Chile Forum

I'm from the mid-West and grew up on a farm. My dad wasn't a serious farmer, just supplimented his income some. But we had a neighbor who had a couple hundred acres of apples and I loved to go to his farm to help him. A few decades later, it's some of my fondest memories. I've wanted to start an apple orchard and have seriously thought of an olive orchard as well. What part of the country would be best for that? Olives need warmth as well as perfer dryer areas. Apples can do ok if you have the right kind of irrigation system.

Is there much of this type of activity in Chile? How about fish farming? Or would it be inpractical because of the proximity of the ocean? I'm in Korea for a while, but am strongly considering moving to Chile. I'd teach English to start, but have a decent sized nest egg to start over with there. Any thoughts?

I know nothing of olives, but in middle to southern Chile apples abound. I am in Region X. Even in town, the smallest lots have apple trees and almost everyone harvests for apple juice, cider, dried apples, apple butter. My neighbor in el campo has an orchard and a big grinder and press. I'm not sure what the market would be but yes, it seems like a lot of fun. Ever see Cider House Rules?

One question, I'm curious about your mini-movie avatar? What's that all about?

The central area has many orchards and farms. Close to the mountains, it's a little cold for citrus and we cover them when it's cold(we're told). But of course, the Concha y Toro grapes and corn fields and almond orchards are common. People love their olives here and they're expensive so that sounds good. Oranges, cherries, many types.

People love their olives here and they're expensive so that sounds good.

i dont pretend to know anything about farming in chile, but i grew up around olives, grape vines, and citrus. olives are best produced in the same areas that citrus is. the problems with farming are not usually with the growing but with the marketing. it has been said that "the farmer does all the work and the packer makes all the money." and while that is certainly an exageration there is a fair bit of truth to it. before planting a single tree or even buying an acre of ground investigate the packing industry to see where you would sell your produce - do they make olive oil in chile? do the can olives? do you know how to process olives? this is where you should start. process limited bits of olives yourself before launching in big.

a little story as an aside. i was hired to repair the roof on an olive processing facility. we needed to replace the roof right over the conveyor belt heading to the "lid putting on machine" we tried all day to get the line stopped but the management ignored us so finally we just started and as we worked we saw massive quantities of dirt, crud and metal shavings fall into the open cans of olives - i always wondered who bot those cans.....':lol:'
jon

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote:
One question, I'm curious about your mini-<BANDWORD> avatar? What's that all about?

I found it on the internet some time back and thought it was funny. I use it most of the time for an avatar on any website I'm at.

spamghod wrote:I found it on the internet some time back and thought it was funny. I use it most of the time for an avatar on any website I'm at.

how do you put an avatar on your posts?
jon

The avatar-I just resized one of my own photos to avatar size. Look under your profile at the bottom and click on browse. You can find many avatars on the internet to download to your computer.

As to farming, there is a lot of farming and exporting as well as local sales. The local fruit and vegetable stand had apples-mostly local produce. Apples, of course. Chile has yummy apple juice. Olives are sold there in a big plastic container where they soak in brine. You can buy a scoop or whatever. They also have many types of olive oil in the local grocery store. Olives are sold in the store in little plastic sacks-no cans that I've seen.

You might find some exporters on the web. Some people are happy to email you back and give free information. The one I saw was from farms in the North but I know there are olive trees grown in the central region too.

sorry, not sure what you said to trigger the -<BANDWORD> filter, but likely something the spammers liked to use and I added it to the database a long time ago.

Yea, not sure everyone understands this but you can add your own photo or image to your profile. Not needed, but a lot of fun and it helps the other members remember who you are. I encourage everyone to do it.

Charles, I think I said mini-movie. Let's see if it happens again.

Movie!

My neighbour in the El Tabo region used to have a "pick your own" strawberry farm in New Hampshire, he went back to farming recently but in Chile.
He retired to the beach but couldn't stand it every day. He now grows and exports off season strawberries and blueberries to the US, does quite well and stays sane, a true win- win.
He's the reason I realize I probably can never retire, a "hobby job" will suit me fine though!

MikieO wrote:...I realize I probably can never retire, a "hobby job" will suit me fine though!

aint it sweet?
jon

So for olives and such, it would be better to be more south or north? From what I gather, it's much more sparsely populated in the south. Another question, do they do much in the way of aquafarming/aquaponics there? Just curious because Chile has so much coastline, it may not be profitable. What about raising rabbits, ducks, geese? Anyone have any clues about it?

Do a search on salmon farming chile, there's a lot of that thing going on. They just had a problem with some sort of bug in the salmon farms. Olives, upper region v I'd say.

MikieO wrote:Do a search on salmon farming chile, there's a lot of that thing going on. They just had a problem with some sort of bug in the salmon farms. Olives, upper region v I'd say.

The usual problems with aquaculture if not done correctly. The biggest problem is fish waste. It can be treated, just like any other waste. Basically, filter the waste, and put it in an open lagoon type of setup and let the microorganisms do their thing to it.

As for the using "undesirable" fish to produce salmon, that's a problem even with an expensive up to date aquaponics system. To make it viable long tem, another form of food must be found. Maybe specializing in certain kinds of bugs, algae, seaweed or even something like a feed based on Brewers Yeast might solve it. I've wondered about this for a long time, but have been to busy to pursue it. Use of antibiotics must be addressed as well.

aquaponics.com

Another thing I'd love to be involved in is rock lobster aquafarming. It coud be very lucerative:

http://www.niwa.co.nz/ncfa/aquaspecies/lobster

National Centre for Fisheries & Aquaculture
Aquaculture species: Rock Lobster


Scientific names: Jasus edwardsii, Sagmariasus verreauxi

Māori names: koura, pawharu
Description

Commonly known in New Zealand as crayfish, rock lobsters or spiny lobsters differ from the clawed lobsters found overseas by their lack of large crushing pincers on the first pair of walking legs. New Zealand’s red rock lobster (koura) grows to 8 kg and 60 cm and is common on reefs and areas of rough seabed throughout the country. The packhorse or green rock lobster (pawharu) is far less abundant and mainly found in northern New Zealand. It is the largest rock lobster in the world, reportedly reaching up to 20 kg and 70 cm. The life cycle of the red rock lobster is long and complex. After release from the egg, the tiny planktonic larva, called a naupliosoma, rapidly develops into a leaf-shaped phyllosoma larva. During 12–18 months of oceanic drifting the phyllosoma metamorphoses numerous times to eventually become a transparent post larva or puerulus. Pueruli settle to the bottom in shallow water where they develop pigments and become juvenile rock lobsters. Juveniles moult 4–5 times a year, but this slows to only once a year when they reach sexual maturity at 7–10 years old. Rock lobsters may make long migrations hundreds of kilometres away from their nursery areas. The reasons for this remain unclear, but one pawharu holds the world record for lobster migration, having covered a distance of 1070 km.........

http://www.niwa.co.nz/ncfa/aquaspecies/lobster