I was sure I\u2019d made it to the farthest-flung corner of\nNorthwestern Vermont. This is where Francisco lived. I was cycling down a dirt\nroad that had turned to mud, at the foot of a forested mountain. The leaves\nthat hadn\u2019t yet fallen were red and orange. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That fall morning my bicycle and I had caught the predawn\nbus from Burlington to St. Albans. From there, I pedaled through the fields and\ntowns of Franklin County in search of a few farms where I\u2019d find participants\nof Huertas, a project that supports migrant dairy workers and their families to\nplant and maintain kitchen gardens. I was going to interview them about their\nexperiences with the program and their gardens. This was my first interview that day. I had two more scheduled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I passed\nFransisco\u2019s house by accident. I had a hand-drawn map but there were few\nlandmarks out here, just narrow fields of already-harvested corn and the odd\nbarn. A film of snow covered the ground in the shade. I waved at a passing\npick-up, but the driver ignored me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After arriving at the end of the road, I turned around. I\nknocked on the door of the only house I\u2019d seen. Francisco opened with a smile.\nWe had been in touch the day before, but without contact he had begun to doubt\nthat I was coming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was isolated. \u201cThe neighbors here, well there aren\u2019t any\nnearby,\u201d said Francisco. Having a visitor seemed to make him happy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His garden gave him happiness as well. \u201cIt\u2019s something fun\nand entertaining,\u201d he told me. \u201cI get home from work and have nothing else to\ndo. So I go out to the garden. It entertains me a lot.\u201d For Francisco, like for\nmost participants I spoke with, maintaining a garden wasn\u2019t work; it was fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And participants valued produced from their gardens more\nhighly than equivalent purchased food. When I presented them with the\nhypothetical option between support from Huertas to maintain a garden and a\nweekly produce delivery, 9 of 15 respondents said they would prefer the garden.\nOf the 6 who chose the hypothetical veggie box, 5 explained that it was because\nof unwanted circumstances: they didn\u2019t have adequate time or space to have\nsuccess gardening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than anything, the people I interviewed seemed to like\ntheir relationships with their gardens, with the plants that comprised them,\nand with the people with whom they gardened and shared food. \u201cWhat we plant,\nwhat we harvest, we know that we were the ones doing the maintenance and that\nwe\u2019re eating fresh food,\u201d Francisco explained to me. Other Huertas participants\ntold me stories about caring for plants with their children and cooking for\ntheir friends with ingredients they had sown and reaped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What thrilled Francisco was learning from plants through his\ninteractions with the garden. Nature astonished him. He spoke of his chili\npeppers: \u201cBefore the snow started to fall, we stopped harvesting them. We had\npicked all the chilis, and then they started producing again. \u2026 We were going\nto buy chilis to stew. My roommate went outside to check on the garden, and\nthere were more peppers on the plants!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later he told me, \u201cSomething that surprised me happened with\nthe cilantro. Well, back in Mexico, you plant it, harvest it, and that\u2019s it.\nBut this time, the first year I was here, the cilantro was all harvested and we\nleft a few plants. It grew, it flowered, it made seeds, and there it stayed.\nWhat I realized was that the seeds don\u2019t mind the cold. Cilantro came up right\nthere the next year. So this year, I left some plants on purpose.