Vision
„I picture Ovejeras, the region I live in, full of organic food for everybody. I picture a place where they can pick up healthy food for free. I picture tourists coming to our region to discover that. And I picture a change in the mindsets of the residents here to make it all happen. I want to contribute my passion for nature to this future picture.“
On first steps
„Don’t let ideas die in your head. Let them come alive outside your brain instead. Put them into motion, give them shape, let them use your hands to become real. Meaning: Don’t overthink it, just do it! That way ideas grow bigger and bigger into reality.”
About
nature lover, organic farmer & book author
Volunteering while traveling is not only a great way to save money. First and foremost it’s an opportunity to travel some layers deeper into culture and mentality. A platform made for connecting volunteers and hosts is workaway.info, which is where I found Marlyn’s organic farm “LunAhumada” in the mountains of Suesca. From the first day I was not only amazed by the beautiful highlands, but also by Marlyn’s project she’s building up – and her vision with sustainable value.
„To change the culture is the biggest challenge“,
Marlyn states. Farming still suffers from the image of the poor, whereas the middle class rather commutes to the cities for work. Marlyn herself grew up in Bogotá and worked as a journalist for many years. She was the director of „La revista del campo“, a magazine covering the countryside. She has also written some books on the subject of environmental protection. Her passion for nature is what she contributes now. „At the moment I don’t earn money with my farm. I just do what I love and search for ideas to earn money in the future.“ It’s her partner Ricardo working in the Colombian ministry of economics in Bogotá who makes that financially possible. She believes in her vision though: „I’m already talking to premium restaurants to sell them vegetables. And we have so much to offer here – Kolibris, cows, sheeps, farm life, a playground for kids. I’m sure we can get people to pay for that in one way or another.“ The goal is to reinvest that money into the core of her project, the „Organic Food Factory“. Marlyn: „Organic food every Sunday will always remain free, that’s for sure!““
„The rooster crows once every minute and the sheep are busy with bleaking.“,
Marlyn’s „Organic Food Fabric“ offers beds of lettuce, broccoli, cucumber and many more vegetables. Flowers grow out of old toilets, rubber boots and car tires and help recycle garbage into a second life. At night an army of frogs fill the air with their croaks. One who sees the green goods growing freshly from the ground might instantly want to bite into it. As do the cows into the hilly fields of juicy grass that surround the farm. The fresh air is a treat and those who love nature find their paradise here.
Building windows out of whisky bottles and donkey shit
Building windows out of whisky bottles and donkey shit
I’m here for a week and after fixing the sheep wire mesh fence I found my vocation in building windows out of empty whisky bottles for the so called „dry bathroom“. It’s basically an earth closet, located outside, with rainwater for the sink that waters the plants after it has washed some hands. Mine are full of mud as I just started filling the gaps between the bottles with the brown mire, which smells somehow strangely here. When Marlyn sees me turning up my nose at it, she helps me understanding: „Mierda de los burros. Donkey shit.“
Volunteers do different things here
Around fifty from all over the world have already visited Marlyn. She gives me a tour showing me various creations they have left behind. The „dry bathroom“ for instance was built by an architect from Argentina. Colorful wooden tables stand out and chairs of boards mounted onto tree trunks. „Some girls from Australia built them“, Marlyn says, „and the wooden terrace was built by a German girl.“ A lot of creativity is stored here, bounteous ideas and values have been contributed by disparate individuals. Walking through the farmland feels like wandering through a showroom of magnificent pieces built out of nature.
Organic food for free!
To the farm „LunAhumada“ belongs land of eighteen hectares extent. Marlyn Ahumada and her partner Ricardo Luna – their names form the farm’s name – own that piece of Colombian highlands since nine years. „I wanted to do more with that land and create something bigger than just a farm. One day many ideas came together and emerged in the ‚Organic Food Factory‘“. Meaning: Every Sunday people can come and pick up organic food that grows on the farm. For free. And furthermore, Marlyn teaches them how to grow their own food in plastic bottles: „It’s not just seeds we are planting in the bottles with our guests. We are trying to plant seeds in their minds as well by transferring knowledge and ideas.“ With this project Marlyn deals with pretty infertile ground, for Colombia’s mentality makes many people who own land rather commute to the cities for work instead of farming on their properties. „They buy expensive food of low quality in supermarkets instead of growing high quality food by themselves. That’s a cultural thing.“ Marlyn wants to set an example and help those who are interested.
Filling plastic bottles with soil and seeds
Marlyn teaching people organic farming
„To change the culture is the biggest challenge“,
Marlyn states. Farming still suffers from the image of the poor, whereas the middle class rather commutes to the cities for work. Marlyn herself grew up in Bogotá and worked as a journalist for many years. She was the director of „La revista del campo“, a magazine covering the countryside. She has also written some books on the subject of environmental protection. Her passion for nature is what she contributes now. „At the moment I don’t earn money with my farm. I just do what I love and search for ideas to earn money in the future.“ It’s her partner Ricardo working in the Colombian ministry of economics in Bogotá who makes that financially possible. She believes in her vision though: „I’m already talking to premium restaurants to sell them vegetables. And we have so much to offer here – Kolibris, cows, sheeps, farm life, a playground for kids. I’m sure we can get people to pay for that in one way or another.“ The goal is to reinvest that money into the core of her project, the „Organic Food Factory“. Marlyn: „Organic food every Sunday will always remain free, that’s for sure!““
The “dry bathroom” – my job for three days
What is it about organic farming that makes the world better?
„I use organic repellents against bugs and other insects. I put garlic and onion on the plants instead of chemical substances. Implementing permaculture is another big step for me. I’m still learning about it.“ One part of it: Permaculture doesn’t grow just one kind of vegetable in the same bed. It varies the seedlings, so that one type of insect eats only one plant and not the whole bed. „When you grow like this, you give food to your environment as well. It’s in harmony with nature“, Marlyn shows her appreciation. I have recognized a tremendous amount of frogs filling the night air with their croaks. „The first animals who die from chemicals in the environment are frogs. Hence where there are frogs, there is a healthy environment.“
Little by little
It was also the knowledge of volunteers that brought the idea of permaculture up in Marlyn’s mind. Volunteers like Daniel from Bogotá, whose hands are also full of – let’s call it – mud. He’s building the wall between the two cabins of the „dry bathroom“. Daniel is an environmental engineer, 26 years old, it’s his third time here at „LunAhumada“:
„I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I can’t change the whole world, but I want to contribute my skills and my interests to improve it. Little by little.“
He quit his job in a big company and looks now for more sustainable ways to work. And he shares the vision that Marlyn has: „In Colombia more and more people get interested in organic farming because it’s healthy for them and good for the environment. I could imagine earning my living by instructing people how to do it.“
Marlyn felt social pressure against her project
Even parts of her family don’t understand why she works so hard and then gives away food for free, not earning any money with it. Her contribution has a different purpose than money: „I don’t have children and thus nobody to educate. But I want to leave my footprint here in this region by sharing my ideas and my knowledge. I want to give something back that I have received – I have been very lucky in my life.“ And it’s the volunteers that find her place and help realizing her vision. „It seems that we attract the right people that bring what we need here“, Marlyn tells smiling brightly. Whether it’s windows made of whisky bottles and donkey shit or some profound knowledge about permaculture – Marlyn’s „LunAhumada“ is a good example for the following:
When our passion is our motivator, when our heart tells us the next steps, we will attract into our lives what we need to bring our dreams closer to reality.
Good day! My husband and I are English speakers and we are here in Colombia looking for an organic farm to live and work on for 2-3 weeks. Is there an opportunity on your farm currently? Angie and Derrick