Home Gardens for 200 Families, Oaxaca, Mexico

Dear GlobalGiving supporters,

I write with a brief update from Oaxaca, Mexico. With the initial support we have received from you, we have gotten started working with 5 families to establish home gardens in San José Chiltepec. Although there is much demand, we started working with families who were not only enthusiastic about establishing their home gardens but are also willing to help train others and use their gardens as learning sites as the project progresses.

We started with coriander, radish, two varieties of chili, cucumber, squash, chives, peppermint, and epazote seeds as a first step. There is also strong interest in rescuing native medicinal plants that the communities use to relieve common illnesses such as flu or fever.

We have worked with these families to check their plots for the implementation of planting beds during the month of August. The backyard gardens will have a dimension 10x10 meters, except for one that will be of 10x30 meters. We expect that the first productive cycle (November-December) of vegetables will generate savings and immediate impact on the household economy, particularly since the cost of these products typically increases by the holidays.

Thanks again for your support and we look forward to the next update--we couldn’t do it without you!

In solidarity,

Severiana Dominguez, Project Technician