Today was day 2 at Fuente Verde. I slept in the tin shack for the first time last night. It was actually quite comfortable after one of the Tican construction workers helped me set up my mosquito net.
So I worked today with Gilbert (pronounced hil-ber) and leraned about the "guild" of trees they plant here. In the area where they are setting up a fruit orchard they also plant some companion plants to stop weeds and pasture grass from growing so that they don't have to use a machede to upkeep the area. These plants are:
- Sweet Potato - They cover ground so weeds can't grow up.
- Sunflowers - These are perennial and grow up really high really fast, so when they get chopped down they are good compost. Also they encourage pollination.
- Banana - These provide shade so that the pasture grass dies out. Also they provide bananas.
- Nitrogen Fixating Legumes - The name says it all.
Today we added sunflower and sweet potato to an area that already had some fruit trees. After finishing the work I began my journey back to Luz and Guillermo's for the weekend. I had to hitch hike to get back into town. That was the first time I have ever done that. Some guy from Hawaii picked me up. He told me that he thought the guild was an okay idea but that it may encourage snakes for some reason. He had just bought a plot of land and since there is no living pasture grass there he has a different approach. It seems everyone here has something to say about organic farming.
So I am back at a familiar house and will head back to rough it out on Monday.
-Ravi
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