- The sisters Amaia and Nerea Arsuaga Etxebeste made the decision to start the production of vegetables in the farmhouse of Andoain just over ten years ago. “While we were restoring the farmhouse, we realized that we had the land abandoned and that it was in poor condition,” Nerea said. The decadent vision of lands cared for and preserved by their parents for years made their sisters have to do something. “We had other tasks, I had other studies, my sister was with young children… but we had to do something,” he says. In 2011, they enrolled in the Fraisoro School and committed to professionalization in the primary sector.
The implementation of specific projects relating to the primary sector required a great deal of investment from Andoaindarras, and with a precarious situation in the sector, they did not perceive much security for this. “We were constantly listening to the news of the stables and explosions that were closing, and that’s why we decided to start on something that didn’t require too much investment,” Arsuaga explains. They opted for horticulture; in addition, the sister had previous experience selling vegetables and that also thought it could be helpful.
During the course of Fraisoro, the producers participated in a meeting of producers and consumers in which a group of Andoain sought producers. “They wanted producers and we were looking for a consumer group. So we started, that in the garden we still had little!”, he recalls. Since then, the two sisters make weekly baskets that are distributed in the two shops of the village, in the nursery, through the Ekolapiko project, and in two consumption groups of Andoain and Donostia. They're working on an ecological model, as they say, because that's what they've seen since they were young at home and they want to create quality products.
The novelty of this year are the summer camps
The production of vegetables has been re-active during this summer. “We had the idea in mind since we started the project, but that also required investment, so we decided to start gradually and take more steps once with a solid foundation.” After ten years, this year the colonies project has begun, with three small groups of children in summer in the farmhouse and in the orchard. “It is very nice to see with the children how to make the garden, with them you can work many things in the farmhouse,” says the producer.
Children, in addition to maintaining a direct relationship with nature, deepen the life of animals, the vegetable garden and the origin of food, always from respect and care for the environment. The sisters highly appreciate the early summer camps and say that it will certainly be repeated next year.