Campo Andino and an innovative method of cultivation

Julia Olivella and Gonzalo Moras are a young couple of  entrepreneurs  who wanted to settle somewhere far away from society. Through the family,  they found a lot that is a real paradise , in the heart of Campo Andino, that other paradise lost inside Santa Fe.

Campo Andino is a town located about 55 km north of the capital city.  It has a rich diversity of native flora and fauna and  its Añapiré lagoon, for some time, represents the habitat chosen by pink  flamingos   australs for winter, making it a unique natural area in the region.

Juli and Gonza's venture is no less catching than the place where they settled. He, a degree in Biodiversity; she, an agronomist.They met doing a doctorate in these areas of knowledge. Doing the thesis they woke up the spark of entrepreneurship and said, “Why don't we try to do something on our own? ... Producing... We started to see what alternatives there were. What was exploited and what wasn't. We contacted a family who already had a trajectory doing hydroponics  and showed us basics on how to get started on this topic,” Julia describes. So these young people grow vegetables whose roots grow in direct contact with water.

The boys were researching and getting a lot of training on this peculiar.  “ It is a growing technique in which we had to start from scratch . It was all trial and error.”

They were motivated by the idea of starting an activity where there was nothing.Not even something similar. They began, themselves, to do everything with their own hands. They learned masonry and plumbing. The whole irrigation system was put together. All facilities. “Every hole with the drill, waterproofing poles, etc.”, are proud.

 Identify with a small town 

Juli and Gonza  identified at the entrance with the peaceful and natural environment  of Campo Andino. Such is so that the name of the village is what they adopted for their  company .  And the flamingos, symbol of the area, are even present  in the logo of their business.

For their work, respectful of biodiversity, since they do not use pesticides, they have a greenhouse that was specially brought to them from  Buenos Aires . Under it, they grow buttery lettuce, oak leaf crespa, radicheta and arugula. All leafy vegetables. For a year they are producing  and entering, little by little, in the market of Santa Fe  and Laguna Paiva. “Putting a lot of impetus to keep growing,” says Juli.

Campo Andino's economy is limited to “little people working in the Commune or pawns of fields in the region”. Nor can there be much more in this town, because they have a serious structural failure. “Campo Andino has no access when it rains,” they explain.  It is the only town in the entire La Capital department that does not have asphalted access.  “ So, with every rain, we are isolated. There is a demand for years, but governments pass and it doesn't happen.”

The path that crosses this  little paradise  is provincial route 82. “It's in the middle between 1 and 11. If the rulers were more ingenious, they could use it to decompress those two routes, so loaded and famous for their tragic episodes.”

One of the most noteworthy things is that the activity of Julia and  Gonzalo has the accompaniment of the communal management  and acceptance of the inhabitants of Campo Andino.