Planting

Like I said, we would have a post on planting. This was back in October, if I´m not mistaken. The whole process involves multiple steps. First, the land is cleaned from the last crop. This involves scraping off the weeds and old plants from the surface, letting them dry, and then piling them up and burning them. The ashes are then scattered over the field to enrich the soil. The second step is to turn over the soil. Basically what a rototiller would do, but by hand with a big hoe-like instrument. The third step is to make rows, like you see here. Then the planters walk down the rows. The first makes a hole with a stick and drops a couple of kernals of corn in (dried on the cob from the last harvest). The second and third persons drop beans in the same hole and cover it up. You can see here that the field is planted in two stages, with a couple of weeks in between. This is so they don´t get overwhelmed with harvest and food all at once. 













Here you can see Carlos with the stick and the corn duty, with Audrey and Monica following along with the beans and covering up. They also plant habas (a kind of lima bean that is really tasty). One of our favorite meals here is papas con cascara y habas. Basically boiled potatoes (with the skins on) and lima beans. They are all boiled together, and then we put some salt or hot sauce on it and have some popcorn. Sounds simple, but really just good and tasty.















Here Amy has joined in the planting, and has taken over Carlos´s role. He followed along at first, just to make sure that the space between the rows was good. This field is directly behind the house, which you can see just over the head of Adela, in the background. This is also where they deposit the pig manure and guinea pig manure, and where we throw our lemon peels, to help the soil.




Here is Susana and Anahi, taking a rest and checking out Amy and the kids planting. Contrary to what the picture shows, she is one of the hardest working women we have ever met. She just does not stop with the laundry and the cooking and cleaning. All this takes much more time down here than it does with conveniences such as washing machines and dryers, indoor kitchens, etc. Her life is basically just keeping up with all of that, with essentially no time left over. Sundays they go to church in the morning, and every now and then they go on a walk, but not much else in the way of recreation.