The village of Tenzompan is located high in the Sierra Madre mountains of Jalisco State, in west-central Mexico. Because of malnutrition, particularly for indigenous families, the Government of Mexico built simple hoop-houses for the community in the 1990’s. Despite good intentions, the initial project was not successful and the project fell into disarray.
The hoop-houses were too far from a local water source. The women had to carry buckets of water hundreds of meters each day to keep their plants growing which was literally a huge burden on the growers. As a result, the original project was abandoned.
In 2005, The Growing Connection (TGC),the Universidad de Guadalajara Co-op Program, and Fundación Selva Negra began working in Tenzompan. The hoop-house was rebuilt; 40 Caja containers were delivered; and the village women were trained in innovative, low-input vegetable production. As a result of these changes, the Tenzompan women’s project started to thrive and the project has been expanded to include an additional 20 containers.
During the cool season, they grow chard, spinach and celery. In the warmer months tomatoes, eggplant and peppers are grown with the women being able to supplement their income by selling surplus food in the local market.
With much less water to carry and an easier workload, the women renewed their efforst and were able to produce a bounty of fresh, nutritious food to support their family and community.
Read more about our other case studies featuring unique and inspiring gardens.
