Crazy Adventures in the Life of a Redhead

My final days passed quickly, as all my days passed on the farm. With many activities needing attention, I had no time to think of the end until it was upon me. Here is what I wrote for Finca La Amistad’s website ( www.fincalaamistad.net ): In a short nine-week space, I experienced an enriching internship of diverse opportunities to get my hands dirty and to learn by doing. Waking up every morning to the vista surrounding Finca La Amistad gave me endless pleasure, and working in that environment was exceptional. I reveled in the chance to take a nearly empty garden and turn it into a productive plot, providing vegetables for our daily meals and for an occasional sale to customers. Shelly and Nelly are open to new ideas and praise work well done, and Karina is very knowledgeable regarding microorganisms and organic fertilizers. I will cherish my time here in Ecuador, and I bless their future efforts. I know that Finca La Amistad is going to be pivotal in launchi...

Some of the trees we received from City Hall. Not too promising, but I hope they live! A line of 23 trees line the road by the lower granadilla vineyard. City Hall of the county of Ibarra attempted to beautify one of the county parks with thousands of trees, but somewhere in the politics of the project, the idea was never implemented; the trees were left to wait, dying in the process. Finca La Amistad was the benefactor of this project-gone-awry when employees from City Hall dropped off 800 trees on the farm at the beginning of last week. Unfortunately, these trees were in sad shape. They had been growing in small plastic bags for two years, and their roots were struggling to escape, even poking through the bags. It was amazing that any of them had survived.  I'm pleased with my work. This is one of the little trees that is pretty healthy, covered with extra fertilizer to help stimulate growth. The farm hired four workers to dig holes, averaging lab...

Upon returning to the farm from my trip around Ecuador, it amazed me how much had grown in those ten days I was gone from the farm. Although my garden was overgrown with weeds, the plants were thriving. I spent about 40 hours removing the weeds and tending the plants. Now, I smile every time I pass the ¼ acre plot. Everything has increased in size. With some rain and sunshine, my plants are thriving. In fact, I will be able to plant more seeds and transplant more plants because some of my crops have already been harvested and more room is now available for other vegetables.  My potatoes are mounded and mildly mulched. Next week I will mound and mulch some more .   Four rows of beans and corn In the short two months that I will have spent here, I have been able to see growth and harvest of many different crops. The beans, corn and potatoes I had planted before I left on my trip have sprouted. My carrots are finally asserting their feathery fronds...