Learning to GROW — Greek Aloe and the Sharing of Knowledge

Learning to GROW — Greek Aloe and the Sharing of Knowledge

Continuing to introduce the people of GROW — here we present Michalis Fetokakis. A former city slicker turned organic Aloe grower, Michalis yearns for apt and accurate plant growing knowledge. He’s interested in both older neighbours and the GROW forum for gaining this knowledge. Now on the island of Chios, this young Greek rediscovers the land and the knowledge of his elders. Do you share his views on the need to preserve farming knowledge hubs?

By Michalis Fetokakis

Ι was born in 1984, and was raised in Athens. I have studied Culture, Media & Communication in the University of Surrey and I have been working as an assistant film director for seven years. Since 2012, I live on the island of Chios, where I work as a farmer and I produce the only organic aloe juice in Greece.

So I had to make a choice. Either I would continue freelancing in Athens, or I would start producing something real. I chose the latter and I think I made the right decision. This way, nature, the weather and the earth’s fertility are the only factors I depend on.

The frenzy of the city deactivates one’s capacity to feel the qualitative differences of the surrounding environment. In the countryside, you abandon the artificial tempo of the city that has to do with the tribe or class that you belong to, the work you perform, or the team you support — you enter into the universal rhythm of nature. But you have to be dedicated. Nature and soil might be unpredictable. You do not know what they will bring. You must observe it, touch it, feel its texture to understand if you need to dig or wait until later.

A beginner needs to observe.

When I moved to Chios, I took up the farm of my grandfather and established an organic Αloe farm, along with a small transformation facility to produce the juice. It took me a couple of years to fully grasp the lifestyle of this magnificent plant — what it requires and how it behaves. It is such a wonderful plant. Moisture collected on its leaves, slides down and gets stored in its heart before reaching the root. It can even change colour and shape during the course of a single day.

Now that I have started growing Aloe, I cannot stop. The more I learn, the more I realise how much I still have to learn.

The soil doesn’t only feed my plants, but also myself, my mind and my curiosity. It gives clues gradually. One piece of information leads to the next, one process follows the other, one conclusion leads to the next question and the next answer.

There are, of course, many different and crucial questions. What is hard to find, however, are valid and trusted answers. There is plenty of information on the web, sourced from so many anonymous and often conflicting sources, that it can be difficult to draw solid conclusions. Even when you find someone growing the same crop, this grower may be faced with entirely different, regionally specific conditions.

Surely, the most valid knowledge is extracted from older, more experienced growers. Sometimes they nod to the sky and say: “if you do not see the clouds coming out from that side, it is not going to rain”. I could never expect such an insight from an online community, and thus I started asking fellow growers on the island. This knowledge has totally transformed me. I now turn my head and see the moon getting fuller, a natural reminder that advises me when is the best time to dig the soil or plant my seedlings. But this practical knowledge is gradually fading away. Sometimes, younger people disregard the holders of traditional wisdom — the links that allow the sharing of such knowledge are weakening.

This is what I find fascinating about the GROW Forum, which offer an open space for discussion. This includes various topics related to the protection of our soils and landscapes, about ways to share knowledge with other farmers and scientists from all over Europe. This is, in my opinion, a great way to steward hubs of knowledge sets that are largely ignored, underestimated and steadily fading away. This can potentially bridge the gap between generations and mingle traditional knowledge with new tools to achieve a common vision for the protection of our soils.

To do so, it is clear we cannot depend on any authority to show us the way. We need to invent it ourselves. But this is what GROWing is about!

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