The way we work with Sustainable Harvest in the community is as a collective unit.  What this means is that we now help one another on our land, sharing ideas, harvests, successes and failures. From day to day and week to week, the groups of families perform rotations, whereby no one family plot is worked on more than twice in one week. During the planting and harvesting of crops, rotations are at their peak.  

My neighbors helped me [dig and] prepare several rice paddies, and as a result I am now producing rice all year, in addition to other staples like corn, bean and various vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans, carrots, mustard greens, cilantro, celery, and onion).  Integrated with our rice paddies, we have installed fish ponds that constantly feed water and natural fertilizer (fish manure) to the crops below.  Surrounding this entire area of production, we also have maintained the natural forest, thus protecting the vital water source that serves as irrigation for the rice paddies and vegetable beds.

My husband no longer leaves the family behind to work elsewhere…  Seeing the successful harvests and boost in morale, my husband has since joined SHI and has convinced others that SHI is an organization that does achieve the goals it suggests with us poor peasants.  

For all our lives we never were able to enjoy the tranquility of a proper home, but rather shared a house with my brother-in-law.  As a result of the growth in production and success with sales, we are now in the process of building a home located near our farm.  With this move to our new home, we will be better able to care for our production and watch as it prospers.

The best thing about working with SHI is that they have taught us how we can be successful farmers by only applying sustainable techniques.  For years we were being told otherwise; however, now we see that one no longer needs to buy dangerous pesticides or costly fertilizers in order to be a successful farmer.  We have been taught that what surrounds us is a wealth of resources - manure and rice husks for fertilizer, rocks as dead [erosion] barriers, and much more.  

Working with SHI has made me feel like a woman of importance - I have morale and greater self esteem and most importantly the life of my family and community has changed for the better.  Today, El Entradero is a more united community.  We support one another with what we can - sharing seeds, providing group meals, ideas, and lending a hand, all in the name of developing our community for a healthy future… we share our bounty with neighbors.  

Thanks to all of SHI for this great work being done and for providing better opportunities on behalf of our life and environment.

PHOTOS: (Top) Briseida shows her patch of green beans. (Middle) Rice paddies on Briseida's family farm. (Bottom) Briseida with her children in the garden.