The Vegetable Project

A month or so ago, when I was meeting with community members, they had expressed a desire to plant vegetables, and said they needed some training. Later, I met with them and we did a planting calendar and began to write a letter to Paul Chiriboga, a Christian young man recently graduated with a Masters in Agronomy, who is working in another Quichua community in Imbabura province (where Pigulca is located). In the letter, we asked him to come and teach about natural fertilizers, planting vegetables and possibly about raising animals for money. Finally, the weekend of September 25-27 Paul was able to come spend time in Pigulca, teaching and demonstrating. The community provided a place for him to stay (in the community house), food for him to eat, and paid for his transportation costs. The community (and we) enjoyed his visit.

On Friday night, the community had to finish making Paul's lodgings comfortable. They wanted to put in a plug so that Paul could plug something in if he needed to. Since it was the first plug ever installed in the community house, it was a group effort. There is no breaker, so I was concerned about electric shock. Even though there was a spark, no one was hurt and the plug was successfully installed.

Once Paul had a plug and some ladies had brought him hot milk and sugar, boiled eggs and crackers, the participants in the vegetable project were ready to get to work. Paul taught about many different organic fertilizer options, which included types of composting that we had never heard of. Some fertilizers take a long time to make (like 3 months) and other can be ready quickly (like in one week). It was necessary to translate some into Quichua for those participants who do not know Spanish. However, the breaks were good for Paul, and provided good times for asking questions. The meeting was well attended, with a good balance between men and women.

After the meeting, Paul got some sleep and in the morning he toured the community a bit with Gregorio (the community president). There was a worship service scheduled for 10am, but due to school issues, most people were not able to arrive until after 11. Segundo and Laura came for the worship service, since Segundo was teaching. Those of us who arrived "on time" sat around and talked about any number of things until more people had returned from Otavalo. Gregorio lead music and Segundo taught. Those who attended felt comfortable to ask questions for clarification. After the lesson, there was a lunch for everyone in the community. Apparently, a man has bought property on the edge of the community near the road and plans to build a hotel. He wants to collaborate with the community, and sponsored the meal. It was soup, rice, potatoes and chicken. Several people we had never seen before appeared for the meal. It was a nice time to visit with community members.

At 2pm we met back with the participants of the vegetable project for some practical application. Paul showed community members how to prepare the beds, set the rows, water the beds and plant some seeds. The only seeds available at that moment were cabbage and cilantro. Someone went into town to buy more seeds, which they were planning to plant after we left. The beds prepared that Saturday were for a test bed, though I believe they will have the use of the next field over for a cooperative project. Here are pictures of the afternoon's activities.