Author: Admin account

​Don Antonio and Doña Hermelinda are farmers from the village of Patzocon, in Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. Antonio, 45 years old, and his wife Hermelinda, 37 years old, have created a farm` growing a wide diversity of crops which gives them food for their daily consumption. They are the father and mother of 5 children for whom they have been able to provide care through their hard work. Their goal has been that their children do not grow up in the same conditions of scarcity in which they lived years ago.

Don Antonio is the oldest of his siblings. He only remembers growing up with his mother, since his father died when he was just four years old. He remembers that his mother did not have the economic resources to allow him to go to school, although his greatest desire when he was a child was to study.

At the age of 7, he helped with the chores around the house, and on some days he worked as a day laborer in the corn fields of the neighbors’ farms near his home. When Antonio reached the age of 9 years, he had to begin migrating to work in the coffee plantations of the south coast of Guatemala to be able to help support his mother and younger siblings. His job consisted of using a machete to cut the weeds around the coffee trees, and in the months of the coffee harvest he picked coffee. In addition, he was entrusted with other jobs such as fertilizing the coffee trees and cutting pacaya (an edible palm). For 10 years he made regular trips to the coffee plantations, his only company being the group of day laborers from his own community. He mentions with a discouraged voice ‘going to the coffee plantations was good because one got to know other places, but at the same time, one hardly earned anything, one always ate very little and we didn’t sleep well…. The salary was not fair, because the plantation owners only paid what they wanted to pay you’. However, Antonio is more encouraged now because he and his wife can work their own improved farm growing a diversity of crops. This has permitted them to be able to experiment with the planting of a wide variety of vegetables, grains and fruits which has improved the profitability for their family farm. Additionally, because he doesn’t need to migrate to the plantations for work, he has more time to be with his family.

However, Don Antonio and Doña Hermelinda face a problem that plagues their community: the deforestation of the forests that surround their village of Patzocón. For several years, the commercialization of wood has been a means of subsistence for many local families, who have no other cash income for their necessities. However, the logging problem increased drastically when a new access road was built, which made illegal logging by companies much easier. Antonio and Hermelinda expressed concern that they see that the streams where there used to be sufficient water have now diminished considerably, to the point that in the dry season, some water sources have dried up completely. This situation has affected many of the crops on their farm, including the corn and beans, because they used the water from these streams for a miniirrigation system. Antonio continues to grow some sugar cane to make panela, using a traditional method taught him by his grandfather. It is a special brown sugar used to sweeten coffee and other drinks. For years they have used the streams of the village to supply water to the sugarcane. However, now he is planting less sugarcane due to the lack of water. Selling the various sweets that they made from sugarcane in the local markets has been a source of cash income for the family.

In early 2022, Don ‘Tono’, as he is affectionately called in his village, together with Doña Hermelinda and their children, created a forest tree nursery to replant the deforested areas surrounding their community. This year they intended to plant 5,000 forest trees of different varieties, among them: cypress, jacaranda, cuje, and pine. With the participation of their neighbors, the technical assistance of the Baja Verapaz Program, and the collaboration of EPIC and Mennonite Men, they are working to achieve their goal of rebuilding the plant life and ecosystem of their village. They state that the fruit of what they are now cultivating will be seen in the future, benefiting their children and grandchildren who will be able to take advantage of the effort they are making today.

The work of Don Antonio and Doña Hermelinda is only part of the reforestation project being organized by EPIC and the Baja Verapaz Sustainable Agriculture Health Education Program. Their goal for this year was to plant 20,000 trees with assistance from a JoinTrees grant from Mennonite Men. Epic recently reported that they were able to greatly exceed this goal by planting 35,385 trees this year, with the help of local communities and families.

​JoinTrees has formed a partnership with the Guatemalan non-profit FUNDAMARCOS, legalized 1996. The Baja Verapaz Sustainable Agriculture and Health Education Program of FUNDAMARCOS has taken on the commitment to plant 20,000 forest trees in cooperation with Mennonite Men-JoinTrees. Because of this program’s excellent track record of working in reforestation, a regional government nursery will provide 10,000 small trees (2+ feet tall) for the project.

To arrive at the goal of planting 20,000 trees, the Baja Verapaz Program has recruited two families who will each grow 5,000 trees from seed in tree nurseries on their farms. These two families have been selected for their leadership in their communities, which will be essential for organizing the members of their communities to actually carry the small trees to the mountainsides, dig the holes, and plant the trees at the beginning of the rainy season, a busy time for farmers but important for the long-term success of the transplanted trees.

