•Jaltepec : Market Garden

This is a new garden that is just being developed. It main purpose will be a market garden offering a wider variety of organic produce. The garden will be open to the publie and will become a learning center for the comumity. It will include a resource library in both English and Spanish.

This Garden Center will offer a wide variety of both basic vegetables and herbs (grown by both Asociacion comunitaria de autosuficiencia A.C,).and exotic vegables, grown by graduate students in a private interprize, "GGs". Also fresh "salad exotica", "great greens mix" and a stirfry blend, Snowpea medley" will be available

Starting February 2nd, it will be open Monday to Saturday, 9am - 5pm.

Future plans include membership boxes, specialty items for gardners connoisseurs and gourmet cooks, herb planters.

This will also be a training garden, but it will be run by trainers that Asociacion comunitaria de autosuficiencia A.C. has trained.

There are expanded training facilities at our new garden site. In addition to the student training provided by Asociacion comunitaria de autosuficiencia A.C., short courses for gardeners, farmers and local residents, in both Spanish and English, will be offered for a fee by Marie Pruden.

•Jocotepec :Training Garden ****MAP HOW TO GET HERE

Located at the West End of Lake Chapala

This is basically4 Full time Trainers,17 students / Families

Please support this alternative Agriculture Program by buying their vegetable

Training Program for students in all projects

New students have an opportunity to check out the Project and evaluate their own suitability to our Agricultural Hands -on program.

It takes a special kind of a person to make a commitment to choose Organic Farming. ACA students volunteer for six weeks before they become a Student, and before they receive a very minimal training Stipend.

Everyone Signs a Participation Agreement, Sponsors, Students and ACA.

Training oversights occur on a regular basis in all the gardens, providing us with living examples to learn from and Great Hands on Practice with real seed, seedlings and transplants.

They learn about Companion Planting, Intensive Planting, Conservation watering systems, transplanting, harvesting, packaging and marketing. They learn by Doing.

Our Gardens are operated by Volunteers, Trainers and Students.We are not commercial. Learning is of course enhanced in the Garden environment, where results speak for themselves, as do the miss haps. Communities are growing together, teaching each other, Feeding themselves and contributing to others within the community. This type of team spirit allows us to produ ce the very best ,and be flexible responding to the needs of the communities.

In this unique learning environment we explore and teach new Organic Farming methods, on a community based level, the food produced feeds the participants and when there is a surplus, we also share with others who are hungry at the same time.

Approximately 25 % of the produce is sold to cover the cost of our Mexican Trainers.

Some of the Students who complete the 3 years become ACA teachers for new generations sprouting up. Others will enter into the Labor Market better equipped to make a sustainable income.

ACA student base is continually expanding, with more families and communities involved. An amazing ripple effect is showing itself now, as emerging Organic Growers, campesinos, and ecological minded sufficiency groups visit our Student Gardens.

As Promised Something New And revolutionary...

Soil-less Gardens made utilizing Fresh Organic Matter

Advantages:
Made from Local Materials ,(Sugarcane, Waste Tree, Flowers and Grass)-Inexpensive to construct -
Less weight per area of growing space, ideal on Roof tops
Production with minimal input.

Above Ground Gardening (i.e., planting in compost, straw and other materials)

Plants can be successfully grown in fresh Organic Matter of many kinds, and almost any vegetable can be grown in shallow beds.

Once the beds are established, they are regular gardens except in they’re need for more frequent watering.

The Materials:
Grass Clippings
Piles, and let decompose for a few weeks.
Use to mix with other organic items.
Flower and Tree Leaf Mixtures
Sugar Cane Waste
Along with Sugarcane waste
Straw will be needed.

This project is being done by.A Group of Young Adults from School Nuevo Acroplis Guadalajara :

We would like to Maintain this type of growth rate however, our Financial and Volunteer Resources are limited.

We are funded by generosities from people like you