A Small Family Garden
Since I was very young I have been related to nature and very specially to the productive one, that is to say, agriculture and breeding, hence many of my writings will be referred to these areas.
Economic difficulties lead to social crises and our country does not escape them. Especially when we went from being an oil-producing, mono-producing nation, where everything was arranged by force of the income generated by that industry and we did not allocate resources to produce food, as was well pointed out by the illustrious Venezuelan Arturo Uslar Pietri, in his wise words still present "Sowing the oil", we did not do it and we have not done it!
Now we live in an extremely indebted country, where we are barely producing 20-25% of the oil that was produced some 20 years ago, political instability, a high unemployment rate, industrial paralysis, etc. All this has led me to make food production at the level of .... no longer for love but out of necessity.
Oiza and A Small Family Garden
Those of us who are lucky enough to live in a flat, house, can take advantage of any available space to grow some species and thus have the double satisfaction of producing for consumption and saving by not having to buy. Another advantage is that we know how healthy our products are because of the handling we have done.
Once the space has been selected, we proceed to prepare and replant our vegetable garden in it.
We will previously make a small project where we decide size of the orchard, material to use, land or soil, and most importantly what we are going to plant.
**Step by step:**
Selection of space, preparation and layout
Location, cutting and preparation of the material, in this case bamboo poles.
Assembly of the bamboo poles.
Filling of the space with black fertilized soil.
my son spreading the soil
**Irrigation with seat hose:**
**Transplanting of horticultural species**
My wife transplanting
Establishment irrigation.
Then comes the period of vegetative development time in which the orchard should be watered, 1 or 2 times a week, the presence of pests and damage is observed. A special distraction is to remove the weeds by hand, as these compete in space, nutrients, water and light with our plants ...
About 3 or 4 months later we will enjoy our effort, harvesting part of the food that make up our daily diet.
**My aunt Ana is very happy with the garden we made her as a birthday present.**
**Original photographic support and writing by @oizaguirres for read.cash.**
**In the writing I have used Deepl Pro translator.**
Rummaging Through My Notes And My Memory Chest
Friends, this year, the worst of my short life, I think for many too, imprisoned at home by the pandemic of COVID19, I started rummaging through my stuff, which I will call ***trunk of memories*** and I was surprised by a name ***Zarzaparrilla*** so....
<center><h2>***OIZA AND THE ZARZAPARRILLA***</h2></center>.
The first thing that caught my eye was the cover of the item in my hands, a folder loaded with loose yellowed sheets of copies of a magazine called ***El Cojo Ilustrado***, from the early 20th century.
And in front of my eyes appeared this advertisement about Salsa Parrilla and it turns out and it happens, that being a child, maybe 8 or 9 years old, I remember that my grandfather, who was a traveling agent for the western states of the country, was the exclusive distributor of a product called ***607*** Depurador Sanguíneo, which was patented by Dr. Pastor Varela, pharmacist, my grandfather's nephew and owner of a pharmacy in Los Teques, Miranda - Venezuela.
The ***607*** was made by my grandmother, that is to say, it was a small family business! It was prepared with paprika syrup and ***ZARZAPARRILLA*** extract. My job, because I helped my grandmother, was to help fill the bottle and stick the label. These tasks were done by my grandmother, my aunt Magda and me.
- Today I am clear about the origin of Sarsaparilla and its benefits. It is a bushy plant (vine type) that can reach about 15 meters, being very appreciated in phytotherapies those of American origin (Smilax ornata; Smilax medica, Smilax febrífuga and Smilax siphilitica).
>ZarZaparilla is an excellent blood depurative, indicated to increase the emission of urine and to favor the elimination of excess uric acid. It relieves rheumatic pains and gout.
- It is recommended to combat the various impurities of the skin, such as acne, the appearance of eczema or boils, hives and dermatosis.
- European sarsaparilla has been used, although to a lesser extent, as a febrifuge and expectorant, in case of flu and chronic bronchitis.
- It is also effective as a digestive tonic, to alleviate heavy digestions and other intestinal disorders, with diarrhea or colic.
Drinks with sarsaparilla that benefit your health
INFUSION OF SARSAPARILLA FOR SKIN IMPURITIES
Combine sarsaparilla with other cleansing plants, such as burdock, dandelion and corn husks, in equal parts. Two level tablespoons of the mixture per half liter of water.
It can be made with European sarsaparilla, although it is more effective if you use Mexican sarsaparilla (Smilax medica). In this case it is also combined with guaiac wood (Guaiacum officinale).
How to prepare it: Boil it for 2 minutes, let it stand for 10 more minutes and strain it. Drink it in small doses throughout the day. It can be kept in the refrigerator, to take it as a refreshment.
INFUSION OF SARSAPARILLA FOR THE BLADDER AND KIDNEY
As a depurative remedy, to facilitate the elimination of toxins and as a support for bladder and kidney conditions, sarsaparilla can be mixed with nettle, fumitory, horsetail and walnut leaves, in equal parts.
How to prepare: Boil for 2 minutes, leave to infuse for 10 more minutes, strain and drink two cups daily on an empty stomach.
[SOURCE]( https://www.cuerpomente.com/guia-plantas/zarzaparrilla)
That's the way things are, if I didn't see this advertisement in the Cojo Ilustrado, it would not have crossed my mind to bring this short story of an experience back in the 50's...but it is true that the saying ***Recordar es Vivir*** (Remembering is Living***) is true.
Original photographic support by @oizaguirres, of course photos taken from Cojo Ilustrado magazine.
Introduce Yourself
Hello friends, my name is Omar Izaguirre Sierra, I use the avatar oizaguirres and popularly I am called Oiza. I am an agronomist by profession, but here I am simply a person who tries to be useful to the community, to my family and of course to myself. At 74 years old, there is not much I can do outside the house, but I try to apply myself and sometimes I work in gardening, I advise farmers in the development of projects, especially in the area of irrigation.
I also have experience in civil construction, activity in which I have traveled much of my country Venezuela, especially in rural construction or social housing programs, ie for people of low economic resources.
feel a great love and respect for nature and I like to write about it, as well as photography, an element that I am passionate about, although I regret that I do not have very good photographic equipment.
I also love to cook and collaborate with my wife in that aspect
You will have the opportunity or I will allow myself the opportunity to reach out to you who will be able to give me your support. This is Oiza, your humble servant
Original photographic and written support by @oizaguirres
@oizaguirres
