Reuse is a sustainable alternative that can solve problems - La reutilización es una alternativa sostenible que puede solucionar problemas
Some time ago together with my husband, my father and brother, we found ourselves with a very interesting challenge.
Hace un tiempo atrás junto con mi esposo, mi padre y hermano, nos encontramos con un reto muy interesante.
A little history
Un Poco de Historia
Returning to the place that had been the home of my parents, my brothers and was my most beloved corner among all the mountains. El Vergel farm; our space of upbringing, of work, of adventures and of learning, until it was taken away from us by people of bad faith, who did not care for the arable land but instead, the gold. Later, I will tell you the full story. Now let's talk about reutilization, inspired by @phoenixwren's most recent upcycle contest.
Regresar al lugar que había sido el hogar de mis padres, mis hermanos y mi más amado rincón entre la montaña, la Finca El Vergel; nuestro espacio de crianza, de trabajo, de aventuras y de aprendizaje, hasta que nos fue arrebatado por personas de mala fe, a las que no les importaba la tierra cultivable sino, el oro. Luego les contare la historia completa. Ahora vamos hablar de reutilización, inspirada por el contest de upcycle reciente de @phoenixwren.
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The challenge
El reto
The challenge was to restore El Vergel farm, which had been alone and abandoned for more than 15 years, and when my father acquired the permission with the mining company to work there, we did not think twice, we started with the great challenge of reforestation in an area affected by mining. Therefore, what we had the most of was heavy work.
El reto era levantar la finca El vergel, la cual había estado sola y abandonada por más de 15 años, y ya cuando mi papá adquirió el permiso con la compañía minera para entrar a trabajar allí, no lo pensamos dos veces, de una arrancamos con el gran reto de re-forestación en una área afectada por la explotación minera. Por lo tanto lo que más teníamos era trabajo pesado.
I can tell you that we found a grass so thick that we need to use machetes and saws to cut it and open space for the paths and to start some orchards. We also discovered some mango trees, guanábanas, lemons, guavas, hibiscus of 6 meters, Tibouchina lepidota, bougainvillea and some salmwood trees that had been saved from being cut for mining purposes, all these plants had been planted by my mother with the help of her children when we were only kids.
Les puedo contar que encontramos un pasto tan grueso que necesitamos usar machetes y sierras para cortarlo y abrir espacio para los caminos e iniciar algunos huertos. También descubrimos algunos árboles de mango, guanábanas, limones, guayabas, hibiscus de 6 metros, siete cueros, bugambilia y algunos nogales cafeteros que se habían salvado de ser cortados con fines mineros, todos estos encuentros habían sido plantados por mi mamá con la ayuda de sus hijos cuando apenas eramos niños.
At the same time we found many young trees that were covered with a type of grass called King Grass. I must confess to you all that every discovery there was a memory of my childhood but, rediscovering the paths of the past, we opened the way to new ones.
Al mismo tiempo encontramos muchos árboles jóvenes que estaban cubiertos de pasto Kingrass. Debo confesarles que cada descubrimiento allí era una memoria de mi niñez pero, re-descubriendo los caminos del pasado, abríamos paso a unos nuevos.
We also find other surprises
También encontramos otras sorpresas
Photo © by Ledis Arango V.Each weed, grass, spike, dried leaf and so much plant waste; It was put in a compost, to be reused in fertilizer. It took us almost a month to clear the area closest to the house, but once this work was done we could think about the species that were going to germinate.
Cada arvense, pasto, chus quin, hojarasca y cuanto residuo vegetal; era puesta en un compost, para ser reutilizados en abono. Nos tomó casi un mes despejar el área más cercana a la casa, pero una vez realizado este trabajo ya podríamos pensar en las especies que íbamos a germinar.
