Gyspy.On a shoe string

                          Bogota Colombia flower fa

 I landed in to Bogotá on Monday evening and rested in a beautiful hotel called la Manoir in downtown Bogotá. the following morning we left to go on two selected farm tours. These tours were  only for buyers or retailers and distributors they took us about 35 minutes outside of the city to area that was mostly cowpasture.We turned into the most beautiful Spanish style gates and what lied ahead was a really good reception area with herbal teas and Jamaica teas,The best Columbian coffee and a mountain of cookies made locally. The big group was standing around and wondering what all the sacks were on the table I went up and grab myself one and then handed one to Helen and after that started a chain of all of the guest grabbing one. After a short video the led us into some of the green houses the processes of the greenhouse is extremely complicated they line the floors with rice hulls,there is not a a Leaf on the The ground everything is pristine clean and organized. There’s row upon row in raised beds made of mulch that is done on site they recycle all of their water. They have a big pond with fish which fertilizes the water and then is filtered back into the flowerbeds. This one particular company that we visit it was called  Plazoleta,They grow alstroemerias, status, limonium, snapdragons, lucadendroum and in various varieties. The tour was about an hour but they gave us a break in between to show us the factory where they actually clean the flowers and sleeve them and box them and ship them all over the world. The facility was so clean I just couldn’t believe my eyes, and all the workers were happy.  The floor was spotless the whole room smelled of the beautiful sense of all the flowers and combination. They had a tremendous display of their products presented for us so that we could view them touch them smell them and ask questions about them. At that time they had another spread with all kinds of homemade Columbian appetizers. Some of them were filled with cheese some of them filled with chicken some of them filled with beef. They also gave us a selection of juices made from the local Fruit which I’ve never tasted. One was called Lulu, it’s kind of a yellowish gold orangey cast color, the flavor is laced with perfume of flowers, kind of a star fruit combination strawberry taste? I don’t now but it was really good I was enjoying myself thoroughly it was a great tour they gave us loads of information you as a person that’s just interested in doing this and traveling into Colombian Bogotá there is hundreds of firms that will take you on tours for very cheap you talk to an agency and they set it up it includes other people and the bus picks you up like at one of the hotels and ours cost around $30 we sought to farms and included our transportation and included snacks on the bus.  It also included the second tour and in a Normas lunch with beer and wine and a cocktail was greeted as we walked in the cockpit was made from tropical fruit to the area and rum very delicious, and then there was appetizers and homemade roast beef sandwiches or they roasted the beef on a grill outside. We had strawberries and cream we had homemade teeny tiny Yukon potatoes that originated I was told from this area soaked in butter and garlic and those were just phenomenal. On the table Was a large platter with crispy plantings salted and a dip made from cream cheese honey and some kind of fruit juice it was really good! They also serve as these chocolate covered fruit that look like a little cherry with the handle of leaves and they were called ouvchuva.  when we arrive to the farms we had a reception,Then they took us on a tour, then a second reception with appetizers and then ended the tour n yet a different area of the farm. They literally use everything from every leave to stem to compost it in recycle it back into the ground there is no harsh pesticides most of the pesticide use is a organic type of pesticide and there’s people brushing the plants on a daily basis the workers that work there are just also happy, and very into what they were doing from what we could say I was really impressed this was something that I will never forget and I would suggest if you’re interested in plants or flowers at all. This is something you should do.

The second tour was at a farm called Yasa, This one was located in a really strange area it was off the main road we went down dirt roads in the curves what look like to be a dump area, stacks of wood piled up miles high on either side. Piles of concrete from construction site and then you pull up to these giant iron gates. The gates open and there’s three guards with guns, my thoughts were how interesting that they have gotten is guarding this greenhouse farm. But I guess it’s just all part of the country. We entered there was a big reception tent for us they greeted us and told us that we were family and they enter into their video area. When watching your video and explaining how they have worked so hard to refine their products and they do only probagation development by cutting, which means they biologically cut a piece of the plant that’s perfect that they breed and then they reproduce those in a laboratory . They had their two biologist there and one of their scientist that actually works on the property to the owners the owner son who manages their marketing and a designer and about for other sales people it seem like. I was standing next to one of the owners actually between two of the owners and they both seem to like me a lot they were really nice there’s a cute into the story. We viewed their farms they had the most beautiful types of chrysanthemums they also grew carnations but we didn’t get to go into that greenhouse. Their chrysanthemums were just  so perfect I’ve never seen so many varieties and so many colors in my entire life. They too are a green grower there is an association here in Columbia that is all about green and I guess it’s becoming so popular worldwide that they have strive to be upping ranks in their commodity. Very interesting the process of breeding and how they can make the plant produce one flower or multiple flowers depending on how they prune the blooms that are on the plant.  They also are able to control the size of the flower by there pinching the bud in a certain way some of the blooms or as big as my hand in the raider plant is not normally capable of doing that but they have somehow found through this biology how to change the process organically. I was really impressed with these guys, I am a gardener and heart and I love gardening this is an extreme garden but it was really cool to see how professionally they do these things in a way to conserve and not use chemicals to change the plant itself.  After that part of the tour it seemed that the owner son and the two owners cling to Helen and I, they just seem to like us out of this group of 50 and kept talking to us over and over and what was funny is the colors of the building where this orange-ish and peach and black and I chose an outfit especially for the farms that was orange peach and black weird. I’ve had people say that I’ve got a psychic minor sometimes I’m able to Chandlear I don’t know whatever but I have this gift for real. They let us into this town and we have the best reception ever they were so nice to us and everybody was so accommodating I think that this should be On the list of tours should you decide to venture into Columbia it was beautiful and well worth the $30. Thank you Plazoleta thank you Yassa I’ll be seeing you soon !

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