Holistic Landscaping and Ancient Fig Trees
My agricultural work is devoted to undervalued varieties. Some of them may be recovering some of the splendor of yesteryear (such as figs and nettle), others survive as best they can (such as pacay), hoping that at least their nutritional contributions in the pre-Columbian past will be recognized. However, they are all united by the fact that they can nourish with little care and compose sustainable food systems to defy food and genetic erosion and standardisation.
The mystique and antiquity of the ancient fig trees drag the other species that accompany them towards a recognition that is more medicinal than gastronomic. In this little valley converge crossbreeds that bring old traditions (from Eurasia and Southamerica) together. Its dryness makes it similar to the stony plains of Iran, the dry valleys of Western Turkey and the Aegean coasts of Greece. Cultivation also serves as a pretext to highlight the cultural landscape as a compendium of visual chronicles carved by collective enunciators, who imprinted enigmatic interventions in stone and on the ground that, millennia later, are still visible.
The biotopes are home to amphibians and insects. In this way I create a living organism that offers two benefits: first I promote the conservation of biodiversity in the three levels of the farm (the mountain, the fig farm and the streams), secondly I benefit from the myriads of insects that allow me to photograph living nature and show visitors (more and more people are interested in this archaeobotanical nature trail) a wild bee, a ladybug or a black wasp.
Seasonality divides the year into two phases: the fig season (summer) and the cereal season (winter). In between, nettles, dandelion, fennel, chilcas and lemons bloom. The sun, the main ally of this mountain, ennobles the figs by drying (or roasting, for the preparation of the historic fig coffee) and the cereals (ancient varieties of wheat and rye), which are germinated and then dehydrated to preparate bucellatums, Vollkornbrot or Andean mashka.
The sun extends the life of undervalued fruits. So they can be integrated into a dry salad or a whole grain sprout bread. In winter, when the sun rises every day, the solar oven is filled with brezels or whole wheat breads, always seasoned with fig paste. If there is time, some fig bread comes out in the form of Atreyu (The Never Ending Story) or Germanic farmhouse of the 19th century. Blackberries, loquats, the occasional apple and Sicilian lemons are also added.
Farming defines the intervention of the space. Thanks to this selection of underrated species, the fig orchard is transformed into a friendly environment for pollinators and remains in harmony with the memories kept by the volcanic hills, whether in the form of petroglyphs or rocks intervened by lava. The fig trees allow a dialogue with distant latitudes (their origin is hispanoarabic), with distant pasts (because of the Wari heritage, still visible in the valley) and define the cultural hybridation of this archaeological landscape.