Well begun is half done!

 

Improving nutrition and the general health in Palomas, Mexico continues to be a long term goal for Border Partners.

 

The town’s low-income families lack financial resources to purchase healthy, unprocessed food. But that’s only a part of the problem. Even if they had money, only very limited supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables are available to purchase in Palomas. And what’s available is often poor quality but expensive.

 

Gardens, then, are a logical next step to improving nutritional health. However, gardening is a challenging task in the desert:

·        There’s not much rain in the Chihuahua Desert, so gardeners must water regularly.  But water is expensive!

·        The soil is solid clay, so it needs lots of assistance.

·        There’s no place to buy seeds in Palomas. Neither is there any commercial greenhouse.

 

However, several Palomas gardeners have experience in overcoming these challenges. And successful gardeners on the U.S. side of the border-- including Border Partners’ board member Helena Myers—love to exchange gardening ideas. So it was a natural for Border Partners to introduce these master gardeners from both sides of the border to one another, so that they could share and learn from each other.

 

Border Partners’ co-director Peter Edmunds solicited gardening materials, acquiring generous donations from several companies in Deming, NM (see special notation at the end of the article). With that assistance Border Partners was able to help twelve families start or improve their gardens in Palomas!

 

Potential Palomas gardeners formed themselves into a garden group that met in four sessions this spring from March to May. Together they built and installed four raised bed frames at different homes. Everyone pitched in to add sawdust and manure to the clay soil to make it more workable. The gardeners addressed the water issue by forming plastic pipe grid into drip irrigation systems for their plots.

 

On the day Border Partners distributed tomato seedlings one of the youngest gardeners inquired: “How many tomatoes would a single plant produce?”

 

“Twenty-five pounds,” replied the garden consultant.

 

That fledgling gardener then visited the local supermarket, ascertained the price of tomatoes… and started expanding his garden so he could plant more!

 

Along with the specific major hurdles that Palomas gardeners face come the other hurdles that most all gardeners face, including protecting their crops from squirrels, birds, and rabbits. When several Palomas gardeners reported problems with animals raiding their gardens, Border Partners provided them with a trap.  Voila! The pests vanished. (Some of them even made it to the supper table!)

 

This summer the most experienced Palomas gardener, Juana Lozoya Ortega, will serve as a garden promoter in Palomas. Funded by Border Partners, she will visit each of the twelve gardens periodically to offer advice, encouragement and additional seeds as needed.

 

Early reports indicate that the gardens have mixed success with some looking quite good. Already several gardeners have enthusiastically shared how much they’ve enjoyed eating their homegrown crops. Our visions for the future can even foresee a potential farmers’ market.

 

 

More concrete garden plans continue on into Fall 2010:

·        We will build cold weather frames over some gardens to allow winter crops of chard and lettuce.

·        With the cooperation of the local cattle yard and a local excavation company we’ll soon have a 40 cubic yard compost pile which will give us a great source of good soil for next year.

·        We also want to do further development of gray and rain water systems.

 

 

The support of these Deming, New Mexico businesses deserves special recognition:

·        Foxworth Galbraith Lumber Company

·        Border Foods

·        Sun Valley Hardware Store and

·        Diaz Farms

 

Border Partners’ generous donors provided the financial support for

·        a 4’ x 12’ raised garden bed frame

·        irrigation tape for a drip water saving drip system for each garden

·        55 gallon barrels to store water and catch rain water.

 

The Baker Seed Company also donated more than three hundred packets of seeds. Thanks to their contribution, there should be enough seeds to have veggies growing in every corner

of Palomas! But it was also additionally supplemented by the garden seeds Deming gardener Ray Hansen and the Deming Garden Club donated.