Rainwater Capture Tank for a Sustainable Organic Orchard

This project it is intended to be an example of environmental sustainability and an example of fun at work in close contact with nature.

Dear Friends,

The aim of this project is to contribute to a more sustainable world. We seek support to plant an organic orchard, productive without the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and only using a small amount of water. Clearing out weeds and watering without electricity consumption will be a challenge for such a large orchard. To help in this last aspect we intend to repair and enlarge an old water tank to collect and use rainwater. The terrain is uneven and the water tank is positioned at the top of a hill, so gravity can carry the water down to the trees below without the need for electricity.

Our choice of trees, plum and orange in particular, also helps us produce fruit without the use of pesticides. Plum trees are also resistant to drought.

The farm where this project will be implemented is located in Arganil (Portugal), and has an area of 2500 square meters. The produce will be given or sold, ideally, directly to small consumers and sellers.

This project is a beneficiary of the International Literary Contest “Nature 2016” because this contest aims to promote the writing of nature-themed poetry and prose and also if possible, to help fund environmentally friendly practices.

Video 1: https://youtu.be/s7MoygoVpWg

Video 2 in Portuguese, English and Japanese: https://youtu.be/umxQwtaXwo4

Edweine Loureiro helped on the translation into Japanese.

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rui.carvalho.52012

About the author

This project is part of the International Literary Contest “Nature 2016”, organized by Rui M. Publishing,

http://talesforlove.blogs.sapo.pt/ (in English)

http://contosdasestrelas.blogs.sapo.pt/ (in Portuguese)

in partnership with:

A) Synchronized Chaos (California USA)
http://synchchaos.com/

B) Book Park and Arts & Literature (España/Spain/Espanha)
http://www.thebookpark.com

C) Jornal Bom Dia (Luxemburg)

http://bomdia.eu/concurso-literario-dedicado-as-comunidades-e-a-mikkel-solnado/

The promoter, Rui Carvalho, has training in environmental economics and has been a keen observer of the evolution of societal attitudes towards environmental preservation. He's also a person who regularly plants trees and has the practical and leadership knowledge needed to implement this project if we raise the necessary resources.

Budget and due dates

With this initiative we seek to raise:

300 Euros to buy and plant 50 fruit trees;

1500 Euros for the repair and expansion of the water tank;

200 Euros to put in feeding sites for wildlife and improve the apiary, where we raise bees, who are essential for pollination and subsequent fruit production.

The remaining amount requested in the project is intended to cover the costs of this initiative, including: i) the cost of producing t-shirts’ ii) the cost of sending the T-shirts; iii) the cost of spreading the word/advertisements; iv) the cost of production of the digital and audiovisual rewards for donors to this project.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
PPL takes 5% of the donations as their fee, but only if we reach the target value. If not, we don’t have any cost and the money raised is given back to the donors. VAT at 23 % is added to this value of 5 %. For example, for our project: for a target value of 3500 EUR the commission is 175 EUR + IVA, this means the project will require a total of 215,25 EUR.

Images