Saturday, February 8, 2025, was another opportunity for first and second-year preparatory students to benefit from another field trip to Al-Firdaws Farm in Talmine. It began with a routine inspection tour of the various plants and crops grown by the students and already present in the field.
This visit coincided with the arrival of lemon and orange trees from the Draâ Ben Khedda region in the Tizi Ouzou province, accompanied by Mr. Arzaki Moussa, a retired senior agricultural technician, who led the planting campaign with the students, explaining the techniques of grafting and pruning citrus trees.
The trip was an opportunity to conduct an experimental cultivation of a plant called Endive, a vegetable of European origin that is approved for consumption. It is a root vegetable grown similarly to carrots and sugar beets, rich in minerals and vitamins.
Mrs. Belhaj Yasmine, the owner of the farm, supervised an experimental cultivation of this plant inside an opaque plastic bucket containing three simple elements: a layer of ash at the bottom to maintain purity, a layer of humus for nutrition, and a top layer of sand to facilitate the positioning and planting of endive seedlings.
It is watered with a sufficient amount of water to last 15 days after the bucket is tightly sealed, preventing any opening during this period to avoid sunlight exposure. However, it can be opened in some necessary cases but only in complete darkness.
