Patagonian Greenhouses

It has been over a month and a half since I left snowy Colorado for the winds of Patagonia. There is a reason why this place is legendary for adventures seeking to live on the edge, with no major landmasses to interrupt the winds circling the globe, they slam into Patagonia full bore.  This is also an isolated place; outside goods and produce do make it here but only once a week, in limited quantity and quality.  As a result, homesteading here is more of a necessity than a hobby.  Walking through the nearby town of Cochrane one finds chickens roaming the streets, fruit trees everywhere, and small greenhouses/gardens in most backyards.  I’ve even seen urban sheep herds. 

At the Estancia, I’ve been busy and have finished building two greenhouses and repaired a third.  Each has been a different rewarding experience; in many ways, I have learned more from the park rangers than they have from me.  At Daniels house I watched as he skillfully cut down Lenga (beech trees), and then milled it into semi dimensional lumber using only a chainsaw.  All of the wood, stone, and earth were obtained on site.   

Daniel showing off his chainsaw handling skills.

Finished Greenhouse at Daniels

Creativity in use of available resources has been essential to this project.  The second greenhouse was built at Eduardo Castro’s house, who manages the herd of cows still on the Estancia.  Eduardo had a surplus of old wood posts, which we cut and assembled like a log cabin to build the frame.  I struggled to find good quality soil at first, but as I spent more time observing the property found an old chicken coop, horse/cow manure everywhere, and a 5 year old pile of wood shavings that yielded a great amount of rich soil beneath it.  

Greenhouse frame at Eduardo Castros house constructed from old fence posts.

Planting the finished greenhouse with Eduardo Castro

My third trip was out to the eastern edge of the park 6 km from the Argentine border.  René’s house is at the end of a windswept plain and he already had an existing greenhouse built in a sheltered location.  We sacrificed a bit of ideal sunshine for protection from the wind with trees and repaired the greenhouse, adding a few outside raised beds.  René takes care of the remaining 1000 sheep, down from 30,000 in the Estancia’s heyday.   He also is running the pilot sheep dog program, which uses Great Pyrenees to protect the sheep from the numerous puma, which live in the mountains above them.  

Old greenhouse overgrown with weeds

René watering the finished garden with repaired greenhouse.  We mulched cut weeds, manure, and sawdust to create worm farm pathways.

Each one of the park rangers lives a simple life, spending time alone with the land.  They make the journey into town infrequently, and all seem to love their work. Large-scale development projects such as the massive Hydropower dams proposed on the Rio Baker have no appeal to the rangers as they are out of touch with their lifestyles.  They have a wealth of knowledge of their homes, and it has been an honor to spend time with them.  It may be a slow life but it is quite Tranquillo.

René, his herding dog Pobre and one of the Great Pyrenees overlooking the sheep herd.

Small sheep herd behind Renés house.

The next generation of sheep protectors.

Work

In between exploring the park I have begun my Internship as Greenhouse Manager.  There is lots of work to be done at the Estancia Greenhouse but I have been given a project to design and construct small greenhouses for each of the 5 Guardaparques or Park Rangers.  Each one has a slightly different job and I have visited 3 so far.  The first guardaparque I visited was Daniel, who is leading the Huemel study.  Huemel are a critically endangered species of deer endemic to Patagonia and Daniel tracks them on horseback using radio telemetry.  He lives in an incredible meadow a few hundred meters above Lago Cochrane, which forms part of the southern boarder of PNP.  Surrounded by mountains and beech forests, Daniel has a great place to do some homesteading and I spent 2 days observing his property.

Casa de Guardaparque Daniel near Lago Cochrane.

This morning I went out on a quick trip to visit two more guardaparques, Edward Castro, who manages the cows and René, who shepherds the sheep.  Each has a house in a different beautiful location of the park.  I'm going to head back to Daniels place in the next day or so to build the greenhouse, followed by Eduard and Rene.  The Patagonian wind is especially strong at René’s house and I will be building low-lying cold frames to compensate for it.  They are in a big hurry to get the greenhouses up for use this summer, which is ok but means less time for good design.  My supervisor wants me to design the greenhouses to last 4 years, with the plastic being replaced every year.  It is unfortunate that a longer-term design is not desired but we are working with intense weather conditions and a very limited budged so I am just going to have to roll with it.  Nonetheless I'm going do the best I can.  We definitely are not using dimensional lumber and nice tools, more like logs and rusty nails!