Later we had talked to a cousin and his wife, and several friends about the project, and they helped us collect Andean Walnut seeds. Juglans neotropica, every time we walk the town park, we collected seeds of the best tree of this species which is eighty years old, also on the roads, as soon as they told us they had seen a nice Andean walnut tree, there we were collecting the precious seeds.
Posteriormente habíamos hablado con un primo y su esposa, y varios amigos acerca del proyecto, y ellos nos ayudaron a recolectar semillas de cedro negro. Juglans neotropica, cada vez que caminamos el parque del pueblo, recolectamos semillas del mejor árbol de esta especie el cual tiene una edad de ochenta años, también el los caminos, en cuanto lugar nos contaban que habían visto un lindo árbol de cedro negro allí estábamos recolectando las preciadas semillas.
When we gathered all the different finds of this species we had about 2200 seeds. We were very happy and excited because the species of which I am speaking is in danger of extinction, and for the work team it was very important to recover an endangered, native and representative species in the municipality.
Cuando reunimos todos los encuentros de esta especie contamos unas 2200 semillas. Estábamos muy felices y emocionados puesto que la especie de la cual les estoy hablado se encuentra en amenaza de extinción, y para el equipo de trabajo era muy importante hacer recuperación de una especie amenazada, nativa y representativa en el municipio.
We include other seeds of different species such as: Soursop; Annona muricata, guayacán; Lafoensia acuminata, guava; Psidium guajava, Colombian pine; Retrophyllum rospigliosii, coffee; Coffea, banana and plantain; Musa paradisíaca and with this inventory we gave way to make the germinators.
Incluimos otras semillas de diferentes especies como: Guanábana; Annona muricata, guayacán; Lafoensia acuminata, guayaba; Psidium guajava, pino colombiano; Retrophyllum rospigliosii, café; Coffea, plátano y banano; Musa paradisíaca y con este inventario dimos paso a realizar los germinadores.
Thanks to the technical assistance that my brother gave us, in his vacations, by email and by cell phone; Being the university student of forestry engineering, we managed to carry out a good phytosanitary management, good selection of species and recognition of new ones.
Gracias a la asistencia técnica que nos brindo mi hermano, en sus vacaciones, por correo electrónico y por teléfono celular; siendo el estudiante universitario de ingeniería forestal, logramos realizar un buen manejo fito sanitario, buena selección de las especies y reconocimiento de nuevas.
We used beds of earth sifted with mesh sieve and mixed with sand to germinate the seeds, which sprung in different times, between 9 days some species such as guava and guayacán, and others that were delayed up to six months like those of Colombian pine and of Andean Walnut.
Utilizamos heras de tierra cernida con zaranda y mezclada con arena para germinar las semillas, las cuales brotaron en diferente tiempo, entre 9 días algunas especies como la guayaba y el guayacán, y otras que se demoraron hasta seis meses como las del pino romero y las de cedro negro.
While the time elapsed we continued working in the other vegetable gardens, in that space we had squash; Cucurbita Maxima, potatoes; Solanum phureja, beans; Phaseolus vulgaris, carrots; Daucus carota, long onions; Allium fistulosum and cherry tomatoes; Solanum lycopersicum, day after day this place was more productive and varied.
Mientras el tiempo trascurría nosotros seguíamos trabajando en los otros huertos de verduras, allí incluimos auyama; Cucurbita Maxima, papas; Solanum phureja, frijoles; Phaseolus vulgaris, zanahorias; Daucus carota, cebollas largas; Allium fistulosum y tomates chery; Solanum lycopersicum, día tras día este lugar era más productivo y variado.
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As the germinated seeds were appearing, we were transplanting them into a bag with well-sifted earth. These bags were reused from liquid milk packaging (in Colombia they sell milk packed in plastic bag), these were a good size packing which allowed us to give stability to each small and new plant
En la medida en que iban apareciendo las semillas germinadas, las íbamos trasplantando a una bolsa con tierra bien cernida. Estas bolsas eran reutilizadas de los empaques de leche liquida; (en Colombia se vende leche empacada en bolsa plástica), siendo estos empaque de un buen calibre de grueso nos permitían darle estabilidad a cada pequeña y nueva planta
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The treatment of each bag of milk once used, was to wash the package very well and turn it over, that is to say, place the advertising part inwards and leave the black color outwards. By reusing each of these plastic packages, we saved money and did not accumulate more plastic in the environment.
