Date: March 5, 2022
Present: Renetta, Pablo, Jacek, Aleksandra, Naya and Edu
This month we have visited Daniel's farm, a plot of about 800m2 where he has now been farming for four years. Since then he has not applied any type of agrochemicals. We do not know more about the history of the farm but it is very possible that it has been completely organic for a long time.
We found the farm in very good condition with great biodiversity; fruit trees such as guavas, bananas and lemon caviar, a very peculiar fruit. Daniel has also planted a vegetable garden and several beds of lettuce under the trees. In addition, we could see a variety of wild grasses, which indicates a natural and herbicide-free soil.
To fertilize the farm, Daniel mainly uses goat and horse manure from the area. He also prepares nettle slurry, a very traditional method that works very well to fertilize plants and fight diseases and pests at the same time. This year he has noticed very few pests, Daniel told us, and he is very happy with the effectiveness of the nettle slurry.
Another method he uses is ground cover (or "mulching") throughout the farm. To work the land, he uses a solarpowered rotavator to plow lightly.
Daniel usually germinates the plants himself, from organic seeds and sometimes buys organic seedlings from Saliplant. He showed us the small greenhouse that he has built for his seedlings and the overwintering of some cherry tomato plants.
What caught our attention the most was his first experiment with hydroponics: a farming system where plants grow directly in water instead of soil. Three weeks ago, Daniel planted the first lettuces in vertical tubes, where water flows continuously, thanks to a small solar pump.
Daniel notices that the plants grow faster in this system and require less water, because the water circulates. He is keen to expand the experiment with more installations and to try it with strawberries as well.
All in all, the farm looked in very good condition and we welcome Daniel as a member of our SPG (Participatory Guarantee System)!
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