I live in the Venezuelan plains, an area that is eminently agricultural, or was, would be the most appropriate term. Before, years ago, huge tracts of corn, sorghum, and various legumes, such as beans, were planted; but since the communist regime has been destroying the country, planting has stopped. Farmers do not have the means to plant, and if they do so, when they harvest they cannot sell their products at a good price, and they lose out. This area was also used to raise cattle, with a dual purpose (milk and meat), but this activity has also decreased considerably. And it is that it is very difficult for any economic activity to be carried out in the countryside, if you are exposed to being extorted, robbed, robbed, killed; And in the event that this does not happen, you cannot go back and forth from the countryside to the city or town either, because the roads are destroyed or because there is no fuel, or because your transport unit was damaged and you cannot get spare parts, rubbers, oil, etc.…

As you can deduce, any agricultural or livestock activity is very difficult to carry out, however, there are people who have decades, and even their families have centuries on the land, and continue to sow small areas. And I give all this explanation, because it is thanks to these people that we can find some food in the markets. In my case, I live in a town, not in a city. This area is eminently rural, so there are several small and medium-sized producers, both on the outskirts of the town, and in areas further away from here, who for this time of March, harvest and sell tomatoes, chili peppers, bell peppers, onions, garlic; and it is these items that I take advantage of and buy to be able to eat and process and store them.

Well, that depends, but I try to eat frequently what is harvested at this time, and I also like to save for the next few months. For example today, I was processing tomatoes, I was drying them. Today I also processed sweet peppers; and days ago I dehydrated onions and made tomato sauce. And I do this because I can buy them at a good price, and since I can turn them into long-lasting food, I do it and I can enjoy a good supply of these products in my pantry all year round. This is one of the reasons why I enjoy the first months of the year, because from the end of January to April, there are abundant harvests. It is also possible to get many melons at a good price, which are juiced or dehydrated as well.

• These photos are my own, and were taken with a Xiomi REDMI 8 A phone

• The dividers used are courtesy of Hive account@eve66 who shares beautiful designs that embellish the layout of our post.

• In case it is required to use the content or images of this post and of my other publications, I would appreciate if you could refer to my authorship (Fabiola Martínez) and cite the corresponding link. Thanks.