University of Puerto Rico at Ponce

English Department
ENGL 4021 M03

MEMORANDUM

DATE: December 7, 2021

INTRODUCTION

Interaction with agriculture is a necessary experience for society to coexist and sustain
itself alongside nature. Agriculture is the science regarding the care of nature’s productions,
development, and cultivation. This branch of science has its own standards regarding how
soil should be taken care of and how its own techniques have an impact on the communities
benefited from it. The information stated in this project reflects the experience of working
hands-on with nature. Such experiences take place in Huerto Atabey located in the University
of Puerto Rico at Ponce, administered by the Student Coalition Pro-Agriculture (CEPA,
acronym in Spanish). CEPA gives the opportunity to raise production and quality of local
food as well as alimentation security. Both Finca Reverdecer and Finca Buena Vibra at Ponce
were other places where green volunteering was held. The objective of this project is to
educate and raise awareness in any community where there is a lack of interest in agriculture.
This way, it is possible to expand knowledge about the crucial care of nature. Finally, it is
fundamental to expose the importance of agriculture during the Covid-19 pandemic where the
population’s health and sustainability may be jeopardized.

BACKGROUND

For students studying biology and as part of their curriculum, they have to take a
technical writing course in English. In this class as a requirement to spend it they had
to do a few community hours on a farm or garden where no method was used that
affected the environment or its workers, where they learned about what it is like to
work in the sun, taking care of and maintaining a planting. It is also a way of seeing
the difference between an organic sowing and what had been discussed in class that
were Monsanto crops. Monsanto is a company that excels in making genetically
modified seeds in addition to herbicides.

Reference:

ALEPH. (2021, April 3). ¿Qué es monsanto resumen? ¿qué es monsanto resumen? Retrieved

October 28, 2021, from [Link]

GROUP GOALS

As a student group, we carry certain objectives regarding the progress report. The
principal goal as student volunteers is to obtain knowledge on how to work with nature and
agriculture. Throughout this task, we expect to spread awareness about how important it is to
take part in the care of our environment and healthy food productions, both inside and outside
our campus. In addition, we are conscious about the beneficial usage of recycled and
upcycled materials in farms and gardens.

LIMITATIONS

Dry lands, pests, chemicals, and lack of resources are some of the current limitations
that farms in the southern part of the island have to work with. Our main focus, Huerto
Atabey, has to deal with an extensive protocol due to university policies and Covid-19. This
only lets students work in groups of ten (10) and only for an hour. Also, Huerto Atabey, due
to the lockdown caused by the pandemic, was lost completely and now thanks to the
volunteer work, amazing organization from the CEPA board of directors, and loyal members
it is getting back on track. However, Finca Buena Vibra and Finca Reverdecer are two farms
that have been affected directly. Due to the pandemic, labor, and manufacturing was reduced
and limited. At the Buena Vibra farm, the coffee harvest was first affected by the
aforementioned, also by some fourteen pests, the last being an unknown one, which turns the
coffee beans into black seeds, thus losing the harvest on specific trees. In Finca Reverdecer,
the organic fruits and vegetables are at risk due to wild pigs after Hurricane Maria and the
invading species of iguanas that feed off their crops. All three agricultural projects had to
reduce the intake of volunteer work, donation intake and production, and distribution had to
stop. Finally, the economic part of these projects was diminished due to the fact that their
participation in fairs, agricultural markets and urban markets was practically null.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Although we started working in the Atabey Garden, Finca Buena Vibra, and Finca
Reverdecer as a class project, we recommend and encourage other classmates from the
university to also carry out community service in gardens and farms like the ones mentioned.
The participation of more students in activities such as these, especially in the university’s
garden, would help to increase the production of the harvest and the agricultural work to be
executed. It is for this purpose that we suggest that the CEPA association continues to
promote the tasks and benefits of being a member of the garden’s volunteering students.
Participation in virtual conferences provided by the CEPA association or other non-profit
organizations boosts our knowledge within the agricultural processes. As for the general
communities, we highly recommend building home gardens with or without the use of
recycled materials. This way, we don't overproduce waste and we maintain direct contact
with the environment.
TIMELINE

Figure 1: Timeline diagram of the activities made during the semester of the 2021-2022
academic year from September through December. Diagram created with Microsoft Word
App.

COMPLETED TASKS IN HUERTO ATABEY

Huerto Atabey required daily specific tasks although they were repetitive as a routine.
The watering of plants maintains the soil healthy and in optimum conditions for the plants to
grow in it. Another task developed was cleaning the garden and removing weeds. By doing
these tasks, we create a clean and attractive environment without obstructions. The creation
of seedlings consists of relocating the growing plants to better and bigger pots. The
management of composting in Huerto Atabey helps nurture and fertilize the soil with or
without the plants. The service log of each member who assisted Huerto Atabey’s
maintenance will be displayed in Appendix A along with images as reference.
COMPLETED TASKS IN FINCA BUENA VIBRA

Finca Buena Vibra has an extensive line of crops such as cacao, papaya and their
main harvest coffee. The farm has more than 2,000 coffee trees that give their crops from
August until December, October being the highest point of harvest. At the farm, as a group
we collected twenty five pounds of coffee, a papaya, and some cacao beans. Then, we started
to process the coffee, beginning with removing the first layer of the coffee seed which
removes the pulp that covers it. After this, the remnant is washed and covered with water to
let it ferment for four days. Then the owner and Agronomist, Rafael, showed us a batch of
coffee that was almost ready. This batch was in the stage of drying out, and had to be turned
by hand two times a day to start removing another layer so that the coffee bean can be finally
toasted and packed. It should be noted that the Finca Buena Vibra coffee has grains that taste
10/10 and 8/10, demonstrating the quality and care that these crops have. The service log of
each member who assisted Finca Buena Vibra will be displayed in Appendix B along with
images as reference.

