Trip of a Lifetime – Visiting an Ecuadorian Organic Farm

For the love of chocolate and everything organic!

We recently had one of the greatest experiences of our lives traveling to Guayaquil, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. A highlight was meeting Rody, an organic farmer, who grows cacao, sugar cane, coffee, oranges, papayas, and grapefruits.

The farms are dense and very compact with an incredible diversity of plant species. They look more like small rain forests than what we would think of as farms. The soil is rich and always being replenished from the plant material on the property. When we arrived at the farm, Joel reached down to study the soil and took a handful to his nose to smell it. This surprised our new friend Rody, since he mostly sees tourists who don’t have the passion for soil that we have.

The most interesting things that we discovered were the algae tanks that Rody uses to produce a nitrogen rich liquid, and his compost tea brewer. He uses these organic liquids to fertilize all his crops. After sharing the secrets of his brews and teaching us  how to make chocolate, we finished our visit with a delicious homemade lunch.

Joel & Stephanie
EW4H Founders