The #coffee is growing strong. It's been a struggle to keep these babies watered in this prolonged dry season, but there they are. 2024 is dedicated to getting them all in the ground across about six hectares.
They're growing fast, so getting the prep work done for their planting is the main focus.
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El #café está creciendo fuerte. Ha sido una lucha mantener a estos bebés regados en esta prolongada secia, pero ahí están. 2024 se dedica a plantarlos todos en unas seis hectáreas mas o menos.
Crecen rápido, así que lo más importante ahorita es preparar la tierra para recibirlas.
Everything is a learning curve, right? In the beginning of our #coffee planting journey, we fell into the trap of making the nursery with plastic nursery bags. There are so many issues with pests and weeds, it seemed like the most obvious solution.
But damn, that's a lot of plastic on an organic farm. And we couldn't always get the right sized bags to allow for optimal growth.
In his research, Michael re-discovered an even more traditional nursery technique - he's done it for smaller, annual plants, but never at this scale or for this kind of tree.
This is our second nursery, which consists of deep beds - they are lined with plastic, but we've avoided all those little bags. When the time comes for transplanting, the walls will be broken down and the plants carefully extracted one row at a time. The hope is to give them optimal conditions for growth and to prevent root damage upon transplant.
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Todo es una curva de aprendizaje, ¿verdad? Al principio, caímos en la trampa de hacer el vivero con bolsas de plástico. Hay tantos problemas con las plagas y las malas hierbas, que parecía la solución más obvia.
Pero eso es mucho plástico en una granja ecológica. Y no siempre conseguíamos bolsas del tamaño adecuado para permitir un crecimiento óptimo.
En su investigación, Michael redescubrió una técnica de vivero aún más tradicional: lo había hecho para plantas anuales más pequeñas, pero nunca a esta escala ni para este tipo de árbol.
Este es nuestro segundo vivero, que consiste en camas profundas; están forradas de plástico, pero hemos evitado todas esas bolsitas. Cuando llegue el momento del trasplante, se derribarán las paredes y se extraerán cuidadosamente las plantas, fila por fila. La esperanza es darles unas condiciones óptimas para su crecimiento y evitar daños en las raíces en el momento del trasplante.
A few days ago we welcomed a new addition on the farm. Relampaga (the brown and white cow in the picture) is June's (the black cow) first female calf. She is about 3 years old, and is now a first time mother. We now have three generations out in the field ♥️. She's an attentive mama, and protective of her baby.
We practice calf sharing with our cows, so mama and baby will not be separated for at least the first two weeks as we ease both of them into the milking routine. For now, every day I go out I check on mama, go through the motions of milking and make sure no mastitis sets in. She's going to be a very productive cow!
Once the calf is eating grass, and showing herself to be strong and healthy, we'll start separating her from her mama for about 10 to 12 hour overnight stretches. This will allow a nice bit of milk to build up that we will then take for ourselves before turning baby loose to freely nurse for the remainder of the day.
Now that I have two cows to milk, I'm going to have to get creative with so much milk. I just borrowed the neighbors cheese press, but I think I might also need to sew a strainer bag for making greek yogurt. I'm most excited about the possibility of building up a store of butter. 🤤
I've had cows fairly continuously for the last 11 years, and cannot imagine my life without one.
Hi! I'm Traci. My life story is a winding tale that has brought me here to La Azulita, in the mountainous state of Merida in western #Venezuela. I've been living here, working here, and raising my children here since 2012. I'm originally from Northern #Michigan (USA) and proudly so.
My life partner Michael and I live on a 13 hectare farm in the foothills of the Andes (apx 1300mts), overlooking the Sur de Lago region and Lake Maracaibo. We are passionate about #agroecology, #permaculture, and #regenerative everything. We are currently in the process of reforesting the majority of our property with #cacao, #coffee, and countless other productive #tropical trees. We also raise a variety of animals on the farm, including a small herd of dairy and beef cows, pigs, and a perennial flock of chickens. Michael does the vast majority of heavy lifting, though I am the dedicated milker of cows and cheesemaker. Other than that, I help where I can and document our progress when I have the chance.
Aside from being a "farmer's wife," I am a full time content writer for 16personalities.com. When inspired, I blog about what we're doing here on the farm, digging a little deeper into the philosophies that guide us, our story, strategies, and experiences here in Venezuela.
Other personal interests include #yoga and #wellness, audiobooks, holistic everything, human biology and the human condition in general, languages, and #travel.
I'm not always super active on social media, but I certainly enjoy checking in with the rest of the world through these virtual spaces, so let's connect!
Yesterday was such a gloriously perfect day. A trip to the river with the kids, a nice little harvest of tomatoes, sorghum, and broomcorn - and some pira foraged from among the weeds. Then, I got curious about weaving cattail fronds, so I sat by the pond for a good while listening to the birds and improvising myself a sombrero.
