La Güerta Monga - From Seed to Root
Welcome to La Güerta Monga
Revitalizing the countryside with a family organic garden
History and Values
After 6 years in an agroecological cooperative and starting a family, with the arrival of our daughter Dulia almost 3 years ago, we decided to take the leap and bought a farm in the place of Monga (Nava municipality) at the end of 2020 to start our own seasonal and diversified organic garden project, which takes advantage of short marketing channels in order to humanize the producer-consumer relationships.
Our values are based on the following pillars:
- Food Sovereignty: We seek to regain autonomy and control over our food systems.
- Mutual Support: We believe in cooperation and community work to strengthen our initiative.
- Cultural Identity: We rescue and preserve the agricultural and gastronomic traditions of Asturias.
- Environmental Responsibility: We produce in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.
The Farm and Our Production
In the spring of 2021, the farm where hops and tobacco coexisted 40 years ago, was once again seeing other plants and fruits grow from its land. La Güerta Monga consists of 1200m2 covered by 4 greenhouses from which we have already harvested the first tomatoes, peppers or eggplants and another 6000m2 outdoors where we have planted cabbages, leeks, zucchini... The remaining area is being maintained by other new partners in this adventure: half a dozen oveyes xaldes, a mare and two donkeys are in charge of the clearing and fertilizing tasks.
But in addition to the main farm, La Güerta Monga is made up of two other farms: La Vallina in the place of Sienra (Nava municipality) which will be dedicated to fruit trees and Socabanas in the place of Cabanas (Tinéu municipality) where we have the potato field, the onions, 100 walnut trees and 40 table apple trees.
A Diversified and Sustainable Production
La Güerta Monga is a diversified agroecological project on three axes:
- Seasonal Garden: Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cabbages, leeks, zucchini and more.
- Fruit Trees: Apple, pear, strawberry and walnut.
- Processed Products: Sweet cider, apple juice and mother apple vinegar.
We produce organic foods and, in several cases, we maintain traditional local seeds. In addition, we sell the vegetables directly, which benefits both the producer and the consumer.
Sharing with the Community
We believe in direct sales without intermediaries as the first measure to dignify our profession, and we also love to put a face to the people who bring this project to life. We have two sales channels: at the La Pola (Siero) market every Tuesday and on-farm sales.
We also value sales in municipal squares as a political commitment that is necessary to give visibility to the peasantry and the need to occupy public spaces that are gradually being taken away from us. And in another way, we like to have an open house day where people can come to buy our vegetables, visit the farm, ask questions and share.
Building the Future
The objective of this campaign is the financing of the first phase for the construction of an energy self-sufficient building that will facilitate our work, promote the preservation of our production in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, as well as allow us to make the processed products we intend to.
Our idea is for the building to run on renewable energy. To this end, we want to install photovoltaic panels and become energy autonomous. Additionally, another aspect we want to explore is the development of environmental education activities (guided tours, both for individuals and for schools and various organizations).
Join us in this adventure to revitalize the Asturian countryside in a sustainable and solidary way!