Some persons turn into gold everything they touch. Alexander Quesada Orta is a living example of that. He could not imagine that he would change that place when he requested in usufruct some abandoned lands, in Aguacate settlement, belonging to Caimito.

Innovating, creating and sowing are key words in La Burgambilia * agroecological farm, which has the National Reference condition granted by Urban and Suburban Agriculture. There they grow vegetables and ornamental plants, but not only that: there you can see the results of work. It is an Eden, of so much greenery and beauty.

In a guano hut they created a space for relaxation and a library. Next we find the house of postures and a place for vermiculture. There is a place for rabbits, beekeeping and a pond with fish, where they reuse rainwater and use it for irrigation.

An idea and a project are born together

"The soils here were skeletal, the so-called category four. There was no earth. It was just stone. The water dragged the surface commonly known as vegetable. With effort we have created the soil; it took us between five and six years. As we are in a mountain, we create living barriers with living and dead plants, with stones, to avoid soil erosion, " Quesada explains.

"The farm belonging to Jesús Menéndez Credit and Service Cooperative (CCS) is large : three hectares for livestock, three for various crops and 2.8 planted with vegetables and ornamental plants, with a total of 119 stonecutters."

Thay also have a nursery garden with more than 76,000 postures where there are decorative varieties: croto, marpacífico, fern, granite of gold, liriope, ten of the day, cordobán and other varieties. They also have 36 species of orchids and timber trees.

Marketing is carried out directly, from the furrow to the market located in Caimito, and another part linked to the Urban Farm. The final destination of these is social consumption: the elderly house, the local school, Piquito de Coral day care center and Caimito Family Attention System (SAF).

Alexander speaks in plural, because on the farm they are a big family, with very real ties . Three couples work continuously in the field. Their names: Walter Rivero and Ana Díaz, Joaquín Ferrales and Isnelys Rivero, and Luis Pérez and Aurora Medina.

Aurora and Luis have been together for 22 years , she joined the work on the farm a year ago.

"I work in the cultivation house. I take care of the postures, from the sowing of the seeds until they are ready for cultivation. It happens in the same way with lettuce, chili and tomato, according to the planting season.

"I also scald the furrows . In fact I am where they need me and my husband does the same. We work eight hours shared between the morning and afternoon, "says Medina.

The farm has managed to keep workforce´s stability , because its 11 workers earn 100 pesos daily, in addition to the payment of a premium, according to the profits at the end of the year. Annually each one gets approximately 35,000 pesos.

Making the field a place of love

Marta Liz, Alexander´s daughter is eight years old, and was born thanks to in vitro fertilization technique . When she arrives at the farm she enjoys being in that place.

She had the original idea of making a field, more than a place of work, a place to live, learn and create.

"I love going to the farm; I work there in the field, I play with rabbits and I taste honey. My dad teaches a lot of things to my friends and me, "says the girl with an immense smile.

"We are linked to Marcelo Salado Elementary School, located in Aguacate community. The students come here, and I did not want them to think of this as just a place where they come to work, but rather to instill them the love for the countryside; that's why I decided to create the library and started raising rabbits, "says Alexander.

Liz knows from now on the importance of work in the field, and the example of her father allows her to see the effort results . She knows first hand the importance and the need to live in peace with the environment and improve it.

Other plans

The work is done manually, without using any type of equipment, and avoid as far as possible the non-natural fertilizers.

They do not stop in La Burgambilia farm. They are busy in the construction of a new house of postures, built with wood, in collaboration with the Project of Support to a Sustainable Agriculture (PAAS).

"The PAAS will have an impact, since it promotes the increase of sustainable agricultural production and the generation of renewable energy through local solutions. It gives us the support to reach such objectives, and it trains us according to that, "explains Eduardo González, the farm manager.

Pedro Gavilanes, specialist of the project, told Prensa Latina, "the production of healthy and healthy food, and its validation through the Organic Participatory Certification System (SPG) for fruits and vegetables, through a network of 125 municipalities in 11 provinces , contributes to the inhabitants quality of life , through the promotion of healthy eating habits and greater access to healthy foods ".

And with the collaboration of Los Naranjos Genetic Enterprise, they expect to increase rabbits breeding .

Where many said that it was impossible to get fruit, Alexander and his workers have shown that everything you dream can be achieved, because for some persons there are not impossible goals.

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