Chile Forum

I'm looking for a small piece of land where I can start a small farm or market garden. I'm not planning anything big, probably something between .5 and 2 hectares to start. And I'm currently thinking about something in the Elqui Valley. But water's a big pain, since it happens to be in a desert. And land prices seem to go up dramatically once you add water. So I'm considering my other options. Is there anywhere else in Chile with a reasonably long growing season, and little rainfall. But enough water, so land with water isn't so expensive?

Right, so some land in the Elqui valley is sold with water rights, but currently the reservoir is nearly empty so that won't mean a lot unless we get some good snowfall this winter. So far it has been very mild.

i would go a 200km radius from santiago..... my work mate has about that size just plants it in potato each year, buys the water from the guy down the road who owns hte rights on the cannel, makes his little bit of money!

Someone told me that the tap water here comes from an aquifer. Do you know if that's correct? And if that's nearly empty too? I'm just learning about these things, so I may be asking stupid questions:)

zer0nz wrote:i would go a 200km radius from santiago..... my work mate has about that size just plants it in potato each year, buys the water from the guy down the road who owns hte rights on the cannel, makes his little bit of money!

Does it rain a lot there?

thisisreallycomplicated wrote:

zer0nz wrote:i would go a 200km radius from santiago..... my work mate has about that size just plants it in potato each year, buys the water from the guy down the road who owns hte rights on the cannel, makes his little bit of money!

Does it rain a lot there?

santiago? 15 days a year

zer0nz wrote:

thisisreallycomplicated wrote:

zer0nz wrote:i would go a 200km radius from santiago..... my work mate has about that size just plants it in potato each year, buys the water from the guy down the road who owns hte rights on the cannel, makes his little bit of money!

Does it rain a lot there?

santiago? 15 days a year

Thanks, that might not be so bad.

thisisreallycomplicated wrote:Someone told me that the tap water here comes from an aquifer. Do you know if that's correct? And if that's nearly empty too? I'm just learning about these things, so I may be asking stupid questions:)

Were you talking to the astronomers? At least one of the observatory compounds has its own well. Not sure what happens to the groundwater when there's no river though.

I think it depends on what you're growing. Will most of the crops you're growing need warm weather and longer growing seasons, or will it be an even mix with cooler weather crops that don't do well in heat? Much of Chile seems to be ok for year-round production if you know how to time things and do succession plantings. The exceptions would be the the high mountains and far south.

If you're doing a large variety of cool and warm weather crops, I would prefer a slightly cooler but frost-free location. The cooler places in Chile tend to be the places with more rainfall, and you can always create a warmer environment for your plants if you need to with high tunnels, row covers, greenhouses, etc. Your warm weather crops may not produce as much or be as tasty, but that's the trade off for being able to grow more stuff without worrying if your crops will shrivel and die.

Historically, I think the southern limit of the Mediterranean climate (drier and hotter) and the northern limit of the Marine West Coast (cooler and wetter) had been around the Bio-Bio. Of course, there's probably all kinds of micro-climates as well.

Also, for pretty much any crop, you could plant varieties that are more tolerant to heat (like spinach and peas) or more tolerant to cool weather (tomatoes). Lots of precipitation and temperature data out there as well, which you could use to figure out what's best suited for the area in which you're going to grow.

jehturner wrote:

thisisreallycomplicated wrote:Someone told me that the tap water here comes from an aquifer. Do you know if that's correct? And if that's nearly empty too? I'm just learning about these things, so I may be asking stupid questions:)

Were you talking to the astronomers? At least one of the observatory compounds has its own well. Not sure what happens to the groundwater when there's no river though.

No, he's not an astronomer. I was talking with him about arsenic contamination in the Elqui River one day, and he told me his water comes from an aquifer, and not the river. But he didn't seem to know any details. And sometimes he doesn't know what he's talking about:)

bones wrote:I think it depends on what you're growing. Will most of the crops you're growing need warm weather and longer growing seasons, or will it be an even mix with cooler weather crops that don't do well in heat? Much of Chile seems to be ok for year-round production if you know how to time things and do succession plantings. The exceptions would be the the high mountains and far south.

If you're doing a large variety of cool and warm weather crops, I would prefer a slightly cooler but frost-free location. The cooler places in Chile tend to be the places with more rainfall, and you can always create a warmer environment for your plants if you need to with high tunnels, row covers, greenhouses, etc. Your warm weather crops may not produce as much or be as tasty, but that's the trade off for being able to grow more stuff without worrying if your crops will shrivel and die.

Historically, I think the southern limit of the Mediterranean climate (drier and hotter) and the northern limit of the Marine West Coast (cooler and wetter) had been around the Bio-Bio. Of course, there's probably all kinds of micro-climates as well.

Also, for pretty much any crop, you could plant varieties that are more tolerant to heat (like spinach and peas) or more tolerant to cool weather (tomatoes). Lots of precipitation and temperature data out there as well, which you could use to figure out what's best suited for the area in which you're going to grow.

I'm planning to grow a wide variety of things I like, because I want to grow most of my own food. But I also want to grow more of certain things for selling. I don't plan to make a living from it anytime soon, but I'd like to work toward it. Most things I want to grow will like warmer weather, but will still be ok as long as it doesn't freeze. I'd like to have a long season where it doesn't get much below 50 degrees F though, because I like lots of tomatoes. I know I could do tunnels, but I'd rather not have to. Do you know a good website for detailed climate info around here? I've seen some general stuff, but so far not as detailed as what I was able to find in the states.

Found this site - http://www.meteochile.gob.cl/

It has a publications page. The most recent is from 2007 - 2008 and has a fair amount of data for regions IV - VII. Obviously the air temperature and precipitation data are useful, but this one also has soil temperature data, which are useful for telling when to direct seed things out in the field. I think I saw some tables on number of days with frost too.

http://www.meteochile.cl/agrometeorolog ... teorologia).pdf