For a change of thought in society to occur is necessary time. Our family is trying to leave the groundwork for the next generation to have the freedom to decide their future from a sustainable point of view.
It may be too early to present this green cultivation project. Although for me and my family, it has been more than seven years since we started the climatology studies and studies of the chemical composition of the soil.
Pistacia vera.
We have had to do this series of studies because in these latitudes it was not used to plant this type of tree. These trees are originally planted in Greece, Syria, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan and West Afghanistan.
When I speak of these latitudes, I mean the banks of the Duero in eastern Portugal. Place of origin of my paternal family.
After doing a climate study in the same location in which the trees would later be planted, we decided that the temperatures for both flowering and maturation of the fruit (pistachio) were the best. We also had to take into account the chemical composition of soils. In this case it was much easier because this type of tree is very undemanding and adapts well to poor soils in minerals.
Image Source Google
Above economic reasons they are usually almost always the main reason to start a project of these characteristics. We focus on the hydric needs of the crop. Despite being located just over three kilometers from one of the most flowing rivers in Spain and Portugal, the terrain is sandy, rainfall is scarce. That prevented us from carrying out many types of plantations without causing a huge environmental impact or without a huge expense of fuel to be able to supply enough water for other types of crops.
So after these lands remained uncultivated for the last thirty years. At last we can say that the legacy that my grandparents left with so much effort finally returned to life. And not only that, but also long life and maximum respect to the ecosystem of the area and with the minimum consumption of water resources. Something I'm very proud of.
After the presentation let me tell you the story from the beginning….
Many times in this society so frantic we stay in words. I am a man of facts so a few years ago I involved a large part of my family in this beautiful story …
In 2009 my parents, already retired from their jobs, began to look towards the legacy our grandparents had left us. With some sadness to see how the years passed and they were not being used to the land they decided in an unprofessional way to plant a series of trees that did not adapt well to the climatic conditions or to the soil.
Of course as you can imagine everything ended in a disaster. Trees had such a high mortality rate that of the hundreds of trees that were planted very few survived the first winter. The second year was worse and the mortality rate reached 100%.
So when my parents had almost lost hope of resurrecting the legacy. Almost by chance I encountered this type of tree while driving listening to the radio.
In the radio spoke of a type of crop very little extended by Spain. The one who spoke on the radio was a pioneer agricultural engineer in the cultivation of pistachio in Spain. After listening very attentively to the radio interview, the light bulb was lit.
The climatic and soil conditions with very low concentration in clays closely resembled the ideal conditions expressed by the agricultural engineer. This happened at the end of 2010.
Hoping to have found the type of tree that seemed our best option, we started the different studies that I have named before. The climatology study was the longest because we decided not to plant anything but this would have given the results.
And so after three years of study came the results at the end of 2013. The results could not be more promising, adjusting perfectly to the needs of this crop.
Temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius in the summer months and temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius during the winter months, little precipitation of rain and a high silica soil that does not retain water.
The accumulation of water in the root of this tree is very detrimental to the health of trees causing the proliferation of many types of fungi. Fungi that cause the death of this type of tree.
Example :the fungus Verticillium dahliae
Thus we arrive to the spring of 2014. In which after many problems to find the trees in the end we get a plant nursery in the south of Spain will send us the first thousand trees. In this type of tree a tree of the same family is used and a graft is made with the variety that best adapts to the conditions of the zone. So we started our plant nursery of Pistacia terebinthus.
After talking with the agricultural engineers we decided to leave the trees in the nursery until the following spring.
In the spring of 2015 after two years preparing the land for this new crop we finally began to transplant our small trees. Just a year and forty centimeters tall. Soon we would realize that the nursery year was a lost year. Although the conditions are ideal many of the small trees did not pass that summer. Almost 30% of the plantation died. Some very hard days for my family. The hope of creating a crop for the next generations was becoming more difficult.
Far from giving up. We look for more plants of the same variety with much dedication we find another nursery of plants. That same autumn we planted all those who had died and thirteen hundred more.
The year 2016 was fantastic for our cultivation. We realized that by planting the tree nursery directly in its final location without going through our plant nursery the trees were better adapted to the terrain and the low mortality rate below 10%. Our joy was immense when we saw that practically all the trees planted in the autumn grew above 80 cm. Even so the trees still did not have the conditions to be able to graft the variety that we have chosen.
And this way we get to 2017. Another fantastic year after the hard start. Trees more than one meter high and in many cases with sufficient diameter for grafting. With a near zero mortality rate. We only had to replenish sixteen trees of two thousand one hundred trees planted. So we started to make the grafts on all trees with enough diameter.
We are still far from the first crop. At least another three years. But the happiness of seeing these trees grow is immense.
In conclusion I would like to say that patience for any type of tree cultivation is fundamental.
I encourage all those who want to start any type of crop that you inform your best. Ask the professionals for help. Carry out the studies you need to minimize possible losses. After that with the data in hand decide which type of crop. Try not to be guided solely by the economic results of the crop. At least it is not the main factor.
Try to adapt the crop to the land and not the land to the crop. Adapting the soil to the crop can lead to the use of huge piles of chemicals.
Luck and patience .. A lot of patience.
Take care of your crops using as few chemicals as possible. If possible do not use any. That way each product that you consume will be as natural as possible. Although the production is small every bite of organic products is a bit victorious.
Victorious for our health and at the same time will also be a small victory against the multinationals Bayer - Monsanto, etc.
Just as we seek financial freedom with crypto, self-cultivation will help us take a step further ...
Use your ability to long term thinking. And put it into practice. Some may laugh at you. Do not worry, you'll end up laughing at the last ones.
I want to pay tribute to my grandparents. So that future generations when they read this post recorded in the Blockchain know that thanks to them this project was possible.
All photos are by @teks.
I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.
Enjoy your life. Enjoy your day.
its a bitter truth.. but it is so.. thats very nice u shared this post.. atleast some of us will be taking action in this regard and think for our future generation as well
Every day we are more the ones that happen to the action. Let's hope the trend continues.
Great post! Yeah, I can't keep house plant alive for now. Great job!
I knew very little about agriculture, but in these years I have learned a lot. Even without the effort and knowledge of all my family would have been very difficult.
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