Browse Items (62 total)

  • Tags: local food systems

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The first Raíces beans poking up out of the ground. In the following year we would plant two kinds of red kidney beans, green beans, black beans and white beans.

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End of summer tomato harvest ripening on the windowsill.

Tomatoes originated in the Andes, where they grew wild with very small fruits, most likely yellow in color. There are species of tomatoes that still grow wild there today. Tomatoes were…

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Don Luis Soto and his wife Doña Carmen live on their farm Finca Mi Casa, in the coastal area of Camuy, Puerto Rico. Don Luis maintains one of the only USDA certified organic farms on the island of Puerto Rico. He is a retired agronomist and in his…

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While at Finca Mi Casa, the Raíces crew members on the Sustainable Disaster Relief Support Trip learned about preparing the soil by hand and spent time preparing and planting a bed of beans for seed saving.

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We passed by where the Departamento de la Comida restaurant and local food farmer’s market used to be before Hurricane Maria. The restaurant and market were put on hold to create the PR Resiliency Fund project, which will support at least 200…

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Butterfly house at Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, where a native subspecies of monarch is bred, protected, and released into the natural environment. A few monarchs remain in the butterfly house at any given time in order to educate visitors,…

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Despite losing the plastic roof and the door to the screened in greenhouse, Don Luis Soto of Finca Mi Casa resumed annual crop production inside his greenhouse almost immediately after Hurricane Maria passed. When the Raíces crew visited in January…

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Heirloom dino kale growing in a polyculture of tomatoes and aromatic herbs on Finca Mi Casa in Camuy, Puerto Rico.

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Don Luis Soto keeps one heirloom tobacco plant in production in his greenhouse in order to save the seeds.

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As Don Luis tours his home based farm, he harvests fruits and leaves from the plants that are growing for visitors to sample. Three months after Hurricane María devastated the island of Puerto Rico, Don Luis and other small, local farmers already had…

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Don Luis explaining what is growing inside the greenhouse area and what has changed on the farm since Hurricane María to Raíces Cultural Center Director Francisco G. Gómez. The plastic roof and repairs to this greenhouse became one of the projects…

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Shallots are one of many crops not common to the Caribbean that Don Luis Soto has been able to adapt to the tropical growing conditions and proposed successfully on his farm Finca Mi Casa.

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Some of the damage to the screened in greenhouse at Finca Mi Casa in Camuy, Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria. Almost immediately after the Hurricane, a work brigade of volunteers from Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica de Puerto…

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Raíces Cultural Center Director Francisco G. Gómez talking with Don Luis Soto of Finca Mi Casa about the his experiences during and after Hurricane María. Reminders of the devastation everywhere, from damage to structures to scarred and damaged trees…

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Raíces Cultural Center’s January 2018 visit to Finca Mi Casa was a true lesson in resiliency and hospitality. In the face of Hurricane Maria and the difficult relief and recovery period that continues to this day, Don Luis Soto of Finca Mi Casa…

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Roadside produce stand just a mile away from Finca Mi Casa in Camuy, Puerto Rico. It was a relief to see a small, local business providing fresh food to the community in contrast to the amount of destroyed, damaged and yet-to-be reopened businesses…

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Greens and herbs growing in the greenhouse at Plenitud PR. Tender annuals and seedlings are grown in the greenhouse in order to extend the season through water control. The young seedlings and the greens are protected from driving rains and given…

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A raised garden bed made out of cement. Owen Ingley, co-founder and director of Plenitud PR, is harvesting greens for a healthy breakfast.

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A bed of arugula growing in a raised bed at Plenitud PR.

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Tomato seedlings sprouting in the greenhouse at Plenitud PR. Growing the seedlings inside of the greenhouse allows for control over the amount of water the seedlings get each day.

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A variety of seedlings sprouting in trays in the greenhouse at Plenitud PR. The greenhouse was heavily damaged by Hurricane María, with repairs happening from the end of December to the beginning of January, thanks to a grant received by the Juntos…

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Seedlings sprouting in the greenhouse at Plenitud PR. The greenhouse was heavily damaged by Hurricane María. Raíces helped to facilitate the repair of the greenhouse through a grant given to Plenitud PR by Juntos Together Disaster Relief Coalition in…

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Mizuna, an Asian salad and cooking green, growing in the greenhouse at Plenitud PR. Growing a diversity of heat resistant varieties adds to the biodiversity of the landscape and gardens.

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Kale, scallions, cilantro, parsley, lettuce, mizuna, arugula, chives and more were already growing in the greenhouse just weeks after repairs had begun in December 2017, and greens and herbs were already mature and being harvested when the Raíces…
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