While I was preventing further erosion with bamboo planting, the future Cambodian High Jumping Team was busy practicing and honing their skills.
Pov & The Hoe 👩🌾
Before Olympic training had begun, the wife was busy with her pet project, revamping the garden somewhat intentionally created by the previous owner. We've discovered a lot of plants and trees that were simply overcrowded with weeds, and a with a little hoe work the soil becomes more aerated and also gives these plants a chance to bounce back.
Olympians Plotting 🤝
I get very little time away from Hive these days, but with my HP at 96% and the rains on hold, I saw a chance to do some bamboo planting on the areas of collapsed land. While I headed down to with my shovel, gloves, and plants, the 2032 Cambodian Olympic Team discussed plans for training on this nearly rain-free day.
A Drop In The Ocean 💧
These pictures don't do justice to the steepness of the hillside, and also the distance to river level, but trust me, there are now only a few ways to descend to the river, and they are not exactly safe. After stumbling my way down the cliff that was once a hillside, I couldn't help but notice the irony that the only place without roots is the part of the hill that didn't collapse or slide, seemingly all held back by a simple board and some bamboo stakes.
To the left and right of my lazy mini retaining wall however, the hillside full of bamboo and grasses suffered from major collapses. It's very hard to see, but I planted two bamboo clumps below the retaining wall, or perhaps it's more appropriate to call it a retaining board. Just as I was about to lay the phone down, my wife appeared at the top of the hill with some trees to plant as well. Her appearance in the photo gives scale to the hillside and distance to the river below.
I took 5 of the 10 bamboo plants we purchased with me down to the riverside, and after giving them homes and doing my best to reinforce them with rocks and clay, I stepped back and realized the hillside looks exactly the same as before, the 5 little stalks of bamboo barely visible. Well, if they are lost to another slide, it's only a few bucks and a lesson learned. The main thing now is to stop rain from directly hitting the soil, so we need a canopy and mulch on the surface of our backfilled land that is mostly still without greenery.
The bamboo we purchased online is not native to the forest here, but it grows in clumps and does not run like other species, so it will be easier to control. Also, it's a species primarily grown for its shoots, so it will be a food source as well as a first step in erosion prevention.
Olympic Training Has Begun 🏅
Most of you are probably familiar with jump-rope, but here in Cambodian that is not a popular sport. Instead a rubber band chain is more common, which is stretched and pulled high, then prospective Olympians try to jump over the rubber band, making sure to land their feet on the other side. The strategy is to get one leg over with a jump, then use that leg to push the rubber band down and get your whole body to the other side without making contact on the side you've jumped from.
Now that I've explained this sport, I realize my explanation makes no sense, so I should probably stick to Hive and bamboo planting instead of being a sports commentator.
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Return from 🎽 Cambodian Olympic High Jumping & Bamboo Planting 🎍 to Justin Parke's Web3 Blog
