April means spring, and Shipka has turned green in no time! It is as quiet and pleasant as the shire, just missing the hobbits.
Together with volunteers from Sheynovo we planted trees in the fields making sure they faced south. We added some dirt to help the trees stand up but were careful to keep the roots visible until fungus and salt were added. We then filled in the holes ensuring they were circular in shape to help hold rain water.
In the garden we created garden beds that we could plant fruit and vegetabl
es in. We had to be careful to chose the right place as different fruits and vegetables require different soils and amounts of sun to grow. We chose an area under some small wild trees to add shade. The following materials were used:
Wood: We used pieces of wood as bases for our garden beds as they will act as a sponge keeping humidity inside the soil.
White sand: We then added half a bucket of white sand which will provide extra minerals for the plants.
Soil : We added soil taken from the forest near Shipka. We did not use soil from under fir trees as it’s too acidic and only good for growing strawberries or blueberries.
Mulch: We then added mulch to keep humidity in the soil.
We took part in art exhibitions in both Kazanlak and Sofia with the aim of raising money to help support the Shipka community. Over 50 artists exhibited their work in Kazanlak and in Sofia pictures printed on glass from one hundred years ago in Shipka were shown.
We got lost in the art building, and Guillaume lost his legs…
For us volunteers, it was a great month for travelling, we saw many places and went to Bucharest in Romania. Frida’s family visited us for one week and Guillaume and Nathan went to the black peak in Vitosha mountain which has a bar at the top!
Cleaning the museum can be really fun. We made some interesting discoveries.
