A Laid-Back Chilean Backyard Farm

Reader Contribution by Evan Blake Welch
Published on June 3, 2010
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GRIT Guest Blogger Evan Blake Welch hails from Louisville, Colorado. He’s interning at GRIT this summer with plans to attend college atFt. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, in the fall. A young, promising genius, he’s yet to decide on his major.

Life in my 19 years of existence had been the prescribed suburban Walmart and IHOP cookie-cutter neighborhood experience. I grew up in the same generic town as many Americans. Occasional field-trips to my uncle’s hobby farm was as far as my farming experience went. I knew I wanted a life closer to nature, and frankly I wanted to know where my food came from. A trip to Chile seemed like a perfect opportunity to step out of the mold and live off grid.

Situated in the foothills of the vast Andes 60 miles south of Santiago, Chile, sat the Acevedo compound. A backdrop of vast vineyards, palm trees, and happy residents was the norm in the suburb called Buin. Parakeets, chickens, horses, cows, pigs, and wandering dogs could be heard from any vantage at my new home.

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