\u201d Francisco\nmarveled at how the chilis and cilantro produced on their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI learn little more every year,\u201d he explained. \u201cLike with\nthe tomatoes, at first I just planted them and weeded. There they fell over.\nNow, I put some sticks beside them and tie them up with a string and they grow\nwell. They produce better. You harvest more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Francisco did not learn only from his own experience with\nthe plants, but also from Huertas volunteers. \u201cThey offered to help me plant,\u201d\nhe said, speaking of his first year participating. \u201cI had already prepared the\nland and everything. They showed me how I was going to plant, the distance\nbetween seedlings, and how to prepare the soil. The next year, I could do it\nmyself.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like most of the people I talked to, Francisco expressed\ngratitude for the help of Huertas. \u201cThey gave us everything, whatever we asked\nfor. They brought us plant starts, seeds\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was his day off, and he sipped a Corona while we talked.\nHe offered me one. I told him that it was super tempting, but I had a long way\nto cycle that afternoon, so it was best I didn\u2019t drink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We kept talking after I had turned off the audio recording\ndevice. Francisco told me about the disappearance of the chickens that Huertas\nhad given him. Whoever had taken off with them hadn\u2019t left behind a single\nfeather. We laughed thinking about what could have happened. Maybe it had been\na coyote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thought that perhaps the company of occasional visits was\nthe best thing Huertas offered. Diary workers are isolated by distance and\ncircumstance; they live in the countryside, they work very long hours, and many\nare scared to leave the farm because they are undocumented. Having access to\nfresh produce from their own culture is a big help, for sure. But maybe it is\njust as important to have other people around once in a while. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the report [Download below this post] that I have written about this program evaluation of Huertas, I recommend that the project seeks an intern who has experienced growing vegetables, to better support participants with their gardens. Many don\u2019t have time to garden because of their work schedules, and some\u2014mostly those from cities, who didn\u2019t farm in Mexico\u2014lacked gardening knowhow. That year Francisco had struggled with his melon plant. \u201cIt grew well, but the bugs began to munch on it and they didn\u2019t let the melons get big.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But beyond whether every crop grows well, I think that what\nmatters about Huertas is the interaction between student volunteers and migrant\nparticipants. It\u2019s cultural exchange and human relations. It\u2019s fine if I don\u2019t\nknow anything about gardening; the fact that I came and listened to Francisco\nreally seemed to make him feel good. Other participants felt good about our\nconversations, too. As did I. I loved spending an hour with Francisco, and it\npained me to know that I wasn\u2019t going to be able to come back, at least until\nthe next spring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took off smiling on my bike, on my way to the next\ninterview. The cows gazed at me uninterestedly as I went by. <\/p>\n\n\n
Hab\u00eda llegado al\nrinconcito m\u00e1s remoto de todo el noroeste de Vermont, de eso yo estaba seguro.