Cotiledón is a place for regenerative farming, holistic self care and connection within the community in Curanipe, Chile.
We are working to offer organic vegetables and products, sustainable tourism, yoga classes and workshops.
We are working to offer organic vegetables and products, sustainable tourism, yoga classes and workshops.
Cotyledons are the leaves inside of a seed. They are part of the embryo and are the first ones to appear after a seed has germinated. These first leaves are different from the future leaves of a plant and they are essential for their nutrition and the start of their life.
We chose this name because it has always been a joyful moment when the cotyledons emerge from the soil to the surface. We believe that our project , even in its small scale, is part of a fundamental and necessary change in how we practice agriculture, care about the environment, society and future generations.
Mission
We are located close to Curanipe in the Región del Maule, Chile. This is an area with beautiful beaches, rivers like the Chovellen, mountains and national parks that offer a large variety of outdoor activities (surfing, hiking, kayaking, etc), relaxation and connection with nature. Nevertheless a significant part of this area has been heavily exploited with extensive monoculture farming. First, native bush was massively burned down for cereal production whereas nowadays there are pines and eucalyptus crops instead. This led to a big lack of biodiversity and a vastly diminished natural forest which has been producing several environmental, social and agricultural problems, for example a lack of rain and water overall, degradation of the soil and many other issues affecting small scale agriculture and local businesses.
Our mission is to allow different flora and fauna to come back and to help regenerate the soil practicing biodiverse agriculture which will also promote local economy and food supply. Additionally we want to create a space of exchange, where people will have the opportunity to get to know what we do as well as provide us with their own knowledge and experience so this kind of agriculture spreads more and more.
We are located close to Curanipe in the Región del Maule, Chile. This is an area with beautiful beaches, rivers like the Chovellen, mountains and national parks that offer a large variety of outdoor activities (surfing, hiking, kayaking, etc), relaxation and connection with nature. Nevertheless a significant part of this area has been heavily exploited with extensive monoculture farming. First, native bush was massively burned down for cereal production whereas nowadays there are pines and eucalyptus crops instead. This led to a big lack of biodiversity and a vastly diminished natural forest which has been producing several environmental, social and agricultural problems, for example a lack of rain and water overall, degradation of the soil and many other issues affecting small scale agriculture and local businesses.
Our mission is to allow different flora and fauna to come back and to help regenerate the soil practicing biodiverse agriculture which will also promote local economy and food supply. Additionally we want to create a space of exchange, where people will have the opportunity to get to know what we do as well as provide us with their own knowledge and experience so this kind of agriculture spreads more and more.
Vision
What is now filled with pine trees will become a diverse vegetable market garden of 3000 square meters with an aim to offer nutritious, local and organic food to the community and to sustain ourselves.
Biointensive market gardening within a small space, with all the benefits of cohabitation between different species, will enable us to do it mostly by hand, avoiding the use of fossil fuel and big machinery.
With two small cabins we want to provide sustainable tourism to relax, wander the beautiful surroundings and the possibility to enjoy our food and products.
There will be a center for yoga classes and other practices that enrich self-care and personal growth like Gestalt therapy and Ayurvedic approaches. This center will also host workshops about market gardening and regenerative agriculture.
Follow us in the making of this vision on instagram :)
About us
We are Lea and José.
José is an Agronomist and a gardener. Working in conventional agriculture, he grew disappointed and saddened about how land and society get mistreated. He started to learn about permaculture in 2017, finding his path to regenerative agriculture and market gardening.
Lea is a psychologist, Gestalt therapist and yoga teacher. She has worked with refugees and in youth welfare. In addition to regenerative agriculture, she envisions a place to offer yoga classes, different kinds of therapies and for people to come together.
We want to work together with the local community and understand where we can cooperate and build a network with sustainable, regenerative farming at its center.
Join us at Cotiledón!
We are welcoming volunteers and interns the whole year around.
To join us you can apply on the volunteer/intern websites in the links below or write to us directly for more information to cotiledonchile@gmail.com.
We are very happy to hear from you and have you with us soon.
