Community members plant crops from January to March and typically harvest them a few months later. Commonly planted vegetables inluce pumpkins, potatoes, peas, beans, carrots and squash. Due to the high elevation and cooler temperatures, tuber plants tend to thrive here. Fruits pose more of a challenge in terms of successful cultivatation, but they can include small payayas (papayitas), strawberries (fresas) and goldenberries (aguaymanto).
The rainy season brings bountiful harvests, but it also brings environmental challenges. Frequently, there are landslides (derrumbres) that collapse or block off entire roads and prevent transportation of both people and goods. People are forced either to travel long distances on foot or not leave the community at all. The heavy rains also lead to increased sediment in the water supply, which results in water that is brown and takes more time to filter to make it safe for drinking.
People live off the land to limit the need for delivered goods outside of the community and not rely on the roads that can become impassable in a moment's notice. They plant their own crops and raise their own animals to use for food, including meat and dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt, and resources, including fur for textile manufacturing.