El tratamiento de cada bolsa de leche una vez usada, era lavar muy bien el empaque y darle la vuelta, es decir colocar la parte publicitaria hacia adentro y dejar el color negro hacia afuera. Reutilizando cada uno de estos empaques plásticos, ahorrábamos dinero y no acumulamos más plástico en el ambiente.
We also picked up an ancestral technique utilizing a completely organic package, it was a design in banana trunk that my dad learned from my grandmother, in the era where plastic was not known. We still had to use the milk bags, because on the farm we found only a couple of banana plants that had survived.
También retomamos una técnica ancestral, de un empaque completamente orgánico, era un diseño en calceta de plátano que mi papá aprendió de mi abuela, en la época donde no se conocía el plástico. Debimos usas las bolsas de leche, por que en la finca encontramos solo un par de plantas de plátano que habían sobrevivido.
This was a very hard challenge but not impossible; At present, there is a beautiful large productive forest, called a mixed system of agricultural products and timber species. These details I will tell you all about in the next part of the story!
Este fue un reto muy duro pero no imposible; en la actualidad se encuentra un bello gran bosque productivo, denominado un sistema mixto de productos agricoles y especies maderables. ¡Los detalles se los voy a contar en la segunda parte de esta historia!
A fantastic story. The work must have been difficult but it seems that there really was a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow! It must be gratifying to recover such land and to be able to bring it from the state it was in to the state it is now.
That was a beautiful caterpillar, also.
Thank you very much for your words, they are very important to me. The caterpillar is very cute and itches hard.:)
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Thank you very much for the motivation. Let's continue together transforming our environment sustainably:)
Tu historia es inspiradora, @ecoinstante ! Les deseo mucho éxito en el futuro y espero puedas seguir compartiendo su experiencia.
A very inspiring story. Hope you can continue to share your experiences with us and wish you success in the future.
Many thanks for reading this real life story. I am very motivated to continue sharing more:)
Wow! I didn't know the land you guys work on now is land that used to belong to your family in the past. So sad that it was harmed by mining, but so glad that you got it back eventually!
What great photos and story! I love that you are planting so many walnut trees in addition to all the other species. <3
Thank you very much for your motivation, it was thanks to your challenge that I took up this story again. This land is still from the mining company, but they only care about underground. Two years after this we bought our land, Buena Vista.;)
Oh, I see! Yeah, we have problems like that here, too - people buy land but they don't generally own the mineral rights to that land, so a company comes in and destroys it. It's awful. :(
In Colombia its even more exciting, nobody owns the mineral rights except t
for the government, so mostly you just have to hope they don't concede mineral rights anywhere near you and send a snaking tunnel your way.
:(
Hi @ecoinstante! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing story and the photos and I am so happy that you and your family got to reclaim your land back :) This really is a huge undertaking to rework the land but it sure is worth every sweat and time and effort put into it. I see happy fruits being harvested. It is such a nice and gratifying feeling to be able to harvest / eat your fruits / veges / nuts of your labour, isn't it? I like the surprises you guys found :). Did the lizard change colour?
Thank you again for sharing your journey with us. Blessings and prosperity will be yours and your family's :)
Hi @marblely! Thank you very much, blessings for you too. We have not yet recovered the land legally, my dad is still pending along with my brothers. God is great, powerful and just.
I tell you that collecting the fruits of the effort is wonderful and delicious.
Yes, this beautiful friend of the forest changed color a few seconds after the first photograph. Then he continued his way climbing a tree.
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