Branching!  Get it? We’re excited to report that Trees That Feed Foundation now has excellent partners in Africa, folks we know and trust and can work with effectively and efficiently.  So we’re extending our reach.  Last week, working with our suppliers in Germany, we shipped 750 breadfruit trees by air to Nairobi, Kenya. They were successfully cleared through customs and quarantine, and are being held now in a shade house.  There they will strengthen and grow for a few weeks, and later be moved out to farms.  They are destined for suitable locations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and perhaps points beyond.

The photo shows young breadfruit seedlings that have been replanted into grow bags, where they will sit for a few weeks.

This photo shows local ladies in Kenya, delighted to be receiving tree saplings.

Joe Mataro and his team from Grace Project worked hard to get this accomplished, from import permits to replanting in the right size grow bags.  Thanks, Joe, for all the hard work involved!

There’s a lot to read about!   Follow this link to learn more about our recent activities, including building the market chain for fruit.  We are helping to propagate and plant trees, care for them including pruning, reaping and selling the fruit, and producing retail post-harvest products!  You’ll also read about our coloring books, recipes, and financial results.

Thanks go out to so many of you who have provided the support that makes our work possible.

Thanks also go to Greg Eckel, who created this very professional document for us.

Trees That Feed Foundation is extremely excited to report that 500 mango scions (branch cuttings, ready to be grafted) of ten exotic mango varieties, have just been delivered to Barbados.  Here is the full email report from Barney Gibbs, our Country Representative in Barbados (we could not have said it better ourselves!):

Hi Mike and Mary,

I am happy to report that the transportation and grafting of the 500 (50 x 10 varieties) mango scions went very well, thanks to a high level of professionalism on the part of Noris and Ken in Miami, the local Quarantine Officers and Mr Thompson and Mr Atherley at Haggatts Agricultural Station.

Please see below the sequence of photos that serves as an update on the progress so far.

Arrival at Grantley Adams Airport after an early morning handover of the fresh scions, transported in an insulated bag:

The Government Agricultural Station at Haggatts has been growing 500 rootstock for the the last year in anticipation of this importation:

Mr Bernard Thompson had a team of 5 experienced grafting staff assembled from early yesterday morning to minimize the cut time for the scions:

He had recently set up a new tag printing system so that the scions would be properly identified and dated.  The system was then ‘christened’ on the grafts:

The root-stock appeared healthy and was actively growing so we are hoping for a good result:

By the close of business yesterday, the Ministry staff had grafted 400 container grown root-stock, and 54 field-planted root-stock:

The remaining 44 scions were also field-grafted early this morning, and are protected from wind and livestock by chicken wire/geofabric tree-guards:

Thanks again to Trees That Feed for their kind support of this undertaking.  I will report on the progress after a month or so.  Please let me know if you have any questions,

Best regards,

Barney Gibbs

The Future Trees

These mango trees will propagate into thousands more trees and millions more fruit, to benefit the health and nutrition of Bajans for years to come.  Our sincere thanks to Barney Gibbs, Ken Banks and the entire team who made all this possible.

Looking to spice up your dishes? Do so with Coco Browns Jamaican Sauces and simultaneously help provide a meal for a child in need!

Through Trees That Feed Foundation’s partnership with Rotary, Michael Movery of the Rotary Club of Ocho Rios East learned about how poverty affects children across Jamaica and how food-bearing trees and breadfruit can make a difference. He decided to partner up with TTFF through his sauce company, Coco Browns Sauces. With every bottle sold, Coco Browns donates a percentage of profits to TTFF’s school-feeding program in Jamaica.

Each sauce bottle reads: “Coco Browns Sauces believes in ‘Each One Helps One.’  Through our partnership with Trees That Feed Foundation and the Rotary Club of Ocho Rios East, a portion of our profits will be donated each time you purchase Coco Brown’s Sauces. Each donation helps to provide a child in a sponsored school with a hot breakfast meal of breadfruit porridge each morning.”

To purchase Coco Browns Sauces, visit www.cocobrownsauces.com . In Jamaica, you can purchase sauces at Things Jamaican in Kingston, Reggae Mart at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, L&M supermarket in Runaway Bay, and General Food Supermarket in Ocho Rios.

Thank you to Michael Movery, Rotary and Coco Browns!