TWENTY-TWELVE

Healthy Cooking Demo @ Parque Huerta Molino Blanco

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 10:42:32 -0400

Healthy Cooking Demo @ Parque Huerta Molino Blanco

1º Almuerzo Solidario y Saludable

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:53:00 -0400

On May 12, 2012 the Red de Huerter@s, which works in conjunction with the Municipalidad de Rosario, prepared their “Primer Almuerzo Saludable y Solidario” in Restaurant Sunderland. Traditionally a Port City, and the central trading and export center for agricultural products in Argentina, Rosario was once brimming with sailors having navigated the Rio Paraná carrying shiploads of raw agricultural products from the interior of the country. Sunderland, built in 1889, served as its watering hole. Today the restaurant stands as a monument to Rosario’s past, with the style and decor largely maintained. The owner is a gregarious man, committed not only preserving Sunderland in all of its old world charm, but also by lending the space free of charge to the local urban farmers once a month for a luncheon.

The Huerteros and their families prepare and serve a vegetarian 4 course lunch using only the organic vegetables from their urban huertas. The vegetable pates, eggplant parmesan, squash risotto, and bread pudding were paired with homemade herbal teas, apple fennel juice, and a never ending supply of local red wine. More than 120 Rosarinos showed up to support the farmers, all of the proceeds going to benefit an educational trip to Mendoza, where they will get to see other Huertas and have an intercambio of sorts with the Andean farmers. Here is a link to all of the photos I took of the Lunch:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68209425@N05/sets/72157629772936574/

This incredible event, which functions not only to garner financial support for the Red de Huerteros, but also to enrich community and spread awareness about the Huertas and healthy eating, will take place once a month from now on!

Ever yours,

Ashley

more photos of the almuerzo…

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:44:00 -0400

more photos of the almuerzo…

Las Huerteras cocinando…

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:40:00 -0400

Las Huerteras cocinando…

Foro Latinoamericano del Desarollo Sostenible: Rosario hacia Rio +20

Sun, 06 May 2012 18:28:00 -0400

The Foro Latinoamericano de Desarrollo Sostenible was Argentina’s first major sustainable development conference, held in honor of this year’s Rio+20, which is the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil. The goal of the Foro was to bring together academics, activists, farmers, engineers, architects, AND the general public to discuss the current state of affairs, recent achievements, and possibilities for growth. On the first day, Sunday April 22, the Program of Urban Agriculture in Rosario had a large display of heirloom and native seeds saved by its huerter@s. I manned the tables a bit, but was largely in charge of documenting the event. I’ve posted a few photos below, but you can find the entire album here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68209425@N05/sets/72157629942261385/

ENJOY!

Ever yrs,

Ashley

Photo

Sun, 06 May 2012 18:05:47 -0400

Photo

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:59:58 -0400

Photo

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 19:14:29 -0400

The Seedbank @ La Tablada

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 19:01:00 -0400

The Seedbank @ La Tablada

Saving Away. On the right, we are saving basil seeds in a big...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:40:00 -0400

Saving Away.

On the right, we are saving basil seeds in a big jar. Easy! Just let the plant go to flower, and when the seed pods turn brown they are ready to be collected and saved for a friend or the next year.

A Principio del Otoño en la Huerta

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:58:00 -0400

Hola Todxs!

Today I am writing to you from my studio in Rosario, where I’m sitting and wearing a bear apron that I found at a local flea market for a few pesos, smiling widely from the gratification of a few busy and inspiring weeks of work. Since I last posted, my internship with the Programa de Agricultura Urbana at the Municipality has shifted into high gear! March into April is one of the most active times on the Huertas in Rosario, as everyone is busy harvesting summer crops, planting fall ones, saving seeds, and redesigning/updating other parts of the landscape. I’ve been working long days helping to do accomplish all of these tasks, sometimes as much 10 hours, sometimes as few as 5 or 6. Someone is always heating up water for mate, or preparing the meal for a slow lunch, where we all sit together around the picnic table laughing and sharing a meal. I couldn’t be happier. Truly.