Luigi (left) sharing mate with Guardilaparque Edward Castro (right)

It is really exciting what is happening here with the park but it has not been without some things being sacrificed.  Right now it is the private property of Doug and Kris Tompkins and they had lots of ideals towards putting in a long-term garden.  They have beautiful agricultural projects around Chile and Argentina but the reality of the situation is that this park is going to be turned over to CONAF, (Chilean Government division that manages Natural Resources).  Once this happens a lot is going to change.  The park will still be here, and the land protected but it is highly doubtful that the agriculture will stay.  Even sadder is the fact that many of the local Chileans like the Guardaparques will probably have to find other jobs once the park is handed over.  However, this is 4-8 years down the road still, and a lot could change between now and then.  I find inspiration in that hope, and knowing that whatever I do today will contribute to local food production for the next few years.

Estancia Chacabuco Greenhouses and Garden

Patagonia Chile First Impressions

Friends! It has been a little over a week since my arrival to Patagonia and things are moving along quickly.  It is much different than I expected, but then again I am in a brand new hemisphere and that is to be expected as well!  The journey to Patagonia National Park (PNP) was long; I spent over 23 hours on airplanes before reaching Coihaique, the regional capitol of the Aysén region.  After spending the night in a hostel, I rode a bus southward, past mountains like Cerro Castillo, and along massive deep blue lakes.  Towards the end of the ride, the rio Baker, which is the largest river by volume in Chile came into view.  This river is the site of the highly controversial HydroAysén project, a massive hydroelectric dam that is currently being permitted.  PNP is located just north of this site, which is the confluence of the Baker and rio Chacabuco, which flows through the park.  

Bustop headed south from Coihaique to Patagonia National Park. Cerro Castillo in the background.

PNP is a large property that was formerly an Estancia or sheep ranch.  It was purchased through the efforts of Doug and Kris Tompkins, who have invested millions of dollars in conserving areas of South America.  All of the staff and interns currently live at Estancia valle Chacabuco or Chacabuco Valley Ranch.  The Estancia is buzzing with activity; a lot of infrastructure is being constructed before the park opens next year, including several large buildings with luxurious architecture.  Valle Chacabuco is a massive valley running east to west seated below large mountains on either side.  It is windy country, primarily grasslands densely populated by the Guanaco, a long necked rusty brown colored relative of a llama.  A diverse population of birds also makes this valley their home and I am able to see Black Faced Ibis, Upland Geese, Caracaras (bird of prey endemic to S. America) and many others on a daily basis.  A few hours walk down the road one can even visit the bright pink Chilean Flamingo at Lago Secco, or Dry Lake.

Curious Guanaco

Yesterday I returned from an overnight backpacking trip atop cerro (Mount) Tamango, which is a peak that overlooks the Estancia where we live.  It took us several hours of steep climbing to summit but once on top the whole thing opens up into a diverse landscape of lakes, beech forests, and grassland.  The land of the puma!  There were tracks around Justin and Kates tent this morning and elsewhere around our campsite!  The night before we went out to a big overlook to watch the sunset and got to see the full moon rise almost immediately afterward through some clouds.  That and the 360-degree views of big Patagonian mountains made for a night to remember.  On the hike down yesterday we were on a steep slope, and immediately after watching a flock of parakeets fly behind a hill a massive andean condor soared into sight below us.  It wheeled around a few times as it rode thermals up right in front of us, so we all got to get a great look at it with naked eyes and binoculars.  Sweet!

one of the many lakes on the Sendero de los Lagos Altas "trail of the high lakes"

Cerro Tamango to the left. Cerro Timpanago with the snowfields to the right.

Endless Summer - Conservacion Patagonica CHILE!

Summer in the Tetons is short and brisk.  In the spring, the landscape groggily awakes from winter dormancy with plants growing slowly from the receding snowpack.  Then with the sudden burst of energy from our long sunny days, growth explodes. 

Aiden amending the soil with finished compost.

Loads of veggies!

Mountain Meadows garden has been a great place of education both for myself and local elementary school children from Camp Jackson, a Teton County Parks and Recreation summer camp.  Every Wednesday this summer a white van load of kids came to the farm to explore, play, and learn about small scale agriculture.

Collecting wildflowers from around the farm.

Camp Jackson harvest: Raspberries, Peas, Squash and FUN!

