Originally posted by Jacqueline Armstrong
On February 5th, Alpha Zeta visited the "Farm of Octavio" in Lares, Puerto Rico. This farm consists mostly of coffee, plantains and some oranges. It is 25 acres but not all of it is in production at the moment. Currently, the owner is trying to stabilize the conditions that are not producing to begin planting. The purpose of the activity was to help those areas that were full of weeds, grass and trees to provide a better planting condition for the owner. We started helping by cleaning out most of the area where the coffee is going to be planted. This was done with machetes due to the high costs associated with machinery and equipment, which also carries away the soil layers containing organic matter. After hard work, the owner served us food made in wood, something very typical of rural area.