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Ayer fue un día gloriosamente perfecto. Una excursión al río con los niños, una buena cosecha de tomates, sorgo y maíz de escoba, y un poco de pira buscada entre el monte. Luego, me picó la curiosidad por tejer hojas de totora, así que me senté al lado del poso un buen rato a escuchar a los pájaros e improvisarme un sombrero.
When we first started out on this property it was nearly 100% pasture for running beef cattle. Michael immediately determined which areas were not apt for pasture (nearly half of it) and let the process of natural succession get to work.
Letting #nature lend a hand for a few years certainly helped a lot to prep for the converting of all that land into a productive polyculture food forest.
More recently we've decided to eliminate two additional pastures, spaces that have been maintained this whole time to support our small herd of dairy cows and pack horses but have proven to be too steep to withstand hoof traffic without erosion.
The #cacao trees are ready and need to be planted, we have an order of more rare and interesting fruit #trees being delivered later this week, and a LOT of #coffee starting to come up in their nursery bags that will need to be planted later in the new year.
The work of prepping and converting pasture into a #FoodForst is distinct from planting under pioneer trees that provide much needed shade for recent transplants. The concepts of #SyntropicAgriculture have been inspiring, however, and we're excited to see this next - somewhat unexpected - development of the property take shape.
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Cuando empezamos a trabajar esta propiedad, era casi 100% pasto para el ganado vacuno. Michael determinó inmediatamente qué zonas no eran aptas para pastos (casi la mitad) y dejó que el proceso de sucesión natural se pusiera manos a la obra.
Dejar que la #naturaleza echara una mano durante unos años ayudó mucho a preparar la conversión de toda esa tierra en un bosque productivo de policultivos.
Más recientemente hemos decidido eliminar dos potreros adicionales, espacios que se han mantenido todo este tiempo para apoyar a nuestro pequeño rebaño de vacas lecheras y caballos de carga, pero han demostrado ser demasiado empinada para soportar el tráfico de pezuñas sin erosión.
Los árboles de #cacao están listos y necesitan ser plantados, tenemos un pedido de #árboles frutales raros e interesantes que serán entregados a finales de esta semana, y un MONTÓN de #café empezando a salir en sus bolsas de vivero que necesitarán ser sembrados más tarde en el nuevo año.
El trabajo de preparación y conversión de los pastos en un #BosqueProductivo es distinto de la plantación bajo los árboles pioneros que proporcionan sombra muy necesaria para los trasplantes recientes. Los conceptos de #AgriculturaSintropica han sido inspiradores, sin embargo, y estamos emocionados de realizar este próximo - y algo inesperado - paso de desarrollo de la finca.
For about a month now, a group of #guacamayas has been coming and going from a certain tree in a neighboring pasture. They make such a scandal it's hard to ignore them.
We finally went and explored what it is they're eating. We have no idea what this is called, but the tree is impressive. Massively tall with abundant fruits. And it obviously attracts wildlife.
We gathered some seed, and Michael will be planting them in the nursery. It's important to grow food for the animals, too.
Remember when I posted months ago about putting together a #cacao nursery?
The plants have grown like mad & are slowly finding their way to permanent homes. And they are thriving. It's exciting to see the new growth they put on as soon as they're out of their nursery bags. Some of them are already over a meter tall!
@levampyre honestly, I don't know! We are considered "oceanic, warm, humid subtropical" on a couple of maps. We live at apx 1300m in the Venezuelan Andes. I've always considered it to be a mountainous cloud forest.
I'll be traveling to the US and Canada in summer 2024 for 2 months, but I will not be on "vacation" from work. I need a solid wifi connection wherever I go.
We'll be visiting some fairly remote areas where cell coverage is spotty at best (the Kootenays, rural Ontario, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). How in the world can I guarantee a wifi connection in my travels?
This fruit is called a Zapote here in #Merida#Venezuela. Our neighbor's tree has been dropping these fast for the last few weeks, and it is impossible to eat them all, no matter how many sacks are harvested and given away.
Imagine a fruit that tastes like pumpkin pie. And stains everything a bright orange, including your face.
Who here has tried it? What's it called where you live?
Have you ever heard of #lulo? It's one of those amazing fruits that grows semi-wild in the tropics. In some countries it's widely consumed and commercially produced, but here in #Venezuela it's hard to find outside of a home garden.
Lulo makes an amazing jam, but we prefer to blend it into fresh juice. Whats it taste like? 🤔 In my opinion, somewhere between a kiwi and tropical punch.
If you've tried this fruit, how would you describe its flavor?
A couple of weeks ago, the same day we had to bury our cow, my neighbor called to let me know their dog had attacked Pacheco, our beloved toucanette. Because he's never been caged, he has developed quite a range for his daily adventures.
I immediately ran down to claim him. I found him sprawled out, gasping for breath, and looking bad. I brought him up to the house, expecting him to pass at any moment.
In honor of #Caturday, I'll start my recap of life's recent events by sharing that our lovely mama kittie gave birth for the first time to two darling little babies. Meet Tusa (the orange one) and Tomate. They're about three weeks old, and really starting to get lively.
The biggest challenge has been mama Panda's insistence on moving them into our bed every single night. 😍