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Tag: beans

  • Májai Zsigmond – farmer

    Workers are removing unwanted laves from a field of eggplants.

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    Zsigmond Májai runs a farm next to the Nirajul Mic River, a tributary to the Niraj River where he grows vegetables on 4 hectares of fertile land. All the vegetables are grown in soil and he uses manure, which he receives from other farms, as fertiliser. Besides, he uses no pesticides . He uses a manual seed planter made from a bicycle wheel and some mechanical parts in order to obtain a fixed distance between each seed when planting. He also exchanges information with other farmers how to grow vegetables successfully. He has been running this farm for 18 years, but now he’s thinking about starting crop rotation  in order to take better care of the soil. Another description of crop rotation can be found here.

    Tomatoes and beans were cultivated in greenhouses and everything looked tidy and orderly. The tomatoes looked like they would mature soon, but Mr. Májai wasn’t satisfied with growing hybrid ones because they were susceptible to weather changes. Instead, he wanted to grow local varieties again.

    Outside, he was cultivating eggplants, strawberries, raspberries and paprika and the ground around the plants was covered with plastic sheets in order to prevent weeds from growing. All the plants, both inside and outside, were irrigated from the nearby river and in order to conserve water, by means of drip irrigation.

    More information on how to grow strawberries can be found here.

    Some workers living nearby were cutting the lower leaves of the eggplants during our visit.

    Mr. Májai sells tomatoes, strawberries and raspberries direct to markets in small towns, while the rest is sold to the food industry.

  • Sant’Agostino farm

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    On the lowlands of Barega near the town of Carbonia, we meet Antonio Cadeddu, drawing on his ancestors, his calling, the local environment and local traditions, has planted a wide variety of vegetables in greenhouses and in open air. He’s also raising a flock of sheep.

    Antonio has a strong attachment to his land, but he’s also very attached to his animals, and he feels like more a shepherd than a farmer.

    Having entered the greenhouse where Antonio has been cultivating beans, he explains that all the bean plants have failed and all his work has been in vain. All the plants have to be uprooted, the soil has to be prepared again, the artificial irrigation must be rearranged and new plants have to be replanted one by one. Strong heat caused a very quick growth of the stems, leading to that it wasn’t possible to prune them in time. This made them bend over towards the soil, making them wither.

    Anyway, he doesn’t seem to be the least disturbed by this, making us understand that he has already taken it into account and that he just has to accept it, unforeseen events happen, you just have to be decisive and react fast.

    He also cultivates three different types of tomatoes: cherry tomatoes, red bunch tomatoes, and round salad tomatoes. Growing tomatoes gives him lots of satisfaction even though they need constant attention because they are subject to various diseases and parasites.

    Antonio also explains with confidence the characteristics of the plants he is cultivating: beans, tomatoes, squash/courgette/zucchini, pumpkins, etc. Pumpkins can be grown outside, they are resistant against diseases and heat and able to absorb nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the soil. He explains the lives of the plants and their characteristics thoroughly, including how to counteract that the plants get ill and how to cure them of specific diseases. Continuous attention to parasites and symptoms of diseases are necessary for the whole life of the plants. Thus, only plant varieties, which are adapted to the environment, should be cultivated. Systematic controls of the plants have to be done and, regarding tomato plants, the leaves in particular. In case of symptoms of disease, immediate precautions should be taken, else the disease may spread to adjacent plants, then to all of them.

    He also describes the main symptoms of diseases, but emphasises that continuous attention and prompt action in case of diseases is the the only way to halt them.

    One of the most common parasites is the whitefly. They introduce toxic saliva inside the leaves, leading to that they can also bring viruses and bacteria. Besides, they secrete honeydew, which encourages mold growth.

    The plants can also be attacked by fungi, but they can be identified early upon close inspection.

    It seems like Antonio is as concerned about the welfare of the plants as he is about his animals. Obviously, he’s very passionate about both of them.

    Additionally, he has built a huge cabin nearby, in the same way as shepherds were doing in the past, consisting of wooden poles embedded in the ground with branches linking the poles.

    Inside the cabin there is a large collection of tools, objects, and utensils used in the past in order to cultivate and harvest agricultural products as well as to do various practical activities typical for this region.

    A pleasant smell of coffee fills this unpretentious ethnographic museum where Antonio’s wife, Rita, is preparing coffee for us and their friends. If we had yielded to curiosity, observing tool by tool, being lectured by Antonio on the use of each one, in addition to staying in this hospitable atmosphere, we could have stayed for hours. Instead, we left, but not before having been greeted by two Tibetan goats, one of them a male which seemed to want to tip me over. Being quite small, it was easy to resist.

  • Txomin Arregi – vegetable producer

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    After having visited the Axpe winery, we went to visit a young man, Txomin Arregi, who is only 23 years old. He lives just outside the town of Markina-Xemein, but his caravan and his greenhouses are located above the town and we had to pass steep slopes in order to get there. My guide told me that Spanish youth, in general, don’t leave home when they are in their early twenties and that Basque youth leave home even later, which means that Txomin must be very independent. Impressively, he has also created his own workplace in a country with high unemployment.

    The workplace of Txomin consists of a caravan where he lives together with two greenhouses, which are made of metal tubes covered by sheets of plastic. Inside, he ‘s growing vegetables like peppers, peas, tomatoes, and beans. The plants are suspended by thin ropes extending from metal bars located above the plants. The ground is covered by plastic with holes through which the vegetables grow and impedes growth of unwanted weeds. Irrigation is done by hollow rubber tubes with small holes through which water drops are applied to the plants.

    During our short visit, Txomin collected two buckets with peppers and beans ready for sale. Since he lives some distance from the centre of the town, he brings his products in his van to local markets.

    He’s collecting seeds from his best plants, while also exchanging seeds with other producers.

    Outside the greenhouse, a group of turkeys and some chickens were walking around freely, while a group of chicks was growing up inside a box. Hopefully, they would be released soon.