The Ripple Effect: December 2011

Here in the Northwest we are bedding down all our gardening but not so in Guatemala. The villages where we work are located between 3,500 and 5,000 feet in elevation in the mountains. The climate is temperate not tropical and the seasonal change is more affected by the rainy and dry seasons than our winter- summers temperature fluctuation. December is the start of the dry season and a good time to begin planting. This month we are helping 54 families enter the new growing season by establishing personal garden.

DIEGO"S GARDEN IN NUEVE PUNTOS
34 of the families are from the women’s collective and the other 20 live in Nueve Puntos. This is the third time we have help in Nueve Puntos and when I ask if they wanted to participate again the replied “Por cierto! Cuando nos ayuda comemos rico!” –“For sure when you help us we eat rich!

YOUNG GIRL WITH A BREAKFAST OF BEANS
I know they feed me the best that they have when I visit and often we have festivals but truthfully the diet is very bland. Not only is it low in variety but it is lacking in many important nutrients.

MICHAELS GARDEN IN WASHINGON STATE
I garden a small space next to my house and a family of five could eat their fill from it all through the season. In Guatemala we want to develop a continuous harvest for 9 months out of the year and revolutionize their diet.

So we are organizing a three year program that we hope to offer up to 150 families. It would have classes for instruction in soil fertility, planting time, and harvest procedures. It would also offer seeds and supplies like this women and her son are carrying here.

Last Spring we grew and gave out over 1,000 vegetable starts from a small nursery in Las Flores. This year the village of Nueve Puntos and the women’s committee in Chel both are starting nurseries.

Our Christmas present this year for these women is seeds, starts and more chicken wire so they can increase their garden sizes from 25x15 feet to 25x30 feet. This size of a garden spot is about half the size of the test plot I am farming intensively in Washington State. When soil fertility has been improved and sound gardening practices established we hope to have set such a great example that personal vegetable gardens will become a way of life in this region.

This is a work in progress as step by step we work toward sustainable horticulture that will fill the nutritional gap in their diets. We invite you to join us and sponsor a family’s journey toward better health. $35 supports a family garden for one year with seeds, starts, and fencing.

You can support us buy donating online at http://therippleeffectinc.org/ or mail your check to The Ripple Effect @ 9712 kopachuck Dr NW Gig Harbor Wa 98335. Remember 100% of your tax deductable donation is used in the project. TRE is a direct link to fight poverty family to family.