Here is a bulletpoint list of some of what we’ve done (just) this week:

Every Monday I attend a 4 hour capacitación (meeting) with most of the leaders at each of the Huertas. This week, we talked about Trofobiosis, IPM, and the negative effects of pesticides and herbicides on the plants metabolism.
Harvested Chauchas (dried beans)
Harvested and saved Zinnia seeds
Burnt my tongue on Mate
Harvested Hibiscus, for marmalade and juice
Seeded a field with a mixture of Anise, Grains, and Legumes
Saved cherry tomato seeds (messy!)
Sprayed Supermagro (bio-fertilizer made from an infusion (tea) of manure, compost, and herbs that is enriched with mineral salts) on squash plants which will be grown for seed
Harvested zapallo and zapallito (2 different types of squash) and saved their seeds
Weighed out lettuce and onion seeds and put them in tiny envelopes for the farmers
Prepared a raised bed for cabbage, pulled out rhizomes of a common weed whose name i didn’t catch. (will do soon)
Harvested Ceylon, and plucked the tiny leaves off to dry. Apparently, also delicious with mate.

What a week. Lookin’ forward to the next.

Almuerzo en la huerta, con todxs.

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:26:00 -0400

Fideos, por Lola.

Almuerzo en la huerta, con todxs.

Pluckin’ Ceylon Leaves from their Branches. (with my...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:24:00 -0400

Pluckin’ Ceylon Leaves from their Branches. (with my co-Pasantes; Gregorio, left, and Cristiano, right).

Biodiversity @ our Chaucha harvest.

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:15:00 -0400

Biodiversity @ our Chaucha harvest.

Fruits of Passion @ La Tablada. Passiflora, which they grow for...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:09:00 -0400

Fruits of Passion @ La Tablada.

Passiflora, which they grow for the medicinal effects of the flower. Check it out!

Photo

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:03:00 -0400

Seedbank in Downtown Rosario!

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:05:00 -0400

Here you’ll find an article written about a seedbank within the city (just a few blocks from my spanish school) which is committed to reviving heirloom and forgotten varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and other native plants. The man in the photo is Lucho, and the “jungle” he stands amidst takes up a scant quarter of a block. An amazing project! Last week I visited the seedbank to chat with Lucho. He’s now on vacation until March 26, but when he returns we plan to meet up and visit some of the participating farms. More info and Photos coming soon!

xxx

El Programa de Agricultura Urbana

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:52:00 -0400

Last Friday, I met with the directors of the Urban Agriculture Program for the Municipality of Rosario. I went into the meeting expecting to have a casual, introductory chat with the program’s director, Raul Terrile, in the hopes of being able to share resources and/or collaborate while I’m here.

Upon arrival, I was directed into the back portion of the office where Raul was waiting for me. We introduced ourselves, and he brought me into another room with a conference table. At the sight of it, my breathing accelerated with the realization that this meeting would be different, more official, than the others that I’ve had thus far. We sat down, and two more people joined us (Javier, and then Carolina). Then, they proceeded to ask me about myself; my studies, objectives, goals, and work experience, in very rapid Rioplatense Spanish. I did my best to represent both myself and Cornell en espanol, complete with usage of the Subjunctive and Vos (no easy feat!) It was a bit scary, but in the end I had done a good job of expressing myself, thanks to my terrific teachers at Spanish in Rosario!

After the rapid-fire Q&A, they asked if I would like to be a full time fellow with the municipality! (I do! I do!) So, on Thursday of this week, I am to deliver a 20-30 minute presentation about my education, work experience, and the state of urban agriculture in the US. Hopefully I’ll be able to post it on here within the week.

That’s all for now. Feeling good, feeling excited that after a month of settling in and make the contacts that I needed to make, all of the puzzle pieces seem to be coming together!

un beso!

Rio +20, Rosario Style.

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:26:04 -0500

Rio +20, Rosario Style.

O Hello, Sorgo de Alepo. Prepare to Die.