You can find us in:
WOOF
WORKAWAY
HELPX
“I spent 10 days with Lea, Josè, Elio, and Loui, and will forever be grateful to them for making my last days in Chile so special. I was honestly touched by how warm, open, caring, understanding, and trusting these people are. The project is still in its very early stages, and with such a young family Jose and Lea are busy people! but never too busy to help out with the work, go shopping for food, cook, or even hang out for a chat. Being there for the volunteers is very important to them, and I really felt like part of the family. There were two other volunteers there at the time from other websites (woofing + workaway) and we had a great time together. The work was mixed, with mainly carpentry and wood chopping while I was there, the current projects were to finish the outdoor kitchen and start building a tool shed/veggie cleaning shelter. Of course soon once the veggie garden is up and running this will all change. The routine was very relaxed, we tended to start in the late morning, pausing for some lunch then finishing in the afternoon with plenty of time to do whatever we wanted afterwards. The weekends were free, and again Jose and Lea were excellent hosts, driving us to see the sea lions, going for pizza, recommending some kayaking, and lending a surfboard for the beach... Just so attentive to our needs. We were never lacking for food! Either us volunteers would cook for ourselves in the outdoor kitchen, or we would all cook together and share a meal, there were many great barbecues, make sure you ask master chef Josè to make his ceviche, it's beyond imagination . I realise this has gotten long but I just cannot praise this place enough. I wish your family all the happiness with this project that you hope for, it's an inspiration to see what you are doing. Thanks for everything!”
Jan
from www.helpX.com
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“I had a great experience staying with Jose and Lea and their two wonderful kids for three weeks at Cotiledón. They are incredibly welcoming, very accommodating and they were always making sure that I was happy with the conditions. We had regular feedback rounds, the jobs were versatile and fun, the food was exceptional, and most important of all, they also made sure to give a certain amount of responsibility to me and the other volunteers, giving us the feeling that we are more than just mindless workers. Moreover, the plot is close to the beach and there were plenty of options for trips on the weekends or during downtime. All in all I had a beautiful experience with them :)”
Alexander
from www.wwoof.cl![]()
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“I spent 10 days with Lea, Josè, Elio, and Loui, and will forever be grateful to them for making my last days in Chile so special. I was honestly touched by how warm, open, caring, understanding, and trusting these people are. The project is still in its very early stages, and with such a young family Jose and Lea are busy people! but never too busy to help out with the work, go shopping for food, cook, or even hang out for a chat. Being there for the volunteers is very important to them, and I really felt like part of the family. There were two other volunteers there at the time from other websites (woofing + workaway) and we had a great time together. The work was mixed, with mainly carpentry and wood chopping while I was there, the current projects were to finish the outdoor kitchen and start building a tool shed/veggie cleaning shelter. Of course soon once the veggie garden is up and running this will all change. The routine was very relaxed, we tended to start in the late morning, pausing for some lunch then finishing in the afternoon with plenty of time to do whatever we wanted afterwards. The weekends were free, and again Jose and Lea were excellent hosts, driving us to see the sea lions, going for pizza, recommending some kayaking, and lending a surfboard for the beach... Just so attentive to our needs. We were never lacking for food! Either us volunteers would cook for ourselves in the outdoor kitchen, or we would all cook together and share a meal, there were many great barbecues, make sure you ask master chef Josè to make his ceviche, it's beyond imagination . I realise this has gotten long but I just cannot praise this place enough. I wish your family all the happiness with this project that you hope for, it's an inspiration to see what you are doing. Thanks for everything!”
Jan
from www.helpX.com
“I had a great experience staying with Jose and Lea and their two wonderful kids for three weeks at Cotiledón. They are incredibly welcoming, very accommodating and they were always making sure that I was happy with the conditions. We had regular feedback rounds, the jobs were versatile and fun, the food was exceptional, and most important of all, they also made sure to give a certain amount of responsibility to me and the other volunteers, giving us the feeling that we are more than just mindless workers. Moreover, the plot is close to the beach and there were plenty of options for trips on the weekends or during downtime. All in all I had a beautiful experience with them :)”
Alexander
from www.wwoof.cl
Cotiledón is a place for regenerative farming, holistic self-care and connection within the community in Curanipe, Chile.
IG: @cotiledon.chile
E : cotiledonchile@gmail.com
T : +56 9 66356115
D : Curanipe, Pelluhue, Chile
Support our project : Link crowdfunding
More about us : Link documental
