Cacao Gardener Vision · The Cacao Nursery

CACAO GARDENER VISION · THE CACAO NURSERY

01 Before the Beginning

02 Choosing the Right Seeds

03 The Cacao Nursery

04 Nourishment, Roots & Cycles

05 A Messenger of the Heart

06 Growing a Cacao Tree at Home

Our journey begins at the very beginning.

The beginning of all things Cacao.

But where is this beginning, you may ask.

Where does the sacred Cacao journey actually begin?

Inside the flower? Inside the pod? Inside the bean?

Our journey begins in the garden of our hearts.

Here we nurture the vision of a healthy and spirited cacao forest.

Journey with us to the very beginning and learn about the first station of a young Cacao tree: the Cacao nursery. The nursery keeps the seedlings for our spirited Cacao forest warm and safe and offers shade and protection before being sent out into the open field. A nest that offers the young seedlings everything they need to have a healthy start in life.

Thank you for taking care of a Cacao tree.

The Earth thanks you.

Your Cacao Gardeners

April 22, 2022

BEFORE THE BEGINNING

TEXT & PICTURES by RICARDO LEYVA

Establishing a Cacao Forest is a mystical voyage that teaches profound insights not only about the plantation itself but also about life. Throughout the process, the value of soul intentions, of responsible choice, of dedicated work, of patience, of respectfulness and reverence is reinforced at every step.

The process to set up a healthy, long-lasting and productive Cacao Forest has the following basic stages:

First Stage: Installation. It is about the location in the field and the management of all the species of the system, in a phased manner.
Second Stage: Raise or development. It is the management from the installation until the Cacao production begins.
Third Stage: Sustaining the plantation in its productive phase.

THE PAGAMENTO

Before the beginning of every stage, there must be done a task that is not found in any Cacao plantation establishment guide: The Pagamento (Ritual Offering). This is an indigenous practice performed by a Mamo, in the case of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, that can be fulfilled at any moment of the Cacao forest life, especially before the three main stages.

The Pagamento is one of the most important spiritual practices in all the towns of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It is associated with the vision of perpetual motion of energy.

The art of giving and receiving, immersed in all the movements of nature, is the origin of this ritual and its practice is considered essential for the development of life. The ritual offering is a symbolic act that is based on thankfulness, on the cycle of giving and receiving between human beings and nature. The Pagamento is related to the conception that one is born from mother earth and therefore there is a commitment to caring for the natural world. Caring for the earth and what the Pachamama left behind is a way in which we also take care of ourselves.

THE CACAO GARDENER VISION

Plant a Cacao tree and help setting up an entire forest. Our initial goal is to secure 450 guardianships and beginning with the Spring Equinox 2022 nurse, establish and plant 1 hectare of Cacao forestry ecosystem with a total of 1,111 Cacao trees, 1,000 plantains and 130 oak trees that serve as mother shade trees to the Cacao. This is gonna be an exciting journey and you are invited to be part of every step from seed to Cacao tree.

Within five years we intend to help planting altogether 11,110 Cacao trees, 10,000 plantains and 1,300 oak trees adding up to 12,410 trees on 10 hectares of land. It is our intention to seed - with every planted tree - blessings, consciousness and an environment that allows us to put our hands into the soil and feel deepest kinship with the natural world.