The following stories describe one of these couples. Join Trees pays for all the motivation, organization, and instruction involved between a tree seed and getting 20,000 small trees planted on the hillsides of Cubulco, a deforested mountainous region of Guatemala. It also pays the transportation costs of taking trees from the government nursery and distributing them in many remote villages.

Armando Tomás, Baja Verapaz Program director, interviewed Miguel and Manuela for these personal stories. Click the link below to read more about Manuela and Miguel

Manuela Avila Velasquez

Miguel Rodriguez Hernandez

​The JoinTrees project of Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship

On May 7th, Green Up Day Vermont, members of Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship in Taftsville, Vermont turned out for a tree planting project on church grounds, transforming lawn into an edible forest garden. Thirty fruit and nut trees and shrubs were planted on this initial work day plus a row of raspberries. Mennonite Men’s Join Trees initiative supported the project with a grant which provided a financial contribution towards each tree planted. Additional grant support was awarded from the Green Mustard Seed Fund administered by the Mennonite Creation Care Network. Without a line item in the annual church budget, grant funding was critical to bring vision to reality.

Taftsville Chapel had established 4 permaculture gardens in 2017 (shade garden, pollinator garden, apple guild, and blueberry row) and were thinking about expanding when they heard about the JoinTrees project. A focus group from the congregation was engaged with Andrew Hudson, an AMBS divinity student and intern with JoinTrees, around how churches relate to land. Conversations with Andrew were thought provoking and evoked desires around the church land.

‘We saw an opportunity to rewild our property with native plantings that provide hospitality to all God’s creation, human and other species alike,’ reports Heather Wolfe, the church’s creation care liaison. ‘Less lawn means less mowing. More native plants mean more habitat and food. Planting a mini orchard of fruit and nuts will create an edible forest garden that honors what the land wants to naturally be while providing sustenance so all creation can flourish,’ she adds.

At the same time as the congregation became aware of the JoinTrees initiative, they also learned of the Rewild Vermont campaign sponsored by 350Vermont to plant 100 thousand trees across their state by the end of this year. With their one tree planting project, Taftsville Chapel was able to participate in both JoinTrees and Rewild Vermont initiatives. As a result of the forest garden expansion, Taftsville Chapel has applied to be part of the Sacred Grounds program

through the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). Earlier this spring they became a certified wildlife habitat through the NWF. As part of this designation the children helped to install a birdhouse on the church land for Earth month and are delighted that a bluebird is nesting in it! The newly planted trees and shrubs are largely native plants that will provide food, cover, and places to raise young for wildlife.

The way the planting area was designed, as the trees grow, the space will increasingly feel like an outdoor sanctuary. Taftsville Chapel also hopes that neighbors will feel welcome to come enjoy this green space within the residential hamlet. They have added a picnic table and bench to encourage human visitors to stop and enjoy the space, to be still and know God the Creator by immersing themselves in creation.

The JoinTrees campaign of Mennonite Men aims to target climate change by planting one million trees by 2030. Learn more about the campaign and grants available at mennonitemen.org/jointrees or send a report and photos of your own tree planting project to info@mennonitemen.org. The vision of the JoinTrees campaign is a healthy, thriving planet where God’s abundant life of shalom is enjoyed by all from generation to generation.

​

The Bible begins and ends by featuring trees of life and reveals the essential place trees inhabit on the earth and their roles, both in the ecosystems of God’s creation and in the lives of its people.

Jewish teachings carry on this theme. A Jewish midrash, or proverb, states that after God made the first human, God led the human creature around all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said, ‘See My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are …Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.’ Another Jewish teaching says if people claim the world is ending and the Messiah has come, first plant a tree, and then see if the story is true.

We plant trees because they have environmental, social, and spiritual benefits. Trees capture carbon and slow the warming of the earth. They cool the land and preserve it from erosion, thereby making it a hospitable place for the other beings of God’s creation to live and thrive. The point our eyes heavenward and remind us of the goodness that God proclaimed over all that he had made.

In a time of ecological crisis that can feel overwhelming, we can find hope and resilience in the simple act of planting trees. The JoinTrees program of Mennonite Men has assisted many communities across the U.S., and Central America take part in this simple act of healing that begins to restore our connection to the land as individuals and as communities. Since September of 2020 when we launched our JoinTrees campaing, 54,920 trees have been planted with funding for another 32,316 approved in March.

Visit mennonitemen.org/jointrees to read these stories and to join Mennonite Men’s campaign to plant one million trees by 2030.

​

The Bible begins and ends by featuring trees of life and reveals the essential place trees inhabit on the earth and their roles, both in the ecosystems of God’s creation and in the spiritual lives of its people.