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:04:00 -0500

When I arrived in Rosario, a young woman named Stephanie assisted me in making a smooth transition. She originally hails from Joshua Tree, CA, but has been living in Rosario for 6 years, 5 of which have kept her busy creating and directing a local Spanish school for international travelers. After falling in love with an Argentine while visiting Peru in 2006, she made the commitment to move to Rosario, and has been here ever since. She lives in a beautiful home north of the Centro with her husband Claudio and their precious 2-year-old son, Juan, and it didn’t take much for my husband Mycah and I to fall in love with all of them. On one of the first days after Spanish class, I went over to her house for dinner. As she was giving me a tour of her place, I noticed the abandoned lot behind her back patio and asked her to tell me about it. This simple question sparked an exciting 2 hour conversation about the incredible potential that the lot possesses to become an urban community garden for Stephanie’s family and their neighbors, seeing as how its been sitting untouched for more than 6 years.

The lot provides a host of challenges. It is, for one, surrounded on all sides by a six-foot wall, making it rather difficult to access. Secondly, ‘Sorgo de Alepo’, or ‘Johnsongrass’ as we call it in the States, has thoroughly infested every inch of the half-acre plot. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Johnsongrass, I’ll tell you that it is an epic pain in the you-know-what. Each plant produces not only thousands of seeds, many of which can remain dormant in the seedbank for years, but also 20+ feet of rhizome, which can be found 5 feet deep into the soil profile. Needless to say, eradication of Johnsongrass once it is already established in a field can be quite the puzzle. If there’s any question, just check out the photos. Notice the thick matte of intertwining rhizomes, the lack of bare soil and the plush carpet of green that seems to exert its dominance over the sullen earth. And then, if you don’t mind, light a few hundred candles for us while saying as many Hail Mary’s as you can muster.

Thankfully for all of us down here in Rosario, I took Toni DiTommaso’s course on Weed Science @ Cornell last fall, which readily prepared me to not only identify the Johnson grass but also to talk with Steph and Claudio about systems of weed management, providing them with my initial assessment as well as ideas about how to proceed in eliminating it. Apparently, in the past, they had attempted to clean the field by climbing over the wall and pulling it out by hand, and then covering it with a tarp. Within a week, as you could imagine, all their hard work was forgotten as the Sorgo claimed its territory once again.

Together, the three of us have decided to create an urban garden in this abandoned lot, which has 6 years of Johnsongrass penetrating its depths. After my initial visit, I began to research strategies for killing Johnsongrass, particularly in Argentina, and what I found was not exactly encouraging. The most common treatment, a remedy that a few friends suggested to Steph & Claudio, requires dumping on the glyphosate (Round Up). Although this is a potentially reasonable treatment, in our scenario it isn’t ideal for 2 reasons; the first being that Stephanie, Claudio, and I would like use chemicals as a very last resort in the process of clearing the Sorgo. Secondly, hundreds of cases of Glyphosate-resistant Johnsongrass have been reported in Argentina, particularly in or near Rosario.

Deflated a bit, I wrote Toni DiTomasso to ask for his advice, and when I received his response I was filled with elation and hope once again, not only to hear from him, but to read his letter, which suggested many of the same strategies that I had outlined to Steph & Claudio - proof that Tony is a FANTASTIC teacher - with a few additional tips to boot. The bullet-points below list our options for controlling this hot mess:

1) Glyphosate, assuming the Sorgo in this lot is susceptible

2) Apply Bare Fallow strategy to this plot over the Argentine winter, which involves tilling (to break apart the rhizomes), and in 2 to 3 weeks when they begin to re-sprout, we cultivate again. Repeating this pattern for a few months exhausts the carbohydrate reserves in the underground stems, eventually rendering many of them dead as doorknobs. This method, over time, can reduce the pressure of the weed in the lot. If we begin this treatment soon, by spring (September in Argentina) we would be able to establish raised beds and begin planting, taking special care to remove emerging Johnsongrass as soon as we notice it so that it never goes to seed.

3) 1 & 2 which, as Toni points out, would mean that you would use much less herbicide.

Once we have the Sorgo under control, it will be possible to incorporate organic practices such as smothering crops and rotations, etc.

But first, I’m a go on a killin’ spree with the Rototiller! If I can get one over the wall, that is!

Let you know how it goes.

Ever yrs,

Ashley