DEMOSFÉ Garden in El Salvador is a "Gift of Life!"

Reflections on the DEMOSFÉ Project from Antonio Mejia

DEMOSFÉ has been running for about 5 years now. I had an opportunity to ask the manager of the garden, Antonio Mejia, about this past year, the lessons he’s learned, the achievements they’ve experienced, and their hopes for the coming year.

Cooperative Antonio Mejia used to think gardening without agrochemicals (toxic pesticides) was impossible. He’s now 5 years into food production without harmful agrotoxins!

When Antonio talks about DEMOSFÉ and this past year, he has a lot to talk about. The garden has grown immensely this year, their production has increased, and they built a new washing station for cleaning and processing their produce. They’ve also streamlined processes for producing organic fertilizer, in both solid and liquid forms, that has helped improve the soil quality. In fact, Antonio noted that the creation of fertilizer led to the greatest improvement of production:

“Since the start of DEMOSFÉ, we’ve had successes and setbacks. These setbacks were ultimately caused by a lack of nutrients in our soil, leading to poor growth and a lack of production. We were forced to investigate new ways to enrich and repair the soil. Through this we found ways to produce enriched fertilizer made, not just with vegetable scraps, but with other types of material found in our natural surroundings: animal manure, wood ash, etc. We have been able to create balanced and enriched fertilizer. And we see its effectiveness.”

Meeting challenges with perseverance, creativity, and learning is something that Antonio stressed. The garden has been much more than a ground for growing food; it’s been a project that has developed the skills, relationships, and knowledge of everyone who has gotten involved.

“The garden has become a school,” Antonio told me, “a space for learning in which young people have been growing, not just in their knowledge of alternative agriculture, but also in self confidence. By developing the garden and putting themselves into what they do, it requires their spiritual, personal, and relational growth.”

Through Antonio’s delegation and management, student interns learn teamwork and project management skills. The garden’s upkeep, including harvesting, is an everyday practice for those who live on the G.O.D.campus.

(Right) The new produce washing station is one of the many developments that has streamlined the regular cleaning process. (Left) Student interns are responsible for maintaining the organic fertilizers used in the garden.

This process of learning has been one that Antonio has profoundly experienced in his own life.

“It has been a challenge on my part to accept this new way to work. At the beginning of this project, about 5 years ago, I constantly refused to try new things. I had worked in conventional agriculture from 7 to the age of 28. It was inconceivable that one could cultivate and harvest without the use of agrotoxins . But through this five-year period, I have come to recognize, amidst victories and failures, that I was wrong, and that, yes, it could be done!”

• Cilantro is a regular household ingredient in Salvadoran cooking. This herb has antimicrobial properties and aids the body in detoxing heavy metals.

• Tomatoes were among some of the first produce grown in DEMOSFÉ. They are a good source of vitamin C, Vitamin K, and an antioxidant called lycopene that has shown to be extremely protective against breast, colon, lung, skin, and prostate cancers.

• Eggplant is an uncommon crop in the area. It’s a good source of dietary fiber, vitamins B1, B6, & Potassium. Its deep color is a product of antioxidants that help with protecting cell membranes from damage.

These changes in the way he thought about agriculture has also led him to more important developments in the way he thinks about the garden.

”A major lesson has been definitely understanding the soil. Our earth isn’t a resource which I can just make use of any time or any way I want. It is complicated and biologically diverse. What I’ve learned is to understand the soil with humility. It’s not just a resource, but a gift of life from God to use, something we see from the beginning of history in the book of Genesis.”

This past year they have witnessed a growing interest in DEMOSFÉ from members of the community. “Some neighbors who didn’t come around now come around. They ask questions and want to know more. They’ve even expressed how they would also like to experiment with the small plots on their land, just in the way that we have done.”

This change of attitude from their neighbors and others has been a slow process of persuasion through demonstration. “At the beginning, there was much disbelief on the part of our neighbors. They even doubted that certain plants would ever grow in our kind of soil. Even when they saw the plants grow, they sometimes didn’t believe it. But we’ve had patience, and we have been guided by God’s word. Our garden is a different way to think, of getting results, and people now see it.”

“But we’ve had patience, and we have been guided by God’s word. Our garden is a different way to think, of getting results, and people now see it.”

Excessive rains in 2020 destroyed 40% of the beets, over 50% of the radishes, almost all of the jicama and all of the carrots. Despite the loss, they were still able to sell produce in their local community, donate to neighboring widows and also have enough for his family and students to consume. “God blessed us in this process,” Antonio said in a recent garden report.

Through Antonio’s hard work, and the work of the student interns, they have laid a solid foundation for DEMOSFÉ’s growth. One testament to the solidness of this foundation is quite astonishing: The garden has become financially self-sufficient this year, making enough money from selling produce to fund its further development.

Antonio hopes to use this foundation to share with his neighbors an even more striking demonstration of possibility. “We want to make this garden a clear example to others, one that can be copied and bring about the same or similar results for others.”

(Left) Building trust with neighbors contributed to the garden becoming financially self-sufficient this year. (Right) The success of DEMOSFÉ has helped the Mejia family and student interns regularly bless neighboring widows with a variety of nutritious and quality produce.

Antonio also hopes to pair this example with opportunities for direct education about the importance of nutrition. “We want to organize the garden to not only produce more but to provide more education. And we want it to be a garden where people can visit and learn about the necessity of having more complete nutrition through balanced food, and the ways this can be achieved with more diversified agriculture.”

Listening to Antonio, it’s not surprising that God chose a garden as the setting for his first classroom. From their own education to the education it now provides the community, DEMOSFÉ has been used by God to teach His people. It’s what the soil was always meant to be. “A gift of life,” as Antonio called it, where God’s people can walk with Him and learn.