In the afternoon we headed out to a project on the outskirts of Havana called Marigold. It is group of facilities run by a nun that takes care of the elderly, lepers and serves as a retreat location. It is rural, very well maintained and peaceful. The amazing thing about this place is that they have about 12 acres where they grow fruits and vegetables. They produce the food that sustains the facilities. They produce some excess which they sell at the market.
The facility is very peaceful but the gardens were the most interesting part of the visit. There is one person in charge of the operation and he has one helper. He took us through the gardens and showed us what was being grown there. There were avocado trees, garlic, mangos, cashews, and a whole lot of other crops. He grafts trees for the best yield, does everything by hand (he doesn’t even have a tiller), so everything is totally organic.
Following are some pictures from Marigold:
The main facility.
A pig they are raising.
Mangos.
Avocados. Some trees are over 40’ high and the person that runs the place will climb up to the top of the tree, pull in the branches with the fruit, pick them and drop them to his assistant on the ground who is holding a burlap bag.
A cashew. The only fruit where the seed grows outside the pulp. The seed has to be roasted and opened to be able to enjoy one of those tasty cashew nuts. The fruit is very juicy and actually quite tasty.
Some kind of Chinese fruit and the tree that it comes from. (That’s our guy holding the fruit).