Gender Equality Mexico Project #15979

Vegetable gardens in the Sierra Gorda

by Grupo Ecologico Sierra Gorda I.A.P

Project Report | Jan 6, 2015
Thank you for the support!

By Marta Hernandez | Project Coordinator

In-class session with women

We started the year training women in the subjects of soils, nutrition and the origins of today’s illnesses. Afterwards we taught climate change and its consequences, such as biodiversity loss and more frequent imbalances, and the mitigation of global warming, emphasizing how we can contribute to improving these alarming conditions. One mitigation strategy is to become a carbon producer, returning organic matter to the land, covering the soil and allowing soil microorganisms to flourish and carry out their role which is to provide food for plants.

To take a step beyond self sufficiency, an introduction to the Route of Flavour (network of small local restaurants that promote local, rural foods) was given to link women vegetable growers with the owners of the restaurants, so that they can offer rural, organic foods with all the essential nutrients that ensure human health as well as the planet’s. The aim of this is to emphasize local gastronomy and producers.

Finally, two workshops were organized for these women entrepreneurs, during which talks were given about healthy eating focussing on how nutrition can improve health in the case of illness, or ensure and perpetuate good health. These workshops were also attended by new women and men who are only recently establishing their vegetable gardens. They learned from the experiences of those who already have a garden, which were glad to share their knowledge. Other activities were: garden design; the making of compost, manure, fermented preparations and biofertilizers; and pest control without attacking the health of any living being, at very low cost and without wider repercussions.

We are very happy to report that during this year we increased the number of women who established backyard gardens to provide their families with healthy foods, without insecticides and at very low cost. We now have 130 gardens, 50 more than last year, this means people are interested and we hope this number keeps increasing in 2015.

Community workshops

Woman working in her vegetable garden

Beneficiaries preparing their own bio-fertilizer

Woman applying minerals to her soil

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Oct 7, 2014
Wangari Maathai Prize awarded to Sierra Gorda

By Thalia Davidoff | Project Leader

Sep 24, 2014
Benefits of having a vegetable garden

By Marta Hernandez | Project Coordinator

It's harvest time

The women of the Sierra Gorda who now have their own vegetable gardens thanks to your support are delighted to report they are harvesting a variety of organic vegetables. The seed sowing and soil preparation techniques the women learnt during the initial training workshops have really paid off with delicious sweet tomatoes and glossy leaved Swiss chard being harvested on a daily basis. Many of the women are growing enough to feed their families healthily and some even produce extra to sell or exchange with neighbors and friends. The vegetable gardens are helping to bring families and communities together and the women’s success is encouraging other people to start their own vegetable gardens. The women are noticing the benefits of the bio-intensive techniques producing four times more than with the conventional technique.

They are enjoying the flavors, colors and textures of what they harvest, in addition to the health benefits. There has been evidence of health improvements amongst the families who suffer from diabetes, obesity, malnutrition and hypertension. Those who are over weight are losing weight and many are noticing they have more energy thanks to the nutritious organic produce they are now eating. We are hoping to see further health improvements including improved infant development as the project develops.

The vegetable gardens are creating many benefits in communities that suffer from poverty, lack of employment opportunities and poor education and health care standards. Sadly many families eat a nutritiously poor diet filled with junk food and sugar loaded fizzy drinks. With your support we will provide regular meetings and training sessions for the women where they care share their experiences and learn more. We hope to hold workshops including healthy cooking and seed collection. The results are evidence in themselves that creating vegetable gardens in the Sierra Gorda has only positive results however we need your support to further develop the women’s skills and help other women start vegetable gardens in their communities. With seeds, tools and training these women are changing the way their communities eat, how their children grow and the health issues they suffer. Please help us continue with this project, which is making a permanent change to the well being of so many families in the Sierra Gorda.

Links:

How to establish a vegetable garden

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