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planting with a purpose

Mayra Cardich

Mayra Cardich

This dedicated young woman has opened so many opportunities for not only me, but also the Sacred Valley. Mayra is the founder of a local non-profit organization called Quali Causay. She hopes to rejuvenate the earth and the community by starting organic gardens around the Sacred Valley. She believes that the future of the earth lies within the hands of the youth, so she targets elementary schools and communities with small children.

Urubamba Nursery

Urubamba Nursery

This flourishing nursery was located just a few houses down from my hostel in Urubamba. All of their plants are grown organically, right down to the soil that comes from their compost piles of dirt (squirming with worms and rollie pollies). Here we purchased rosemary, chamomile, muña, mint, and strawberry seedlings to plant with a couple schools.

Sustainable cause

Sustainable cause

I found this planter filled with beautiful flowers at the plant nursery we visited. This innovative design is so meaningful and I hope to see more of these types of planters around. This planter is not only compostable, but also can serve as a water reservoir for the plant. The wood can retain water for a longer period of time so that it can provide water during dryer seasons. It also just looks way better, in my opinion!

Kamicancha Elementary

Kamicancha Elementary

Here you'll find a few school girls helping me plant onion and lettuce that we purchased at the local market. As a part of the organization, we try to instill the value of organic products and we show them how easy it can be to grow your own garden.

Phiry School Kids

Phiry School Kids

These kind souls helped me pick out the "mala hierba" (weeds) from the greenhouse right alongside their playground at their school. While weeding they shared all of the English words they knew with me and asked me to translate a few words like root and dirt. Most of them could count to 10 not only in English and Spanish, but also Quechua. Their curiosity and willingness to share really brightened my day.

Phiry Garden

Phiry Garden

This is a picture of most kids that helped us with our gardening. It amazed me how eager they were to help, we actually didn't have enough gardening tools to go around. There was also a mutual respect between the students and their teacher, they called him "profesor". These types of learning experiences are granted thanks to Mayra (in the middle), the program founder.

El Mercado

El Mercado

There is never a dull moment when I walk through the local market every other day. In preparation for planting with the school kids, Mayra and I purchased some broccoli and various types of lettuce from these ladies. The prices in Urubamba are extremely reasonable. You can buy a small pile of organic strawberries for one Peruvian Sole (S/.1) which is equivalent to about .30 cents.

Ollantaytambo Community

Ollantaytambo Community

As a part of Mayra's organization she helps small communities by setting up gardens with families that have small children. In this photo we were planting broccoli and lettuce. This helps create a better sense of community while teaching the children that you can start a garden with any amount of space you might have!

Brightening the future

Brightening the future

In order to make gardening even more fun for the kiddos and families, Mayra provides different paints and brushes to add a little more color to the garden. Seeing these vibrant colors in the community really makes a difference and creates an inviting space for the member of the community or household.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

From the little bit of time that I've spent in Peru (specifically Urubamba), it seems as though there is a lack of understanding of the long term effects of litter. A woman in the small community of Ollantaytambo thought of this on her own. She used recycled beer bottles to create a planter for the flowers that Mayra first planted in their backyard. I love the idea, and hope to recreate this in my home one day!

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

I was fortunate enough to visit this mystical world wonder during my second week. I did not plant anything here but I learned a bit about the Inca state of mind in regards to agriculture. Growing crops cannot be easy at about 8,000ft in elevation, but they found a way. The terraces on the right side were used to grow plants found at lower elevations. Making their way up the terraces, the plants began to acclimate to the altitude. Remarkable.

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