In his umpteenth life, Guy Lucien Ferrier wanted to understand plants and chose to become one of them, although more than 50 years had to pass before he could change his mind, his plans, and his destiny. That revolution began when this amiable Frenchman living in Torrelavega fell ill with heart disease and doctors prescribed him a peaceful home that he interpreted as a sofa and television. On the third day, Guy told himself he'd rather die than wither away sitting still, so he remembers very well the scene that marked his new beginning: his father-in-law pulling the leaves off a tomato plant. He, who had never paid attention to the details of the vegetable garden, felt the mutilation in his own body. This "abuse" enraged him so much that his protest consisted of growing his own way, following the natural rhythms, a colossal challenge for this former industrialist. It can be said, without fear of exaggeration, that he is the man who knows the most about tomatoes.
Guy is 75 years old, with white locks, a refined Spanish accent punctuated by the occasional swear word, and the patience of someone who loves what he does. “If there's no passion, you're dead,” he says. His passion soon drew him to 13,000 square meters of land, which he rented in exchange for a dozen eggs. On that farm, verbally signed with the yolk “that dips the plate,” Guy began practicing natural agriculture: without poisons, without pruning, without chemicals. Without fear. Day by day, through an almost symbiotic relationship, he infiltrated the soil until he transformed the barren hectare into an orchard. “A screw or a nut has its technical specifications, and I wanted to learn the same with plants. So I had to transform myself into a plant to understand the whys and wherefores of things,” he explains, 18 years after planting his first tomato. His pact with nature is summed up in the dozen eggs he carries in his car today to deliver, like every Monday, to the owner of the farm; also in the greenhouse that the Torrelavega City Council has ceded to Infinite Seeds , the association that was launched in 2020. You might think that an association with such a luminous name would bring together thousands of members. You might think so, and I think so. But Guy says it's just two people: "The others got scared."
Full article at https://www.eldiario.es/cantabria/sociedad/agricultor-cautivo-tomates-anos-60-industria-dicho-dejad-naturaleza_1_10631909