COMPLETED TASKS IN FINCA REVERDECER

The most important part of assisting on the Finca Reverdecer was the removing seeds
from every sown field that the farm has. Whenever a client asks for a specific order, in this
case 3 pounds of beet, I help the owners to take it from the plant without cutting the root or
taking the damaged ones. The service log of the member who assisted Finca Reverdecer will
be displayed in the Appendix A along with images.
COMPLETED TASKS IN VIRTUAL CONFERENCES BY CEPA

CEPA provided five virtual conferences during September and October via Google
Meet, approximately one hour of duration, where the central theme discussed was agriculture
and its benefits. Each meeting consisted of a different speaker who explained to us their
agricultural work and how we can execute it at home. The mentioned meetings were: Carbón
activado, Taller: Introducción al huerto ecológico, cambio climático y el huerto, Taller: ¿Por
qué tener un huerto?, Huertos Caseros I, and Huertos caseros II. Every conference and
workshop added knowledge of how to work effectively in the garden and farms we visited. In
addition, these virtual experiences extended our conscience regarding the crucial importance
of why we should understand how beneficial soil and organic matter are.

FUTURE PROJECTIONS

Our interest, in agriculture, as a group and individually, has increased with the contact
hours with nature and the informative assisted virtual conferences related to the environment
and agricultural work. The virtual conferences were provided by the CEPA Association via
Google Meet. In this way, we were able to continue and accumulate the contact hours
required. All this is due to the pandemic restrictions applied in Huerto Atabey at campus.

We will continue to work on farms where we can observe the hard work involved in
the production and distribution of food. We will still be able to live firsthand what it is like to
maintain a plant and give it the maintenance it needs. While doing so, we expect to apply all
the techniques learned throughout the semester of 2021-2022. Hopefully, we will obtain more
knowledge on how to produce foods free of pesticides and chemicals that nowadays affects
us, the consumers and workers. We encourage future student generations to keep visiting
Huerto Atabey and many other gardens and farms in order to contribute to our campus, be
self-sustainable, and improve the environment. Agriculture is a fundamental moral and
necessity. We hope that our effective work during the semester gets to be continued.
Furthermore, we contemplate that the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce will reestablish the
agriculture fairs that were celebrated before the worldwide coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).
CONCLUSION

The objective of this experience was to raise awareness and connect more with the
environment as students and as a group. The student association CEPA, Finca Buena Vibra,
and Finca Reverdecer, gave us the opportunity to put into practice contact with nature in a
healthy and improving way. During our time in this garden and in these farms, we worked
with the minimum use of genetically modified organisms (GMO), cleaning the surroundings,
and sowing and harvesting crops. The benefits of working with the creation and development
of green areas are not limited only to those who work in it, since our close groups and all the
people who eat or use the products of the harvest are also benefited. As for what we discussed
with farmers and agronomists, the effects of the sociocultural and political status of Puerto
Rico influences the work carried out in harvest and production areas, leaving the people with
the responsibility of mobilizing and improving the areas for a better future for the green
communities. The initiative of integrating the appreciation of agriculture in this course helped
us to obtain perspective and wisdom of the treatment we give to the nearby nature.
 APPENDIX A
Log service of the group members and photos of the work in Huerto
Atabey/CEPA Virtual Conferences
Figure 1: Ely Sánchez and other students removing weeds in the “Huerto Atabey”. Image
taken by Naomi Acevedo.

Figure 2: Ely Sánchez watering Aloe Vera plants in Huerto Atabey. Image taken by Naomi
Acevedo.
Figure 3: Natalia Pagán removing weeds in “Huerto Atabey”. Image taken by Ely Sánchez.

Figure 4: Ely Sánchez and other students removing weeds in the field of “Huerto Atabey”
garden. Image taken by Miguel Costas.
Figure 5: Natalia Pagán composting at Huerto Atabey. Image taken by Ely Sánchez.
Log service of the group members and photos of the work in Finca Buena
Vibra
Figure 1: Ely Sánchez recollecting coffee beans from the trees at Finca Buena Vibra, Ponce
PR. Image taken by Lida Díaz.

Figure 2: Ely Sánchez after recollection of coffee beans at Finca Buena Vibra, Ponce PR.
Image taken by Lida Díaz.
 Figure 3: Natalia Pagán recollecting coffee beans at Finca Buena Vibra, Ponce PR. Image
taken by Lida Díaz.

Figure 4: Natalia Pagán after collecting coffee beans at Finca Buena Vibra, Ponce PR. Image
taken by Ely Sánchez.
Figure 5: Lida Díaz recollecting coffee beans at Finca Buena Vibra, Ponce PR. Image taken
by Natalia Pagán.

Figure 6: Lida Díaz harvesting coffee beans alongside Rafael Rodríguez, the owner of Finca
Buena Vibra in Ponce, PR. Image taken by Ely Sánchez.
Log service of the group members and photos of the work in Finca Reverdecer
Figure 1: Joseleen Jordán removing weeds at “Finca Reverdecer”. Image taken by Marta M.
López

Figure 2: Joseleen Jordán looking for the beet to cut it up for a sale. Image taken by Marta
M. López
 APPENDIX B [lida]
Minutes of the group meetings
 APPENDIX C
Self-Reflection of the Progress Report