One of the things we managed to do over the puente in May was visit an organic farm in Vilasantar called Millo e Landras.
I´d seen interviews and features about Victor and Marta on Galician TV, there are links on their website, so I knew when they started they were relatively new to agriculture and I was looking forward to meeting them and asking some questions about making a ¨green¨ living.
They have more than 5 hectares and, in addition to vegetable and fodder crops and an orchard, a collection of chickens, pigs, rabbits, sheep, goats and horses. They supply 2 CSAs and sell at an organic market in Santiago and via Granxa Familiar, a great website dedicated to direct marketing of products from Galician farmers.
Victor was out planting green onions when we arrived and couldn´t have been nicer in welcoming us. Then we got a tour around the beautiful stone house and yard with Montse, one of their increasing group of collaborators, to see most of the animals. Sadly, the sheep were already out in the far fields, so I have yet to get my hands on a Galician sheep fleece.
We finished up with a nice chat on the porch about the challenges of organic ag, certification, sales and area markets, raising heritage breed animals (they have seasonal wolf pressure) and profitability.
Overall I left reasonably encouraged, although they started off with the advantage of considerable resources and owning land.
Someday maybe I´ll be going to the market in Santiago, too.
A lot of very hard physical work and commitment is required as well as the land and resources. Sounds idyllic but it can be tough.
ReplyDeleteI didn´t mean to imply they don´t work hard - another 2 people are about to be incorporated, so there´s plenty of work.
ReplyDeleteThere´s an old joke - to make a small fortune farming, just start with a big one. :)