Home Gardens for 200 Families, Oaxaca, Mexico

Greetings GlobalGiving Supporters,

The implementation of the family gardens has progressed steadily and 9 new gardens have been implemented with the support of teachers from the Universidad del Pueblo de San José Chiltepec. We have started to implement the last of the planned gardens with the elementary school Aquiles Serdán de Arroyo Choapam. It had been delayed until the beginning of the new school year, but the first training workshop with the students of this great school has recently taken place.

The gardens implemented in this last cycle are beginning to yield their first harvests and the participants are very enthusiastic about the results. The difference between these gardens with respect to those implemented previously lies in the use of irrigation systems adapted to local conditions, which facilitated the care, management, and time required to tend the family gardens. This small but significant change was brought about by feedback from previous beneficiaries and our field technician.

We are also very excited about the renewal of many of the face-to-face activities in the communities, which allowed us to conduct a training workshop on how to make organic compounds to control common pests and diseases in the family garden. These include bostol (bio repellent), chamomile infusion (bio fungicide), soap dilution (bioinsecticide), and garlic extract (bioinsecticide).

With these experiences and a lot of enthusiasm for the results obtained in the home gardens of this last cycle, we continue working for the conservation of natural resources and the improvement of food sovereignty. 

We are profoundly grateful for your support!

Marco Acevedo, Program Officer, Mexico