It all started about 15 months ago with the purpose of complementing the shopping basket with fresh food for the families who use the Food Bank of Puerto de la Cruz, but it has a rapid growth rate that has led to a broader project with training as the main driving axis.
The idea of José Luis Montesinos Canarian Foundation Organizing a garden was partly out of necessity, to be able to offer families fresh food and, on the other hand, to have a place to harvest it.
The kickoff took place in Puerto de la Cruz. The first orchard was officially inaugurated there on September 9 of last year, but beforehand, almost coinciding with the end of the pandemic, prior work was carried out consisting of the preparation of the land, provided by the City Council, and the planting of the first crops.
At that moment, Isabel Sosa, the person in charge of the orchard located in the La Vera neighborhood, started, one of the three that the Foundation currently manages, to which are added the one in Barroso, in La Orotava, and another in San Juan de la Rambla.
He landed there by chance. She worked in a food company until she suddenly became part of those people “who are old enough, we don’t perform as we should, and they send us home,” says Isa, which is how she is known at the Foundation.
Immediately after doing so, he saw a Facebook post from Lalo Martín, president of the Foundation, and wondered who it was because suddenly more writings appeared. A week later she contacted him to tell him that she was unemployed and did not want to be in his house and offered to give him a hand. “I need both,” she replied, and he became hooked on the project, everything it entails, until she became part of his life.
“I am one of the volunteers who put my soul, heart and life into it because I also feel very identified,” she confesses.
Her beginnings were in the warehouse but it reminded her a lot of her old job and she felt overwhelmed, so as she had previous knowledge of agronomy, had taken courses and worked on the family land, she herself proposed to Lalo “to go to the orchard.” ”he jokes.
Around eight volunteers go there from Monday to Friday from early morning until noon, but there are also many people who come to lend a hand “when they feel like it”, not on a fixed basis, says Isa.
Volunteers come from Monday to Friday to lend a hand in the garden. / Fran Pallero
In the orchard, about 2,500 kilos of both fruits and vegetables are collected, which can supply about 2,000 families. / Fran Pallero
, president of the José Luis Montesinos Foundation. / Fran Pallero
In the orchard, about 2,500 kilos of both fruits and vegetables are collected, which can supply about 2,000 families. / Fran Pallero
To design the garden they took into account the demands of the people but also the fruits, vegetables and vegetables that are easier to grow and at the same time, essential for a menu.
In that sense, the greatest demand is for the ingredients of a salad, lettuce, tomato, onion, and those necessary for a stew, leeks, chard, carrots, bubangos, spinach and potatoes. They also vary according to the season and that is why they rotate crops, so that the land has all the necessary nutrients. Added to this are aromatic plants such as parsley, cilantro, basil and different types of pepper and in the case of fruits, papayas and bananas rule.
The results of the first harvests were exciting. “You realize that the garden walks, that the earth is grateful. I always say that it is a blessed land, because everything you plant comes out,” Isa declares proudly.
In total they collect about 2,500 kilos, both of fruits and vegetables, which allow them to supply about 2,000 families that the Foundation serves through social services, a number that increased considerably during the pandemic and that completely changed the profile. of the users. The majority are residents of Puerto de la Cruz, although occasionally there are some from Los Realejos and La Orotava.
Since then, they are not people without work but also people who have an income, a basic salary, but that is insufficient to cover the expenses of a family with more members, who has to face a mortgage and a vehicle to be able to go to work. work. Or self-employed workers who had a business, did poorly or had to close it after COVID-19.
This situation led to 180 tons of food being distributed in 2022. “We have the warehouse and the refrigerators that we have and if this does not change and people do not have the spirit of wanting to work and improve themselves, it will be unsustainable and that is why the project arose,” he says.
Ensuring opportunities consists of the creation of gardens so that the most disadvantaged groups and at risk of exclusion can be trained, people over 50 years old who may be too old for some jobs, can return to the labor market, and at the same time, seek Raise awareness about caring for the environment and sustainable development.
In this way, the garden has several aspects, training, supplying and re-committing to the primary sector, which during the pandemic was proven to be essential.
“The commitment we have made, since we were created as an entity, is to provide the basic tool, which is training, and that allows each person to choose where and how they want to work, live with their income and be independent,” emphasizes the president.
Ensuring opportunities has been growing non-stop to the point that the Foundation has planned a large training center or “home house” as Lalo calls it, which aims to be a shelter home for former young people under the protection of the Government of the Canary Islands, many of whom When they turn 18 they find themselves on the streets or forced to return to family units where problems continue to exist. “This represents a lack of respect for the citizens who have invested through their taxes in betting on these young people,” says the president.
The La Orotava City Council gave them a property in the center of the municipality and the idea is that the works will begin in 2024. This property, which is located at number 20 Tomás Zerolo Street, will be used to provide continuity and complete its solidarity and self-sustainable project to continue planting the future.
A new “bridge to society” that will begin in La Orotava
The property given on Tomás Zerolo street, in La Orotava, to launch the Foundation’s solidarity project has to be adapted to develop its objectives but the idea is that in 2024 the training programs can begin. “We want this house to be a bridge to society so that they are educated and can become independent within approximately two years,” says Lalo Martín.