\nAll\u00e1 viv\u00eda Francisco. Estaba en una carretera de tierra que se hab\u00eda convertido\nen barro, al pie de una monta\u00f1a boscosa. Las hojas que no se hab\u00edan ca\u00eddo\ntodav\u00eda eran rojas y naranjas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aquella madrugada\noto\u00f1al mi bici y yo hab\u00edamos tomado el autob\u00fas de Burlington a St. Albans. De\nall\u00ed, fui pedaleando por los campos y pueblos de Franklin County en b\u00fasqueda de\nalgunos ranchos donde viv\u00edan participantes de Huertas, un proyecto que apoya a\ntrabajadores migrantes en ranchos lecheros y sus familias para que mantengan\nhuertas. Les iba a entrevistar sobre sus experiencias con el programa y con sus\nhuertas. \u00c9sta era la primera entrevista del d\u00eda. Ten\u00eda dos m\u00e1s despu\u00e9s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pas\u00e9 la casa de\nFrancisco sin querer. Ten\u00eda un mapa que hab\u00eda dibujado a mano, pero aqu\u00ed hab\u00eda\npocos puntos de referencia, solo campos estrechos de ma\u00edz ya cosechado y alg\u00fan\ngranero. En la sombra, una capa fina de nieve tapaba el suelo. Me pas\u00f3 una\ncamioneta y le se\u00f1al\u00e9, pero el conductor no me hizo caso. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al llegar al\nfinal de la carretera, me di la vuelta. Sub\u00ed a la \u00fanica casa que hab\u00eda visto y\nllam\u00e9 a la puerta. Francisco me recibi\u00f3 con una sonrisa. Hab\u00edamos estado en\ncontacto el d\u00eda anterior, pero \u00e9l dudaba que llegara. Estaba aislado all\u00ed. \u201cLos\nvecinos aqu\u00ed, pues no hay muy cerca\u201d, dijo. Tener visita le pareci\u00f3 hacer\nfeliz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Su huerta le daba\nfelicidad tambi\u00e9n. \u201cEs algo divertido y entretenido\u201d, me dijo. \u201cLlego de mi\ntrabajo, no tengo m\u00e1s que hacer. Y ya, me voy all\u00e1 a la huerta. Me entretiene\nmucho\u201d. Para Francisco, igual que para la mayor\u00eda de los participantes con\nquienes habl\u00e9, mantener la huerta no era trabajo; era diversi\u00f3n. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Y los\nparticipantes valoraban lo que sus huertas produc\u00edan m\u00e1s que el equivalente en\ncomida si fuera comprado. Cuando les present\u00e9 la opci\u00f3n hipot\u00e9tica entre el\napoyo de Huertas para mantener una huerta y una entrega semanal de productos frescos,\n9 de 15 entrevistados dijeron que preferir\u00edan la huerta. De los 6 que eligieron\nla cesta hipot\u00e9tica de productos frescos, 5 explicaron que era por motivos no\ndeseados: no ten\u00edan tiempo o espacio adecuado para cultivar con \u00e9xito. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A las personas\nque entrevist\u00e9 les parec\u00edan gustar sobre todo sus relaciones con las huertas,\ncon los cultivos que formaban parte de ellas, y con las personas con quienes\nlas manten\u00edan y compart\u00edan las verduras. \u201cLo que sembramos, lo que cosechamos,\nsabemos que nosotros mismos lo estuvimos dando el mantenimiento y que son cosas\nfrescas que comes\u201d, me explic\u00f3 Francisco. Otros participantes me contaban\nhistorias sobre cuidar a las plantas con sus hijos y preparar platos para\namigos con ingredientes que hab\u00edan cultivado y cosechado. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lo que le hac\u00eda\nilusi\u00f3n a Francisco era aprender de las plantas tras interactuar con la huerta.\nLa naturaleza le asombraba. De los chiles, dijo, \u201cAntes de que empezara a caer\nla nieve, dejamos de cosecharlos. Ya lo hab\u00edamos cortado todo, volvi\u00f3 a\nproducir. \u2026 \u00cdbamos a comprar chiles para guisar. Mi compa\u00f1ero fue a verlos, y\n\u00a1ten\u00edan otra vez los chiles!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
M\u00e1s tarde me\ncont\u00f3, \u201cAlgo que no sab\u00eda yo que pasaba, era sobre el cilantro. Bueno, all\u00ed en\nM\u00e9xico, lo siembras, lo cosechas, y ya est\u00e1, all\u00ed. Pero esta vez aqu\u00ed, en el\nprimer a\u00f1o que estuve, se cosech\u00f3 y quedaron incluso algunas plantitas. Creci\u00f3,\nfloreci\u00f3, hizo semillas, y all\u00ed se qued\u00f3. Lo que me di cuenta es que a las\nsemillas no les hace nada el fr\u00edo. All\u00ed mismo volvieron a brotar otras plantas\nel siguiente a\u00f1o. Este a\u00f1o dej\u00e9 unas plantas a prop\u00f3sito\u201d. A Francisco le\nmaravill\u00f3 que volvieran a producir por s\u00ed mismos los chiles y el\ncilantro. