January 14, 2018-Lares

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The next day we were on our way down from Adjuntas after an initial visit to Casa Pueblo and as we were driving we saw a grouping of collapsed greenhouses, just a few among many we had seen in our two days on the island. The damage to the structure itself showed the power of the winds that had swept through with the storm. We stopped to take a quick photo and as we did a car came up the driveway. It was lucky timing that we got to meet Olga Perez, the wife of the agronomist whose greenhouse we had just snapped a photo of, who informed us that her husband was a seed saver.

Olga was happy to take some heirloom seeds for her husband to start in a greenhouse he had already rebuilt on another part of their property. She was enthusiastic about the seed that had been given to us to share, because she knew her husband was looking for open pollinated and heirloom seed to grow out for seed saving. She said he would multiply the stock of the seed varieties as well as adapt them to local growing conditions, and would share the seeds he saved with other growers in their community.