At the suggestion of Susan I am asking that if any of you are expats or future expats that are or want to do "farming" in Ecuador to join this thread whether your farming is animals, crops or vegetables; organic or not, so we can see if there are enough of us to have our own group. If you could introduce yourself, if and where in Ecuador you are located, if you are already farming in Ecuador, why you chose the area you are farming in and what challenges you may be experiencing in achieving your farming goals to start. If you are looking to come to Ecuador to farm you might give us some of your background and what you think you might want to do as far as farming goes when you move there.
I guess I should start. At the end of this year I am planning on making my move to Ecuador and will be visiting the end of April to try and find where I want to live. I am currently working with my 82 year old neighbor who is like a father to me doing organic farming on about 6 acres of land in fruits, herbs and vegetables and helping with his egg production from 400 hens. We do 2 on-line farmers markets where orders are placed over a 4 day period and delivered on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The customers can come out to Pa's place anyday or buy "extras" that Pa brings with him on order delivery day. I know I want to do "farming" when I settle there but just not sure to what degree as Pa will only be visiting me during the Northern Indiana winters. My husband is afraid of the language barrier (in his mind) so he will be coming with Pa staying for 6 months only and I will be the one living in Ecuador full time. I feel that after a couple of years doing this Tome will find he likes it there and come to stay.
Staying in a foreign country alone isn't new to me as I was in Spain for four years and traveled to the 1972 Olymipcs in Munich, Germany from outside Madrid, Spain in a car with my teenage sister that was living with me at the time. We went from Madrid, through France, Switzerland and at the end of the Olympics back to Spain - In fact we left only hours before the shooting happened at the Olympic Village. Maps, dictionaries and some translations books in spanish, french swiss and german got us through the trip including a car breakdown in a French countryside. That was an experience! I learned to drive around Madrid by using maps and getting lost. Everytime you get lost you run across some place you had been before eventually or find the cross street locations on a map and then you find your way to where you were going. Staying safe and being careful are called for when living anywhere. I will be bringing my canine protector with me - No not just my Chihuahuas but I raised and trained shephard show and guard dogs before I took up showing Chihuahuas..
My goal is trying to find a good place to continue doing the same kind of farming I am now. By finding those that are expats in Ecuador that are farming and hearing about where they are and what they are doing, finding a place to live for me and many more like me that may be looking to come too will be more productive and maybe we can reciprocate by helping the farming expats that are in the group.. Depending on crops, animals, etc location for each person wanting to farm when they get here may differ so everyone's experiences will be invaluable to help us decide where we locate. Also maybe if you are doing the farming we are interested in, locating near you might be helpful to you and those of us that are looking.
If anyone reading this knows others that could be part of the group but are not on this Blog or doesn't post here, getting them to do so or posting for them would be so great.
Looking forward to conversing with all of you and meeting you when I visit in 2 months.
Mary E
Pa's Farming Coop
La Porte, Indiana
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