Eco Warriors

By: Melissa Mc Alpine

Eco Warriors is the initiative of Michael Argall who is passionate about imparting valuable information about the environment onto the next generation of children so that they too may develop a love for our environment by learning how to care for it and by learning life skills. The base camp for Eco Warriors is Blue Gum Country Estate, where the kids have full use of the estate, including the various hiking trails, a play area, a swimming pool, and a tennis court. Blue Gum have even allocated a certain area of the kitchen’s garden to the Eco Warrior kids so they can learn how to create healthy organic soil and grow their own fruit and vegetables. Eduden is the first school to join this initiative and here’s what the Eco Warriors have been up to the last few weeks…

Week 1: Creating a worm farm and learning about compost

The Eco Warriors learned all about earthworms and how to make a healthy ecosystem worm farm. The Eco Warriors sorted through two sacks of compostable and non-compostable household items. They learned how to reuse other plastic items such as yoghurt pots, plastic bottles and milk cartons - which can be used as plant pots to grow seeds, thereby reducing two sacks of household waste down to two carrier bags. The Eco Warriors also learned what kitchen scraps the worms can and cannot consume.

Week 2: Going for a hike, learning about the Klein River and meeting the piglets

The Eco Warriors started off by inspecting the worm farm they created last week. The kitchen staff of Blue Gum Country Estate have been feeding the worms daily with fresh kitchen scraps that otherwise would have made it into the general waste bin. The Eco Warriors were then taken on a mini hike by Captain Mike to collect acorns for the piglets. Along the way, Captain Mike explained that the Klein River is the shortest river in South Africa. Then it was off to meet the seven piglets and to feed them the acorns that had been collected earlier. Captain Mike explained the role that the piglets have in gardening, by turning the soil over with their delicate snouts and clearing out roughage to make space for vegetables and fruit to be grown. Lastly, the children fed the chickens and some of them were lucky enough to have chicken cuddles.

Week 3: Gardening and repairing of fences

In week 3, the Eco Warriors made a head start on their new kitchen garden at Blue Gum Country Estate. The old fencing was taken down using hammers, pliers and screw drivers and wobbly posts were identified and removed. A giant pile of weeds was enthusiastically pulled out and many insects were found and identified. Although such an exercise may seem boring for some, it’s critical that the ground be properly worked before new, healthy soil can be introduced. The Eco Warriors Kitchen Garden is a long-term project and one that Blue Gum Country Estate is incredibly excited about!

Week 4 & Onwards

Over the coming weeks the students will learn about insects, snakes, common bird species, fynbos, invasive species, local history, the importance of recycling and upcycling, tree planting, animal husbandry, Stanford’s Leiwater system, planting and nurturing seeds and seedlings, creating healthy organic soil, basic first aid, and outdoor skills and camping.

Michael “Captain Mike” Argall is a qualified Safari Guide with over 22 years’ experience of guiding and anti-poaching in dangerous game areas. Michael started his guiding career teaching large groups of school children camping and outdoor skills. In March 2022, Michael relocated to Stanford, Western Cape, with his wife, Amanda, young daughter, five dogs, two cats and 30 Easter Egger chickens from Botswana’s border. Michael quickly found guiding work with Hermanus Camino and in February 2023 was employed as an Estate Manager for Blue Gum Country Estate, where Eco Warriors is based.