Paul Brass

Hi Andrew, I contacted Rio Muchacho Farm a few days ago (http://riomuchacho.com/), they are located near Bahía de Caráquez and they offer farm tours, I may just go and check it out! I still have a few days left in Ecuador. I'll contact the Ministry of Agriculture for info.
Some time ago I learned about Syngas (SNG, which can be produced from biomass) it can be used on modified diesel engines and such. Here in Ecuador I found out too that some gas stations sell "Ecopais" ethanol fuel derived from sugarcane!
Almost all homes on and around the farm are built on stilts, so I'll bear that in mind.
You are right, I've found Ecuador's sierra and costa very beautiful so far, Quevedo is a small city ag oriented city (I can easily walk from my wife's family home to the city's commercial district). So far I'm very comfortable living here!

Saludos,
P

Hi there permies, this is my first post on this forum, which I've been browsing and reading for quite a while though.
I'm currently visiting Quevedo, Ecuador to evaluate the possibility to move here and set a permaculture farm.
My wife has about 10 acres of land south of town, currently "jungly", unused and unmanaged (for at least 15 years). I think it's perfect because there's natural mulch on the soil, humus, organic matter from cacao trees, etc. So soil fertility might not be a problem. There are a couple of small creeks nearby, so I contemplate to build ponds for irrigation and aquaculture, Keyline style.
Thing is all around the area there's "modern agri-business oriented agriculture", using glyphosates, chemical weed burners, chemical fertilizers and so on. Produce from the neighboring farms is mainly bananas, oranges, cacao, rice and corn.
I wonder how to make this project of mine work on this place, and make it economically sound in the long run. Right now I'm working on LPG engineering projects, so I'll have to gradually switch my career. My wife and I are South American ourselves (she's Ecuadorian and I'm Chilean) so there will be almost no "cultural shock".
I encourage all of you who are already "permaculturally established" or in the process of doing so to share your ideas and thoughts. Tropical hugelkultur mounds? Biodynamic? Selling organic produce? Species to plant? Cob building? You name it!
Cheers!
P.