How to perceive our territory sensorially through food? What human-nature relationships develop around cultivation and harvesting? How to reciprocate this knowledge exchange?
Last December I met Justina Huamán. She and her family live in the Patacancha Peasant Community at 3810 meters above sea level. Justina and three of her neighbors go to the Urubamba farmers’ market every Wednesday to sell the medicinal herbs they collect, very close to their homes. They are joined by five other women from the Huilloc community, located about fifteen minutes before reaching Patacancha. Justina is a Quechua speaker, she understands very little Spanish, but it is not difficult to understand her as the language of the traditional medicinal plants is almost the same. Although there may be some variation in the common names from one community to another, their benefits are the same.
The rainy season brings with it the growth of many wild plants, among them Brassica rapa L., locally known as Yuyo. It seems as if the first drops that moisten the thirsty soil after a long dry season implanted the seeds of this herb. Yuyo is a word of Quechua origin and is a generic name used to name wild plants and edible green shoots. It is also used for seaweed that arrives dehydrated, from the coast to the Andes.
We visited the different areas of the International Potato Center in La Molina to learn how to create botanical samples. We were accompanied by Dr. Fanny Vargas, a specialist in the area and a great teacher in the area of mounting.