Avocado Season 2008 and new expansion to Sweet Peppers

The Domino Servite School sports field has now got a fully functional giant hothouse covering about one hectare of hydroponically grown sweet peppers. (a new sports field (almost twice the size of this one has been beautifully constructed and used for the first sports day on 9 August 2008.)

This single hothouse has 22,300 plants. Notice the pipes on the wood in the photo on the bottom right. These pipes bring hot water to keep the plants warm enough during winter. A new coal heating system, (see two photos below) pumps heats up the water and recycles it through the hothouse which is about 300 metres away. There are 5 other hothouses, some glass and some plastic, all connected to a central computer which checks the nutrition, temperature, CO2, UV light and a host of other measurements, and makes corrections remotely to each hothouse.

The avocado reaping season started in June and will last till about mid-September. Each year the harvest increases as the younger trees begin to bear. Some avocados are exported and others are sent to markets across the country.

About 10 tons of avocados are processed per day when the reaping and packaging is in full swing. There are a variety of avocado trees, including: Fuerte, Edranol, Ryan and Hass and Pinkerton.

These 2 large projects, Avodados and Sweet Peppers, accomplish a number of objectives. It is a source of income for the mission (since we do no fund raising and feed many thousands of people, all free of charge); it is a source of food because the rejects (which are still fine quality but not aesthetically pleasing to the eye for the market, because of a minor blemish or being oversized or undersized) can be used for meals; it provides employment for many people.