I`ve been here for four weeks. Strange. It doesn`t feel like four weeks. It feels like more. And it feels like less. Strange. And in two days, I`ll be gone. Off to start my traveling adventure throughout Argentina. Even though I spent a few days in Cordoba before starting my life in Albardon, basically this farm and this town is all I know of this grand country. That`s what happens when you stay so long in one place...you really get to know it. I am grateful for the opportunity to live and work here, in this farm, alongside these people. I`m so lucky. I learned a lot about life, family, culture, food, and people. And as to be expected from all WWOOFing experiences, I learned a lot about farming.
-Know your soil. The soil here is very acidic, and it also has the tendency to clump up like clay. So when transplanting and tilling the soil, we have to add sand to neutralize the ph level and to prevent clumping. If we didn`t add sand, everything would dry out and the roots would never grow. If we didn`t add compost, the ground would never have enough nutrients to produce our crops. Basically, your efforts should go towards helping the ground, and not towards helping the plant itself. This will produce the best results.
-Mixed crops. Pay attention to roots, to nutrients, and to insects. Plant crops such that they aren`t fighting over the same space or over the same nutrients.
-Baby your flowers before you set them free. Our farm is peppered with flowers. Lucia loves them. But before we plant them in the ground, we individually plant them in small cups in the greenhouse. Then, after watering them twice a day and caring for each individually, we can transplant the healthy ones to the ground outside to continue growing.
-Compost. In this desert environment, this farm has some of the best soil I have ever seen. They have absolutely mastered the art of composting. Compost is a necessity. It has all the nutrients you need and it traps in the moisture. Anything and everything can be composted. Food to the worm farm, weeds and grass to the other compost. Give them time, keep your compost piles separated, and keep tilling them. Once the older ones are ready, you now have beautiful, nutritional compost. Life continues.
-Wind kills. We have a weather pattern here called the Zonda. Every 5 or 6 days, we get very violent winds that cause the trees to bend to the ground and the dry dust to fly through the air. Build trees to act as wind barriers and support all of your baby flowers and young saplings with posts, or you`ll lose everything
-Worm farms. Worms don`t like meat or lemons. In large quantities, the acidic nature of these foods can hurt their skin. So if you are going to compost these foods, do so in small qualities or spread it out over your worm farm. Also, although our worm farm is rather big, you really don`t need that much space. I have heard of indoor worm farms that you can keep in your kitchen. A worthy investment, if you have a small garden.
-Plant crops in such a way that they will take care of themselves. If you plant the right ones in the right places, they don`t require much maintenance. In the four weeks I have been here, we have done minimal work in our organic garden. We planted the young plants in my first week, we water them occasionally, and already they are huge.
-You don`t need a tractor to have a successful farm. But you do need a lot of hands.
-Not all bugs are bad bugs. Take ants, for example. The black ones may not bite humans, but they will eat any crop they find. On the other hand, the red ones are very painful, but they won`t eat the plants and their extensive tunnel system brings air and water to the soil.
-Cement is awful. There are alternatives. Cement is bad for the environment. The industries that make it use a lot of energy to create this mixture, and once it is made it is very corrosive and absorbs water and nutrients from the surrounding area. For the building we are making here, we used natural products. Our `barro`--a mixture of 3 parts sand, 1 part clay, 1 part horse manure, some water and some hay, and little bit of limestone (sidenote:also corrosive)--has created a sturdy, functioning building that will withstand the test of time just like a cement building. It takes more time, and it isn`t as glamorous. But it works, and by the end of it you know that your hands created this.
-Take adventage of what you have. Apricots are not are main crop, by any stretch of the imagination. But while we wait for the other crops to grow, we have an endless supply of falling apricots. If you wait a day, you`ll lose them to the sun. And if you pick them too soon, you`re expending too much energy. So collect the fallen ones every morning, store them if you don`t have enough for the day, and preserve them as marmalades and dried fruit. If you find bad ones amongst the fallen apricots, give them to the animals or compost them. Nothing is wasted. As a resut, we now have enough to last us through the winter, to serve our guests, and to sell for a profit. Added bonus.
-Your food doesn`t have to have preservatives. You can buy and consume fresh food every day. It is possible.
-Recycle. No excuses.
-Have fruit trees. They`re beautiful and they`re delicious.
-The `Bancal Profundo` method of organic gardening is an extremely efficient way to grow more crops in a smaller place. This combines concepts of mixed gardening, compost use, and diversification to produce four times as many crops as a regular organic garden.
-Flowers aren`t just pretty. There are certain flowers that you should pair with certain crops, to act as an insecticide. For example, we plant roses near our vineyards, because there is a certain bug that kills roses and grapes, but will attack the roses first. So if the roses start to die, take out the plant and dispose of it and its insects before they make their way to the grapes.
-Weeds will grow. Don`t let them grow too much, or they`ll get the best of you and steal all of your time, effort, and energy. Little by little.
-Have herbs and aloe. They don`t take up very much space, but they are wonderful to cook with and wonderful to use for fresh food.
-Buy books on organic farming. Pedro and Lucia did not know anything about organic farming before they started this farm. Although the farm isn`t perfect and it isn`t entirely organic, they have made such progress. But they were willing to learn, from books and from volunteers, and little by little this farm has grown into quite a production. It`s impressive, and I think it shows a lot what people can do with some will power, some energy, and personal drive.
I am sure there is more. But it`s a good list to start from.
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