MEMORANDUM

DATE: May 15, 2022

TO: Pier LeCompte Zambrana
FROM: Javelyn M. Serrano Rivera, Dione E. Angarica Serrano, María V. Calaf Gelpi, Ramnel A.
Hernández Guzmán and Shown Muñiz Rodríguez
SUBJECT: Progress Report on “Huerto Atabey”

INTRODUCTION
Agriculture is the science, art, and practice of cultivating plants and raising animals for food, fuel,
fiber, and other products. It involves a range of activities, including land preparation, planting, harvesting,
animal husbandry, and marketing of agricultural products. Agriculture plays a critical role in the economy
of many countries, providing food and livelihoods for millions of people. It has undergone significant
changes over time, with the adoption of new technologies and practices aimed at increasing productivity
and efficiency. However, it also faces many challenges, including environmental degradation, climate
change, and food insecurity, which require sustainable and innovative solutions.

OBJECTIVES
The work began in late January and was completed in early May of 2023. The main objective of
completing the green hours in the orchard is to help improve the quality of the university orchard so that
the orchard will be ready for the 5th Atabey Fair. Also, for this event visitors will be ready to see the
plants and harvest all the ingredients necessary to make “sofrito” which is a mix of different vegetables
and spices used for cooking. A variety of pickles, pigeon peas, string beans, squash and zinnia flowers
will be planted. Cassava, corn, plantain, tomato, and bell peppers were also planted. The idea is that each
day, something new will be worked on. The tasks were watering the orchard, creating seedings,
composting among others were divided among students.
UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION
The “Coalición de Estudiantes Pro-Agricultura”, also known as CEPA was created on April 16, 2014,
at the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce. It was created to raise awareness about the importance of
agriculture in the country. In the orchard you can find both fruit-bearing and flowering plants to
accomplish their main objective which is making “sofrito”. The students who are taking the course
ENGL 4021 work in the orchard guided by the board members of the association. The board members of
the association are:

• President: Miguel J. Costas

• Vice-president: Priscilla Cintrón
• Secretary: Arelis Acevedo
• Sub-secretary: Yahaira Roda
• Treasurer: Fransisco Castro
• Public relations officer: Alejandra Medina
• Historian: Jadey Negrón
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Before we started working, we decided to do some research on the topic since we do not know much.
The research was mainly based on agriculture and related aspects. Agriculture is the art and science of
cultivating soil, growing crops and raising livestock. In our case, we focused on cultivating soil and
growing crops. An orchard is a piece of land planted with fruit or nut trees. The university's orchard was
built by the members of the association CEPA with the help of students from the course. Different tools
are used for cultivating and maintenance of the orchard such as axe, shovel, rake, etc. Doing some
background research gave us some knowledge about the topic to begin working more effectively.

WORK ACCOMPLISHED
CEPA has accomplished many goals this semester; they have planted a ton of vegetables like
eggplant, pumpkin, corn, peppers, cherry tomatoes etc. Additionally, CEPA and volunteers revived the
agriculture fair atabey. This past weekend was the 5th year of the Atabey fair in UPR Ponce, many small
businesses worked at the fair. The families could get a tour from the atabey garden and see what the
CEPA students have been working on all year.

UNFINISHED WORK
Some unfinished work that they have from the Atabey garden is in the summer there won't be a
constant flow of water for the garden, a lot of students from CEPA will be out of the university.
Maintenance of the garden taking out the weeds and cutting the grass, making sure the flowers and
vegetables don’t get any plagues, and what to do with all the vegetables there are in the garden growing
quickly.

EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS

The university provided the members of the association with equipment and tools to do proper work at
the orchard. Having equipment and tools makes the work faster and more effective. These are some of the
equipment and tools used in the orchard:

• Planting containers
• Shovel
• Hose
• Hoe
• Pickaxe
• Wheelbarrow
• Sieve
• Rake
• Hedge shear
WORK LIMITS
A lot of the work limitations that the atabey garden is facing frequently is the invasion of iguanas
and dogs that are on the premises of the university. This invasion has been very hard on the CEPA
students and some faculty since they want to make a difference in the community with the organic
vegetables and herbs that they are on the garden. Other work limitations are when other students come
and help with the atabey garden, they are delicate with some of the flowers that are planted and when they
go to water the plants some are destroyed in the process.
FUTURE WORK

CEPA plans to continue spreading awareness and knowledge about agricultural practices in a
sustainable matter to the UPRP community as well as any other person that has interest. This will be
achieved through seminars, conferences and activities that will be held at the UPRP. This can continue to
be achieved through the help of volunteers and members of this community.

CONCLUSION

Taking part in the Atabey Garden taught us the importance of sustainable living practices. The future
of food and the story of stuff has presented us with problems that the Atabey Garden tries to help resolve
through practices such as composting and utilizing non-biodegradable objects in ways that can contribute
to agriculture. Teaching these practices can help achieve an improvement of our ecosystem.

ENCLOSURE

Javelyn M. Serrano Rivera’s service log

Dione E. Angarica Serrano’s service log

María V. Calaf Gelpi’s service log

Ramnel A. Hernández Guzmán’s service log

Shown Muñiz Rodríguez’s service log

Hours and evidence (Service log)

• Javelyn M. Serrano Rivera

• Dione E. Angarica Serrano
• María V. Calaf Gelpi
• Ramnel A. Hernández Guzmán
• Shown Muñiz Rodríguez
Pictures of work

• Javelyn M. Serrano Rivera

In this picture I am cutting some In this picture was weeding

branches. inside the tires, together with
my classmates.

In this picture I was planting

parsley plants.
 • Dione E. Angarica Serrano

Here I am performing some of my usual tasks during my

service at the Atabey Garden such as watering.
 • María V. Calaf Gelpi

Here I was in the garden going to water the plants as I did frequently, I would water plants almost
every morning, when it got closer to the atabey fair dates. Additionally, I pulled out weeds and helped
clean the atabey garden.
 • Ramnel A. Hernández Guzmán

In this image I was growing some In this picture I was cleaning the
plants. surroundings with the hoe.

In this picture I was making a mix In this picture I was weeding

of dirt for the plants. inside the tires.
 • Shown Muñiz Rodríguez

In this picture I am seen

plowing the space between
the basil and cilantro box and
the chili pepper box using a
hoe which is commonly used
for preparing the soil by
dividing it to add seeds in an
organized manner.

This is me transplanting
"orégano brujo" which roughly
translates to witch oregano
after having prepared the soil
inside an empty car tire.
In this picture I am
painting a sign with
the word “Huerto”
which means garden
in Spanish. This sign
was later on used for
the fifth Agriculture
Fair of the Atabey
Garden.
Self-Reflection on Project Work

• Javelyn M. Serrano Rivera

• Dione E. Angarica Serrano

• María V. Calaf Gelpi

-
• Ramnel A. Hernández Guzmán
• Shown Muñiz Rodríguez