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Tag: tomatoes

  • 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.

  • Cristiana and Tiziana Vargiu – tomato growers

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    Since the Vargiu family are both agriculturalists and pastoralists, we also visited their farm consisting of two greenhouses with a combined area of 2.5 hectares where they are growing tomatoes along the alluvial plain of Santa Margherita di Pula.

    Upon our arrival, we were met by Efisio Vargiu’s wife, Maria Teresa, who showed us the way to the greenhouses where Cristiana and Tiziana Vargiu were tending tomato plants. Their brother Giuseppe was apparently working with artificial irrigation, dividing his time with shepherding goats in the highlands in the morning and doing whatever is required in the greenhouses in the lowlands in the afternoon.

    Both Cristiana and Tiziana were originally students, but broke off their studies in order to grow tomatoes. Both of them being aged about 30, said their choice was deliberate, but also difficult.

    Walking between the lines of tomatoes, we notice the difference between inside and outside. We are approaching November, but the air is dry and the temperature is about 28°C, while it’s constantly 26°C and somewhat humid inside, parameters which are necessary for cultivating tomatoes. The type of tomato they are cultivating remains firm and fresh even after maturation, making them very popular in the market.

    Regarding cultivation, the tomato plants are planted in the beginning of September. First, a straight furrow is made in the soil, then a hose with small. regularly spaced holes is extended along the whole furrow. Finally, the small tomato plants, having a height of about 10 cm, are planted next to each hole in the hose such that they can be watered with droplets, which is called drip irrigation. More information on drip irrigation can be found here.

    As the mother plant is growing, shoots will inevitably start appearing and Tiziana and Cristiana have to decide if they shall let the plant have two or three shoots. They have chosen to have three, while some other growers prefer two. Tomato plants are climbers/vines and the shoots grow quickly upwards. In order to prevent that they fall down, thin twines are attached to each shoot and also to a horizontal metal bar about 2 m above each row of tomato plants. Then, the twine is twisted around the plant, a procedure which has to be repeated as the shoot is growing upwards. Another operation, which has to be done continuously, is to remove leaves since new shoots will often appear and start growing leaves. Often, two shoots start growing in opposite directions at the same level. Only one of the shoot is wanted because the leaves require nutrients, while the cultivators want them to arrive at the tomatoes as far as as possible. At the same time as Tiziana and Cristiana are removing leaves, they are also monitoring the health of the plants. A common disease is tomato leaf mould, whose first symptom is white spots on the leaves.

    When the tomato plants are approaching the metal bars suspended over each row of tomato plants, they have to be lowered, else they will go on growing and degrade the quality of the tomatoes. If the tomato plants are supported by twine, this entails a lot of work for each plant as Giuseppe showed us. Alternatively, they are also using some kind of suspender, which makes this operation very easy. We were told that the tomato plants have an ideal height where they produce tomatoes at seven different levels. Having attained an ideal height, the Vargiu siblings may harvest tomatoes at the lowest level three months after the tiny tomato plants were planted. As time passes, they can harvest tomatoes from the second lowermost level and so on. Harvest lasts from December to June when the tomatoes at the highest level are harvested.

    After having been harvested, the tomatoes are sorted in a machine according to their sizes. Then, they are packaged and sold wholesale to retailers.The room with the tomato sorting machine also contain some apparatuses for receiving goat’s milk brought by Giuseppe and his father back to the farm.

    In order to pollinate the tomato plants, small boxes with cultured bumblebees are placed inside the greenhouses. Pollen on the male tomato flowers is released by means of buzz pollination. An introduction to pollination can also be found here.

    Although using drip irrigation limits waste of water, not all of it will be consumed by the tomato plants, leading to that weeds will start growing where the soil is humid. Since they also need nutrients from the soil, weeding has to be done occasionally.

    In July and August, old plants are uprooted, the soil is plowed, manure is added and new furrows are made. Then, another set of small tomato plants are planted and drip irrigation is set up again, repeating the growth cycle.

     

  • 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.