onto Organic Farm in Calceta, Ecuador

One of the workers at the farm, Servio, invited me to his home. So, at the end of my stay in Bahia, bussed a couple of hours inland to Calceta, Ecuador.

From there it was by pickup truck to his place in the small pueblo of Sarampion (Measles in English as it had wiped out a good bit of the population back in the day.) Alternative transportation is by Chivas. Ride on top for a thrilling encounter with overhead tree branches!

So a typical bamboo house in the area...

... and the 3-story house where Servio lived with his wife and 5 kids.


Complete with guesthouse in the mango tree outback.

So Servio is the local visionary and activist (nickname is ¨Inginiero¨ because of his degree in Biology.) He has turned is 200 square meters of land into a non-chemical garden that feeds his family. Due to the consistent 12 hours of daylight on the Equator and a location midway between the coast and mountains, nearly everything grows here year-round.

This is the fruit orchard (not much trash as all the organic waste was chucked back under the trees.)

Bananas were always available for eating by the washroom.

Otherwise it was picked off the tree (mandarins, oranges, mangoes, etc.) The kids were fearless.

What could not be eaten is hauled away to sell in the market.

The garden provided everything else: rice, peanuts, beans, miriad of vegetables.

The shell of the rice was removed by placing it in this and beating it with the wooden mallet shown. The rice did not come out brilliant white but the small brown smudges of husk that remaine likely make it healthier for human consumption.

The kitchen (on the left) and the dining area (right).

All the meals were different and with good variety.


The culture is Manabí (notice the cup made from Mate on the left.) Servio frequently referenced his time living with his Grandma and all he learned from her.

Again, a people proud of their culture and eager to preserve it in the face of Coca-Colaization of the world. Maybe subsistence farming is better than exploitation by transnational companies.

The leading presidential candidate, Correa, in the current Ecuadorian election cycle seems to think exploitation is not the answer (the answer from the States here: http://www.dailytidings.com/2006/1024/stories/1027_ecuador.php.)

A wonderful host, Servio took me on several walks through the surrounding farms and community projects that he has been a part of to promote sustainability. Planting trees on denuded hillsides and streambeds to preserve water-sheds.

An organic sugar manufacturer (no chemicals in either the growing of the sugarcane or extraction process.) Sugar, with all the brown ¨impurities¨ is called panela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panela.) The ¨impurities¨ are thought to have health benefits. Perhaps helping to prevent diabetes.

Press for squeezing out liquid.

Boiling to remove water and impurities that float to top (industrial process uses chemical additives to remove impurities but leaving trace chemicals behind.)

Place in molds and then to market.

We walked through the sugarcane, chewed on raw cane, and ate several of the other fruits growing on the farm.

¨Soy de la oficina¨ (I am from the office) was my mantra as we walked through the farms and harvested vegetable and fruit. I learned how the leaf, the flower, the stem, or the root was the edible portion of the plant. It was a humbling education from ¨Soy del campo¨.

There is heavy investment from Germany in organically grown coffee in the area.

The people of this region have also had to take to the streets to prevent privitization of their water supply. Water from a dam constructed upstream now flows through this pipe. Public control of water prices places the interests of community above those of the would-be private stockholders who do not live in the community (and most likely overseas.)

An interesting parallel between this pipe and the one that runs from Alaska.

Demand for fresh water cannot keep up with population demands and will soon be more valuable than oil. After all, we are draining the Ogallala Aquifer in the States, largest underground lake in the world, to create our food ¨surplus¨(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer)

The kids were neat hosts as well - constantly pointing out bugs and plants that only kids would notice. Ants that change colors when made angry, helicopter seeds with three wings that fall from the trees,

and the sloth that lived in the tree by the dinner table! (My first sloth sighting on this trip.)

He came down - slowly - at night to eat and poop.

So I was, obviously, taken in by the whole experience on this farm. I saw and learned. Servio does not fear to stand up for his culture and community in the face of global pressures to conform and homogenize. Meaning to stay only a few days, I stayed a week. It culminated in the local Manabí culture fair (like unto Frontier Days in the States.)

First was a visit to the fairgrounds and the model Manabí house.

Neat animals and objects made from local Tagua (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagua.)

Preservation of oral tradition through the local storyteller. (Is there a resemblance?)

Piñata for the kids.


Servio and his cousin, a couple visiting the farm from Virginia, and I began work on a balsa raft traditionally used to float farm product down the river to market. Now a tradition during the fair.

First, cut down balsa trees and build raft.

Float down river like Huckelberry Finn. Lots of birds - got that white bird I missed before - and lots of plants.

Other ¨floats¨ (no pun intended) with the competition being who could have the most interesting and plentiful product on their raft.

This raft says ¨Hello¨ to all you Americans out there.

What started as a few spectators out on their back porches soon grew until we floated into the mob at the bridges spanning the river in Calceta, Equador.

(In our haste to participate, we took last place.)

To visit the farm, affiliated with no organization, http://serviodecalceta.blogspot.com/