'Importing Organic Heirloom Vegetable and Grain Seeds' Recipes and Food

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Importing Organic Heirloom Vegetable and Grain Seeds

As for airport scans, a gardener acquaintance of mine who smuggled in seeds in his hand luggage found that very few of them germinated but the seeds he had in his pockets were fine. He concluded that airport hand baggage scanners were more harmful to life than the people scanners he walked through :-)

Follow Patrick's advice and have a reputable company send them in legally. They're just trying to control disease and such.

~P

I was (and still am) surprised that we don't grow apricots and cherries. Uruguay's premier jam factory (Los Nietitos = "the little grandchildren") is only 2 kms away yet all the apricot jam here is imported from Argentina. I made enquiries about why they aren't grown and every time I mentioned apricots, locals would pull faces and tell me that they are disgusting (lol) but enquiries about cherries just result in a blank look and a "Don't know."

Sad to say I live in a windy spot unsuitable for fruit trees so the poor specimens I'm growing are nothing to judge from. The major pests down here are the rapacious ants which can strip a little tree of all its leaves in minutes but I don't see why they should be more destructive to cherries than to other types of young fruit trees.

Of the 1000 eucalypti I planted last spring, the effing ants got about 180 in spite of twice daily patrols and the many sacks of anti-ant granules which I applied.

You can look forward to years of fun growing fruit varieties which locals will tell you are "impossible." :-)

I bet the locals have never had Blenheim or Royal Apricots. Apricot is one of the trees I want to grow if and when I move down.

Some of the locations I am interested in are Paysandu, Florida, San Jose de Mayo, Minas. Thought about Salto. It's big enough. I want to be close to a large city for when I need my big city fix.

Any problem fitting in with your neighbors? Habla espanol?

I have yet to find any sort of young cultivated plant which they won't eat given half a chance... everything from winter wheat to eucalyptus trees to pyracantha bushes.

I haven't seen diatomaceous earth on sale here but I haven't scoured MVD for it. As said, I live in a windy location so I'd expect that it would blow away.

I have a screen of ombues (strange local trees or possibly grasses) to the south east of the fruit trees and the new eucalyptus plantation should provide shelter from the south through to the west so I live in hope :-)

I finally found a vivero near Atlantida which sells apricot trees but they couldn't tell me the variety. I was just thrilled to find any here.

San Jose is a pleasant city and actually has a few pedestrianised blocks c/w shopping near the center as well as a wonderful statue of Artigas as a grumpy old man by the ring road. Minas is a bit "upland" and rocky for my taste though it has some very scenic countryside around it as well as the world's largest concrete horse c/w Artigas riding it... (link to photo below.) I don't know Paysandu well but I've been motor racing in Florida often enough to know that it gets very cold in the winter.

I arrived here in Valdense 5 years ago with only a few words of Espanol but can now mangle the language into a just about understandable format. I was fortunate in making friends with Veronica Bonet who saw me as a useful addition for her private English language schools and in return, she, her husband and both their families adopted me as a dishonourary great uncle which has been enormously useful in finding things out and getting things done. In the 5 years I have spent here I have experienced nothing but help and friendliness from the locals but this is a somewhat special area with small farms which was colonised by the Swiss and Piemontese in the 1860s... which is one of the reasons I chose it. IME the Swiss are rarely wrong about such matters :-)

We are about 90 minutes from MVD and 2 hours from Buenos Aires (by ferry) for the rare occasions when I feel the need for a big city "fix."

Motor racing? There's something I hadn't considered. What can you tell me about it?

Please share the info if you track it down. I thought that live plant material was a no-no for importation.

For the last 4 years we've been racing an elderly Ford Escort in the Formula 2000 Tourismo (saloon cars on dirt track circuits) around the south west. Sad to say the car is now more than a little knackered and the F 2000 class is being promoted to national status which means a lot of new safety gear and a replacement car. After 4 consecutive wins and unforeseen cash problems with 2 of the team members this summer, we are giving it a break this coming winter but may be back next year.

