CEFS in Uruguay

physically back in NC, but mentally.....

Friday, 12-14-07 - Melissa Bell Well, my day to blog was Friday and we were still up in "the interior" so I had to wait till I was back in my tidy little NC State office.

I want to blog about Bio-Uruguay.  the site was absolutely beautiful.  i had a hard time wrapping my little head around those eternally expansive vistas.  impossible to capture on camera.  the place was impressive from the minute we stepped off the bus.  we arrived late at night to a wonderful greeting, more stars than i have seen in ten years, and an excellent bowl of soup (not sopa, soPOW!).

there were three main buildings on the grounds: a small house with 5 beds, a meeting room with 22 beds upstairs.  all the beds/bunk beds, the whole structure was home made.  bluegum poles and a thatch roof.  my dream house.  the last building housed the kitchen and dining room downstairs and quarters for the staff above.  besides these there were the very impressive composting toilets (which smell WAY better than Kenyan cho's (outhouses), a replica of an old style Gaucho house, a bird watching platform and then the farm structures. 

Alda is the director.  she is like the Uruguayan Nancy Creamer, impressive as hell and completely energizing.  like Nancy you can see her dedication to her work in her eyes and smile.  she wrote a book on organic agriculture in Uruguay and at the time it was the only writing on the subject in the country. she works a full time job in Montevideo to support herself and her kids.  she gave us background on Bio and a summary of their work to date.  their impact is great because they are working with a clean slate really, somewhere along the line the people forgot about cultivating fruit and vegetables. i find it hard to believe that the people never cultivated vegetables, but perhaps.  they seem to be making a positive impact in the area.  and a very tangible one.
and man can they grow some good produce!  we ate VERY well while we were there.  sure was nice to have a flavor packed organic, local tomato in December! 

the farm was impressive.  i geeked out taking photos of their tomato trellising systems and their chicken tractor.  and i saw a leaf cutter ant!!  wow.  their produce looked very good, although they said they are just days away from abandoning them if they don't get rain. sounds like NC. 

i would encourage people to look Bio-Uruguay up on the internet and consider a donation or becoming a member.   we are talking valuable grassroots work here.  i do believe that sometimes the world's challenges are overwhelming, and that sometimes we can only hope to make our little corner of the world the best it can be, but shoot, BIO is teaching people how to grow vegetables for their families to eat, that is really taking care of your corner, and through the wonderful worldwide web...we can reach out too.

friday night we drank wine, feasted on a sacrificial cow, danced to accordion music and looked for shooting stars.  the next morning i went for a walk down one of the endless dirt roads.  sometimes it's crazy how beautiful life is. 
we still aren't sure about the real southern cross though....we might have to go back. 


melissa

Posted at 02:20PM Dec 19, 2007 by melissa bell in General  |  Comments[0]

Grupo Punto Verde

Monday, 12-10-07 - Kevin Starr We visited our first two farms on Monday.  Both are members of the Punto Verde organic cooperative.  The first was owned by the Hermanos Bentancur.  They seemed to be doing a good job of producing crops in the season extension houses and in the field with a diverse crop mix.  The next farm was owned by the Jorge Garrido family.  This visit was highlighted by the owner's two sons and their dog.  The younger son kept rough-housing with the dog and then seemed surprised when it grabbed his shirt with it's teeth.  Some things don't change regardless of where you are in the world.

I hope they continue to be successful with their cooperative.  These organizations seem to have a difficult time maintaining themselves here in the states.

I wanted to comment on the zapallito (or zapallo) de tronco that we saw at the farmes market and supermarket.  It can apparently be used as a summer or winter squash.  I think it has possibilities for our famers market growers.  There are a couple of places on the web that list it and I'm trying to verify it's availabilty for spring.

Posted at 02:16PM Dec 19, 2007 by Kevin Dean Starr in General  |  Comments[0]

Saturday, 12-15-07 - Lisa Forehand

Believe it or not there were actually some hard core runners that continued on even in Uruguay. While I would REALLY like to consider myself part of that group,  I think I am in much more of a 'leisurely trot' category. But I guess it is better than sitting in around eating bonbons and ham & cheese pasteries.

I had thoroughly enjoyed the Spanish lesson on Friday (12-16) where we got to learn all about the gaucho culture, but sadly, our Spanish lesson was cancelled for today, so we headed into Tacuarembo to do a little sight seeing and shopping. Because I kept perhaps the most awesome travel journal in the entire world, I was out of glue and on the hunt for both glue and clear nail polish to control the "chiggers' or whatever other kind of flesh eating virus we had encountered. (Doubt any one else mentioned that, huh!) Try as they might, I am not sure a single one of our group was spared!!!! Even Dr. Mueller had to admit a few!

Although I got those two things taken care of very quickly (with help from Marta) I decided it was the perfect opportunity to stock up on the stuff that I really did not need. So I bought a Mate cup that was fitted into the inside of a cow foot (hoof and all) and engraved with Tacuarembo. (When in Rome....).

After finishing up everything in town we headed back to BIO-Uruguay for a fantastic lunch (as usual), packed and got on the road to head back to Montevideo. It was a long bus trip and really scenic if pasture, cows, sheep and the occasional rhea are what really get you pumped.

We checked back into the London Palace, FINALLY got showers and cleaned up and our group (me, Jean-Marie, Gary, Chris, Nancy, Michelle, Natalie and Gina) had one last meal at good ole El Fogon! We ordered the petite filets which still must have been pushing 10-12 oz. while Nancy and Chris shared a plate of lamb which was superb! Cannot remember what Gina & Natalie got - sorry.

After that we were all pretty beat and headed back to the hotel to relax and get some rest. We had absolutely nothing planned for the next day other than pack and be out by 1:30 so the opportunity to sleep in was appreciated by all!

Posted at 01:16PM Dec 19, 2007 by Lisa Forehand in General  |  Comments[0]