The southern hemisphere can be confusing when coming from the north. For one, we were once in the midst of summer, and now we wake up to cold, frosty mornings with snow on the mountains. Secondly, if you are going to cultivate a garden or build a green house, it needs to be facing north, not south, to receive the greatest amount of sunshine throughout the course of the day. This could be the most important lesson we have learned since studying the biointensive method at CIESA. Even Fernando, our professor, got the position of the greenhouse wrong when he first built it.
We are now at the end of August and we can feel summer coming, while the summer is headed towards the fall in the U.S. I can´t wait until we are planting, going to market and eating endless amounts of fresh produce. El Bolson and its surroundings, known as the Comarca Andina, is a magical place to be growing food. We are in a fertile valley called Las Golondrinas where many farms are growing fine fruits like raspberries, black and red currants, blackberries and strawberries. We have been eating (and drinking) the products of last year´s harvest like jams, ice cream, and wines.
So we are content to find ourselves here for the next 6 months, experienceing the beauty of the mountain region of the Patagonia and growing healthy food, and a healthy soil, while learning small-scale, organic agriculture, our vision for the future.
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