Permaculture and organic farming
Our field is located at an altitude of 670 meters next to a tributary of Evinos. It is terraced and the soil has excellent drainage. Because it is quite cold in winter with many days of ice, trees such as chestnuts, walnuts, cherries, figs, quinces and apple trees thrive. In the first year, together with the help of volunteers, we designed our garden on one terrace with permaculture, co-cultivation and organic farming techniques.
Basic Garden
It includes tomatoes, corn, beans, peppers, eggplants, zucchini and cucumbers. We used cardboard mulch, plantain leaves, soil from the forest rich in fungi and chestnut shell.
To strengthen the soil we used goat manure, compost, leaf litter from the forest and fertilizer from banana, coffee and eggs. Watering is done with a drip network that we built. We used traditional tomato, corn and bean seeds which we saved for next year. Our goal is for the garden to provide self-sufficiency in Yamochori.
Flower beds
In the first year we created in our field 4 flower beds built from stones. Our goal was to use the cut cotton wool from all over the field that we had cleared and beautify our field. In the first two flower bedswe cultivated vegetables like lettuce, leek and various herbs (basil,celery andparsley). These flower beds were veryuseful because we could easily cover them on the days when there was ice. We filled the third flower bed with marjorams and the fourth one next to the kitchen with herbs and Egyptian onions.
Tree plantings and pellets
At the same time, during the first year we planted 10 trees (walnuts, apples, cherries, chestnuts and pomegranates). We also cleaned and maintained the trees that already exist in the field, with the goal of increasing their production over time.
Next year we will plant many cherry trees and create lines of complementary trees, with the aim of making some sidewalk an edible forest. Finally, throughout the field we throw pellets of wild grasses and pre-existing species so that there is vegetation throughout the field and to protect the soil, while creating green fertilization and stopping the uncontrolled growth of weeds.
Manufacturing Products
One of our main activities in the village is the processing of fruits and vegetables, thus producing jams, sauces, sweet spoons, wine and various otherproducts such as spices (oregano, laurel, chamomile, tea, etc.) that we collect from the mountain and soap that we use for our own consumption and that of the volunteers. In the village, each season has its fruit, so in the spring we had cherry jam, in the summer cherry and fig jam and in the fall quince. alsowe produced wine from grapes given to us by local producers with the help of neighbors who have more experience and soaps from the oil that remains in the olive mills. In this way we also try tokeep fruits and vegetables that come out inexcess and create a self-sufficiency model.
