant growth. This year has been really frustrating because much of the information we were taught I had known before, although it re-enforced my knowledge, so I was at times a bit bored, but this course was the first time we did something really new and relevant about Sustainable Development. At the end of the first theory lecture we all felt happy and full of positive energy about ecological farming and looked forward to the start of the practical classes here at Koroinen.
DS: What can you do now that you could not do before?
AA: Well I am stronger and I sleep better. I get hungrier and it is so good to feel physically tired. I would say my body works better than before! I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to become fitter!
OB: I have learnt all the things you have to do before you can sow seeds so they can grow. Such as rotovating, clearing off the stones, adding compost and lime and chicken pellets for fertilizer. Then how to keep them all alive by regularly watering every day, even at weekends!
DS: Thank you both Omar and Annika for the interesting interview about the Ecological Farming course!
