San Benito Agricola is a rural community of Tipitapa; the area is so dry that it seems almost impossible for a plant to grow, let alone an entire garden. However, in the midst of that wild landscape stands a humble house with a yard brimming with plants; here, Maria Delgado lives with her family. With great dedication from the entire family, natural curiosity, and the committed support of the Nourishing the Future Project, they have achieved what seemed impossible: establishing a family garden from which they can harvest fruits and vegetables for themselves, their relatives, friends, neighbors, and even to supplement meals at the local school.

-I had three small melon plants, but the hens destroyed one, so from two little plants, I harvested 8 melons. I also harvested  31 squash from two small plants. Out of 15 pepper plants, I harvested 4 buckets, and I used 5 peppers daily to cook meals. 

With a smile and reviewing her notes, Maria begins her report to the Food and Nutritional Security promoter of the Nourishing the Future Project. Today, she came to see how the garden was and to give her recommendations to continue diversifying it.

Maria has seven years of working with the project, “I think I’ve been in everything,” she recalls. Not missing a single activity, she has belonged to the School Garden Committee, actively participates in food preparation workshops and gender workshops. “The Nourishing the Future Project has given me a vision,” she adds. That vision led her and her husband and children to fight for their own land and, not only that, to allow the dry land where they live recover its vitality to produce fruits and vegetables.

In 2020, against all odds, they started the family garden. One way or another, they had to keep the ground moist, or the plants would not germinate. Her husband was fortunate enough to be given a hose for an irrigation system and, with his own efforts, he bought pipes and adapters to establish an artisanal irrigation system that guarantees water 24 hours a day to the garden.

Their innovative project made them worthy of the Resilient Garden award, a competition organized by Nourishing the Future to select the garden that in both summer and winter stayed green and diversified. Their prize was a water pump and tools for the garden, which motivates them to keep working to maintain it.

“I lived in Tipitapa before; we rented there, and we had to buy everything, but here I had to figure out what to do on my own. When we work in the garden, we do so with love. We work hard, weeding, keeping a nursery. If I go out and see beautiful peppers I buy them and take out the seeds and add them to my seed bank. Our dream is to have the most beautiful garden, “says Maria proudly.