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVoy aprendiendo\nm\u00e1s\u201d, me explic\u00f3. \u201cComo el tomate, antes solamente plantaba el arbolito y nada\nm\u00e1s lo limpiaba yo. All\u00ed se ca\u00eda. Ahorita ya no; le pongo unos palos al lado y\nlo ato con un hilo y ya, crece. Est\u00e1 mejor, el producto. Se cosecha m\u00e1s\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Francisco no\naprend\u00eda solo de su propia experiencia con las plantas, sino tambi\u00e9n de las\nvoluntarias de Huertas. \u201cEllas me ofrecieron ayudarme a sembrar\u201d, dijo de su\nprimer a\u00f1o participando. \u201cYa ten\u00eda yo la tierra ya preparada y todo. Me\nense\u00f1aron c\u00f3mo iba yo a sembrar, la distancia, c\u00f3mo preparar bien la tierra. Ya\nel siguiente a\u00f1o, s\u00ed ya pod\u00eda yo hacerlo solo\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Como la mayor\u00eda\nde las personas con quienes habl\u00e9, agradec\u00eda la ayuda de Huertas. \u201cNos\nproporcionaron todo, lo que les pedimos. Nos trajeron las plantitas,\nsemillas\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Era su d\u00eda libre,\ny tomaba una Corona mientras habl\u00e1bamos. Me ofreci\u00f3 una. Le dije que me tentaba\nmucho, pero me quedaba una buena distancia en bici esa tarde, entonces mejor\nque no bebiera. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seguimos hablando\ndespu\u00e9s de que apagu\u00e9 el dispositivo que estaba grabando el audio. Francisco me\ncont\u00f3 de la desaparici\u00f3n de los pollos que Huertas le hab\u00eda dado. Quien se los\nhubiera llevado no hab\u00eda dejado ni una pluma. Nos re\u00edmos un buen rato pensando\nen qu\u00e9 pod\u00eda haber pasado. Igual hab\u00eda sido un coyote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pens\u00e9 que quiz\u00e1s\nla compa\u00f1\u00eda de visitas casuales era lo mejor que ofrec\u00eda Huertas. Los trabajadores\nde ranchos lecheros est\u00e1n aislados por distancia y circunstancia: viven en el\ncampo, trabajan much\u00edsimas horas, y muchos tienen miedo de salir del rancho\nporque no tienen papeles. Tener acceso a alimentos frescos de su propia cultura\nes una gran ayuda, seguro. Pero puede ser que importe tambi\u00e9n solo tener a\notras personas a su alrededor de vez en cuando. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
En el\ninforme que he escrito de esta evaluaci\u00f3n del programa Huertas, recomiendo que\nbusquen a una o a un intern que tenga experiencia cultivando, para poder apoyar\nm\u00e1s a los participantes con sus huertas. A muchos les falta tiempo por su\nhorario del trabajo, y a algunos \u2013sobre todo los de la ciudad, que no\ncultivaban en M\u00e9xico\u2014 les falta conocimiento. Ese a\u00f1o Francisco hab\u00eda tenido\ndificultades con el mel\u00f3n. \u201cCreci\u00f3 bien, pero los bichos empezaron a com\u00e9rsela\ny no me la dejaron crecer mucho\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pero m\u00e1s\nall\u00e1 de si crece bien cada cultivo o no, creo que lo que importa de Huertas es\nla interacci\u00f3n entre los estudiantes que hacen de voluntario y las personas\nmigrantes que participan. Es intercambio cultural y relaci\u00f3n humana. Da igual\nsi tengo sabidur\u00eda espec\u00edfica sobre cultivar o no; el hecho de que he venido a\nescucharle le pareci\u00f3 hacer sentir bien a Francisco, y a otros participantes\nigual. A m\u00ed tamb\u00eden. Me encant\u00f3 pasar una hora con Francisco, y me daba pena\nsaber que no iba a poder volver, como m\u00ednimo hasta la siguiente primavera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sal\u00ed en\nbici sonriendo, corriendo a la pr\u00f3xima entrevista. Las vacas me miraban sin\ninter\u00e9s mientras pasaba. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was sure I\u2019d made it to the farthest-flung corner of Northwestern Vermont. This is where Francisco lived. I was cycling down a dirt road that had turned to mud, at the foot of a forested mountain. The leaves that hadn\u2019t yet fallen were red and orange. That fall morning my bicycle and I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5934,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5934"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":404,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions\/404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}