Blog

A few days ago, a roundtable took place in Órgiva, organized by the Semillistas Association in collaboration with the Órgiva Town Council. The aim of this first gathering was to bring together individuals, collectives, and organizations connected to Sierra Lújar—whether they work there, walk its trails, or simply appreciate and enjoy this natural space.

After the most intensive sowing period, our team is now refocusing on research. In this phase, we have begun studying a range of new tree and shrub species with potential for ecological restoration. Among them are willowherb (Epilobium spp.), clematis (Clematis spp.), flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus), Pistacia terebinthus, juniper (Juniperus spp.), maple (Acer spp.), wild apple (Malus spp.), mock privet (Phillyrea spp.), and stone pine (Pinus pinea), among others.

We continue monitoring the progress of the seedlings sown approximately a year and a half ago. These young plants have already withstood their first summer, winter, and part of the spring, and are now taking advantage of the current season to continue their vegetative growth, benefiting from the remaining soil moisture.

Over the past few weeks, we have begun monitoring the germination of all the seeds sown during the winter. We are currently finalizing the protocol for organizing and systematically recording these counts, which will officially begin next week and are expected to continue for approximately two to three weeks.

With winter coming to an end, we close the last harvest of the season before spring returns to give us new seeds. On this occasion, we have collected Juniperus oxycedrus in Sierra Lújar, a seed with which we have been experimenting for years to understand its standard germination, that is, how it germinates without any previous treatment.

At Semillistas, every sowing starts long before the seeds are put in the ground. Behind every plant that sprouts, there is a careful and detailed process that takes place in the laboratory. Today we want to tell you a little about how we prepare the seeds to ensure that they have the best possible conditions to germinate and later grow strong in the field.

Recently, we have been working with aladern seeds (Rhamnus alaternus), testing different treatments to improve their germination. In the laboratory, we use Petri dishes with sand in which we place the seeds and carefully record each piece of data. These data, little by little, allow us to construct the germination curves that guide our decisions to prepare the seeds before sowing them in Los Guájares.

At the beginning of February, at Semillistas, we carried out experimental sowings of orthodox seeds in Los Guájares. These sowings are part of an ongoing learning process about how plants germinate and establish themselves in a forest that is in the process of regeneration after a fire.

At Semillistas, every small gesture counts for reforestation, and the day we shared with the European volunteers in the laboratory was a clear example of this. The main task was the sorting of acorns, an essential process before planting in Los Guájares.

At Semillistas we continue to explore ways to improve the efficiency of our plantings and increase the survival rates of the trees we plant. On this occasion, we are applying a treatment called Solid Matrix Priming to Pinus alepensis, a key species in the reforestation of Mediterranean ecosystems.