The ROU and Colonia in particular has quite a few keen petrolheads and various classes exist. Most spectacular are the 3.1 Limitados... 2 seater home made Mad Max machines with Argentinian 3.1 liter engines. There is also a single seater version based on 1800cc VW engines. Various forms of cross country 4 x 4 racing are also popular if you enjoy seeing people and vehicles disappearing into muddy holes :-)

Sad to say there aren't big cash prizes and even the winners trophies are made of silvered plastic but its great fun to do if you are a sad petrolhead like me :-)

INIA has an Organic Extension at a place called Las Brujas. There is a Women´s Farming Coop here as welllocated in Canelones, but with members all over I believe. For those interested in field crops and meat crops, good info can be found at FUCREA.

Uruguay is loaded with remarkably well preserved old cars. If you like that sort of thing, you´ll be thrilled by the acres filled with 1920´s through 1960´s carcases. Some outstanding renovations are running around the streets as well. Many are still using their 1930´s+ models as daily drivers.

Milk Thistle which is totally edible should grow well here. It has smallish fruit that are tastier than Artichokes, and the leaves make a great pot herb. I´ve got Papaya, Walnuts, and Pecans started, but no stone fruit yet. I´m very interested in Dwarf and Semi-Dwarf Apples, and have seen some trellised in San Jose not too far from Patrick´s digs.

For some things like Apricots, the commercial viability is tied to their early budding. Cherries fall into the same early budding situation. In a sheltered place near the house a few trees should do well.

(o: P

4. The oblong siena, about four inches in diameter and born of a breeding program in central Italy, has a small choke and a wine red color. Slow to mature and still grown in relatively small quantities, this small artichoke usually weighs less than a pound and has a heart tender enough to be eaten raw.

5. The petite mercury, with its red-violet hue and distinctive rounded top, is sweeter than many other artichokes and is usually three and a half inches in diameter. Like the baby anzio, the mercury is derived from the Italian romanesco.

Peter, I will get that link. I applied for membership yesterday at work (don't tell my boss). One nursery sells a small variety of apples, pears and cherries. I hope through this agency I can find the Blenheim or Royal apricot that can be shipped. Anyway, the agency should be able to help us find fruit trees that can be exported to UY. I don't know the laws in Uruguay in this regard.

Patrick, I don't suppose there are any motor races taking place in November? My daughter and I will be down (up?) then. And here I thought the fastest racing in Uruguay would be horses. Anyway you would have loved my dad. He spent his life in the racing world. Sadly, he has passed away over 10 years ago. Otherwise, you would have enjoyed meeting him.

The PM system on this board allows registered users to send short messages to each other. It won't allow lengthy emails but it does allow people to exchange email addresses without giving them away to passing spammers :-)

I will be away tomorrow doing battle with Dedicado telecoms who have been ripping me off outrageously and evading me.

- Links that are RELEVANT TO YOUR POST (ie: your link)

-- in this message links about organic seeds, farming, that kind of stuff... not hotels or immigration.

- Entering the link in the space provided for it, not in the text of your message

- Not generic links to your home page or something else not directly relevant to the post (there are some other methods for more effective self - promotion here)

Expert Page: Quick Tips for Getting Settled in Uruguay

This is his company or just google his name.

Most of the maize grown here is grown as a fodder crop for silage and because it can outgrow weeds, most of it is non-GM.

Sorghum is a very tough crop which doesn't seem to mind a bit of weed competition. The last 3 lots of seed sorghum I've planted said that it came from Zimbabwe on the sacks so I very much doubt whether its GM :-)

On the up side, the northern practice of feeding grain to cattle is very rare here... most of the beef animals are fed on grass (fresh or silage.) The few "feed lot" operations I've seen here rely on grass and green maize silage with a bit of ensiled sorghum.

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