More than a Modest Harvest: Modesto Guevara Tells of His Success with Home Gardens

"I saw how much I could grow and not only feed my family but also sell the vegetables at the market."  

Modesto Guevara is a rural farmer in the remote community of Sirigual (Abelines Region). Fitting to his name, Modesto is a soft-spoken, humble father with 10 family members living in his dirt-floor adobe home. He is a lay leader of the local Catholic church and very active in the community. However, like most people in the region, Modesto has struggled to provide for his large family by simply growing corn and beans on rented land, making less than a few dollars per day.

Shortly after the local evangelical church began to implement home gardens with ENLACE's help, Modesto got involved and has seen great success so far. Take a moment to read about Modesto's experience with his home garden:

What has your experience been like working with your home garden?

"I'm 56 years old and I've been a farmer all my life, but I had never planted a vegetable garden. But I've noticed that when I plant and have success, I get excited and want to keep learning more so that I can continue growing."

What has impacted you the most about working with your home garden?

"I started with about 25 plants, but I saw how much I could grow and not only feed my family but also sell the vegetables at the market. That's when the happiness came. Not only did I not have to buy vegetables, but I could sell them and I even gave away a lot of the peppers to my neighbors."

What outcomes have you seen since starting your home garden, and how has your family benefitted?

Modesto sharing part of his harvest with Pastor Virgilio Ramos"In June I planted 150 tomato plants, 150 pepper plants and I harvested about 800 peppers and 800 tomatoes. We have a big family, but there was so much we couldn't eat it all ourselves. So we went to town and sold produce there. Now my wife sells here in our neighborhood or people come to our house to buy. We are pretty poor, but there are others around here that are worse off than we are, so my wife has given a lot of food to them. This is helping my family, but also helping other families around us."

What would you say about the local church's involvement with the home garden initiative?

"The best thing about the church is that they've truly showed that they care. They don't show favoritism, they treat us all as equals... We all work together and that is how we can make a difference. If one goes this way and another goes that way, things never move forward... Sometimes these ideas don't occur to you and it takes another brother, maybe with God's guidance, to say, 'let's do this together' and you say 'I had never thought of that!' But when someone gives you the idea you start working and when you see the outcomes you get even more excited to keep working."

What are your plans for the future now that you have a home garden?

"God willing, the idea is that next season, and I'm already starting to work on it, that we'll plant even more. We'll continue selling to pay for household expenses and help other poor families by giving them food."

Modesto's family is just one of the hundreds of success stories we've seen with home gardens. In the past two years ENLACE has helped plant more than 350 home gardens for people like Modesto, and we plan to start at least 400 new home gardens next year! Your donation, no matter how small, helps ENLACE give training and supplies to church and community members all over El Salvador who desire to feed their families and generate income through home gardens and small businesses.

Make it a Home Garden Holiday!

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