As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the soil at Pulang Lupa is contaminated with mercury. Mercury can get taken up by a plant’s roots and can enter a person eating that plant. The residents at Pulang Lupa are aware of this contamination but continue to plant small backyard gardens because they simply can’t afford to buy all their food from the market. We’ve been trying to think of ways to help change the current soil and food situation in this community and recently a friend and local organic farmer, Simon Gill got in touch with me about something called “Vertical Farming”, a useful technollogy that was developed by Philippe Girardeau and the local community on Boayan Island, where the soil is saline. He told me that he could train me on how to make these vertical farms if I was interested. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to find a partial solution to the mercury problem at Pulang Lupa.

I arrived at Simon’s farm, aptly named “Bountiful Harvest” and was soon put to work.  First, we cut a corrugated plastic sheet in half and used a pop-rivet to join the two halves together. We laid the sheeting flat on the ground and set about cutting holes where the plants would later be placed. Simon has a special drill attachment that makes perfect holes in seconds. We cut as many holes into the plastic sheeting as we could. Once this was complete, we stood the sheet upright and riveted the two edges together, making a tower that resembled a log of Swiss cheese.

We then dug a round hole in the ground to place the bottom of the tower in. Once we had the base secured in the ground we started to fill the tower with prepared soil – a mix of sand, vermicast, rice hull charcoal and clay soil.

When we had filled the tower half way with the soil, we put in the irrigation pipe, which we had drilled with many little holes. We filled the water pipe with gravel to slow down any water intake so that the soil in the tower won’t be washed out when the tube is filled with water. We then filled the rest of the tower with soil.

The work was not over yet, as we had to cut out peg-holders from another sheet of plastic to keep the soil from falling out when the farm is watered. We placed these in the holes and stood back to appreciate the sight. The surface area that the vertical farm provides is equal to almost two square meters. The towers are perfect for leafy greens that are susceptible to contaminants in the soil.

When we get to the stage of building these farms for residents at Pulang Lupa, we will provide them the prepared soil mixture we used so they will be able to avoid any mercury in their food. An added bonus for residents is that the landfill composts organic waste and gives the compost away for free, so residents will be able to nurture their vertical farms without any added financial burdens. In addition to dodging the contaminated soil problem, these vertical farms are also very appropriate for our community because they are portable. The residents at Pulang Lupa are all squatters and have been given permission to live on the land until the government decides to use it for something else. If that day comes, the residents will be able to transport their vertical farms to wherever they settle next. We really feel that these vertical farms are ideal for Pulang Lupa.

We will start by making a demonstration farm that we will leave in Pulang Lupa so that residents will be able see the results for themselves. We will build the vertical farms with residents that are interested in learning how to make them. Each vertical farm costs roughly $50, including the soil and seeds. If you are interested in supporting our vertical farming project, donate here. With your help we can provide every household in Pulang Lupa with nutritious and uncontaminated food.

For more photos, check out the Facebook fan page album.