We only have a few more weeks of farmers markets and warm summer weather before winter comes to Jackson Hole, and for the first time since I strapped a pair of skis on my feet I will be forgoing winter to pursue an endless summer.  This fall I will be traveling to Patagonia Chile to work for Conservacion Patagonica (conservactionpatagonica.org) as a Greenhouse Manager.  Like Jackson, Patagonia is a richly diverse ecosystem surrounded by high snowy peaks, and CP is working to build the new Patagonia National Park in its heart.  The isolated nature of the Park makes local food production a priority.  I am excited to be a part of this much needed collaboration of agriculture and conservation.  I'll be using this blog to keep you updated but until then I'll be enjoying my last few weeks in the Tetons!

Mountain Meadows Garden at the Saturday Farmers Market

Good Morning Tetons

Home Site Observation - April 2011

I wrote this entry up about a week ago after walking around my house just observing the existing conditions. This is an essential, often overlooked opportunity to plan for a good design.

In the Tetons, heat is everything. As spring slowly comes to Jackson, giant piles of snow begin receding, exposing the sleeping earth below them. Buried equipment, chairs, and even forgotten beer bottles all come out of the snow, exposed for the first time in 6 months. It is here, in the melting snow that heat and solar radiation perform their handiwork.

The snow recedes from south facing areas first, especially near buildings and other dark structures. Last May Spencer and I learned just how much of an affect this has on snow while climbing up the Skillet Glacier on Mount Moran. Whenever we ventured too close to a rock wall we would abruptly sink several feet down in the snow, often up to our chest or even neck. The thermal mass of the rock had radiated heat downward below the snow surface, making it rotten.

As I walk around my house, the location for my garden will be the south wall of the garage. The full sun it receives has already melted some of the soil, so I will be able to plant in it with just a little preparation.

At the Mountain Meadows Garden, I’ve been working to speed up snowmelt in the garden by throwing used soil on the snow. This decreases the albedo or reflectivity of the snow. As the soil absorbs solar radiation the snow heats up more quickly than normal, and causes it to melt irregularly, forming a jagged landscape of dirty snow spires.

Insulation is also of key importance in Teton gardening. Today I was moving gravel that I had been storing outside on flattened cardboard, and noticed that dozens of plants had sprouted beneath it. The small stones and paper had acted like a blanket over the soil, prompting the seeds to germinate or awoken dormant roots, which sent up fresh shoots.

The short, difficult growing season in Jackson demands the attention of permaculture design in order to be successful. Proper site design to maximize free benefits of nature combined with appropriate technology such as greenhouses, hoop houses, cold frames, and row cover will allow for a bounty of local food.

Spring 2011

Well, life seemed to have happened for the past 6 months and I've missed a whole season. Wait, not missed, but thoroughly enjoyed, grabbed by the horns and held on to for dear life! I've been so fortunate to have enjoyed a year of fun and adventure all over the Rocky Mountain West. I'll have to play catch up in coming months, but for now here is my first post for the spring of 2011.

It’s been one year since I moved to Jackson, WY. April in the Tetons is a dynamic period; winter storms still blow in and hammer the mountains with snow, while migrating osprey and blue birds return from their warm southern winter retreats. The silence of winter has been broken by sounds of songbirds flitting around shrub branches around my house. I’ve been gone for two weeks studying permaculture at the Lyons Farmette in Colorado, and in that time summer has become more than just an abstract thought.

Farming in a cold zone three area where it can snow any month of the year and the growing season is only a few short months may seem somewhat crazy, but it is being done with success. Tomorrow I begin an apprenticeship at the Mountain Meadows Organic Farm, located just south of Snow King Mountain, which rises 1,500’ above the little town of Jackson. I visited with owners Dick and Sandy Shrumptine a few weeks ago, when the whole valley was still in the grip of winter to visit and discuss ideas for the summer with them. Walking around the property, we could just see the tops of the fence posts used to keep out deer from Dick’s garden. “They eat pretty much anything they can except for the spruce trees,” he told me. With a snow pack over 120% of normal life hasn’t exactly been easy for the deer. As if to prove the point in that moment I looked out the window and watched one happily browsing on a tall blue spruce in his yard.

Wildlife are just one of the challenges for high alpine farming, season extension another. In preparations for the still distant summer we will be working to get the hoop house ready, and taking advantage of the greenhouse attached to the south wall of Dick and Sandy’s house to start all of our plants for the year. It is a wonderful thing to be able to work alongside deep piles of slowly melting snow while knowing that we will be able to enjoy skiing the steeps of Grand Teton National Park for another 2 months. Here’s to looking forward but thinking present!

Spring in Lyons, CO
















Spring in Jackson, WY
















Yup, Spring in the Tetons.