Jewish teachings carry on this theme. A Jewish midrash, or proverb, states that after God made the first human, God led the human creature around all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said, ‘See My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are …Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.’ Another Jewish teaching says if people claim the world is ending and the Messiah has come, first plant a tree, and then see if the story is true.

We plant trees because they have environmental, social, and spiritual benefits. Trees capture carbon and slow the warming of the earth. They cool the land and preserve it from erosion, thereby making it a hospitable place for the other beings of God’s creation to live and thrive. The point our eyes heavenward and remind us of the goodness that God proclaimed over all that he had made.

In a time of ecological crisis that can feel overwhelming, we can find hope and resilience in the simple act of planting trees. The JoinTrees program of Mennonite Men has assisted many communities across the U.S., and Central America take part in this simple act of healing that begins to restore our connection to the land as individuals and as communities. Visit mennonitemen.org/jointrees to read these stories and to join Mennonite Men’s campaign to plant one million trees by 2030.

​

The upcoming Mennonite Men Eco-excursion will visit and work in the Zena forest in June, 2022. Details about the trip can be found at mennomen.live/oregon.

The story of the Zena forest began in 1984 with the purchase of 400 acres of forestland in Oregon’s Willamette Valley by the German forest owning family for whom my husband Dieter worked. Two years later several hundred acres of adjoining forest land were purchased and in 1987 our family moved back to Oregon, where I had grown up on a family farm, to manage the forestland. We built a house on the edge of the forest which Dieter managed while I managed four children, household, garden, sheep and goats, etc.

In 1996 Dieter died of cancer and the German owners asked if I would take over the forest management. My other option would have been to go back to teaching high school. Though I had no forestry training the choice was clear – trees don’t talk back and I preferred outdoor to indoor work. I accepted on the condition that they train me which they did with German thoroughness.

I had my moments of anxiety and doubt as a woman in a largely man’s world which faded quickly when, at some point, I realized that instead of hiding my ignorance I could ASK QUESTIONS. Those loggers and log buyers who spoke another language were only too happy to answer my questions and tell me stories about their work and world.

Over the years the forest increased in size through the purchase of nearby parcels until it’s zenith of well over 2000 acres. I had grown happily into my job when, in the mid 2000s the Germans decided to sell the Zena Forest which we had come to love and consider home. My first move was to buy 2 lottery tickets, my first and only, to see if God wanted this forest to be ours. It didn’t work. The following two years are a long and complicated story but with angels on my shoulders we won another sort of lottery and since 2008 we have been the owners and stewards of 1300 acres of the forest.

From the beginning of this story the Zena Forest has been managed in a sort of ‘Third Way’ based on the German ‘Natuergemaesse Waldwirtschaft’ which roughly translates as ‘Near to Nature Forestry’. Our goal is to disturb nature’s natural processes as little as possible, to use the lightest touch possible while recognizing that harvesting some trees carefully can improve the quality and health of the forest ecosystem. Our forest management is an anomaly in Oregon where the industrial clear cut is king, driving our markets, mill capacity and infrastructure. The other end of this spectrum are the environmental groups, with whom we have much sympathy, who often want to cut no trees at all. We have always walked a tightrope between the two.

The primary differences between Zena management and standard industrial management are:

1. Valuing all naturally occurring tree species, not just Douglas Fir, and therefore planting a mixture of seedlings most suited to a particular site. Up until our arrival on the scene hardwood trees were considered nuisance trees to be cut and left or, at best, taken to a chip mill. This fact explains our small hardwood mill which has created a market for local hardwoods and a variety of wood products which had not been available from local sources.
2. Keeping all equipment on designated, permanent skid trails to protect the soil (our capital) from compaction.
   
3. Using an ‘individual tree selection’ method of harvesting instead of clear cuts. This often means taking defective trees or competitors of the most vigorous trees.
4. Leaving logging debris on the forest floor as organic matter rather than piling and burning it after a harvest.
   
5. Using machetes instead of chemicals to release tree seedlings from competing vegetation.

When the industrial types visit our forest they don’t challenge our management but inevitably say, ‘it’s not scalable, it won’t pencil’ which we have, as of yet, been unable to disprove. The Environmental folks tend to listen appreciatively and seem enthusiastically grateful that there might be another way beside the clearcuts.

A recent essay by a thoughtful farmer in Scotland was entitled ‘How Can I Make a Living Off My Land Without Destroying It?’ Perhaps this is the central dilemma of all conscientious landowners. It certainly is our biggest concern and challenge. I’m still hoping to demonstrate that economy and ecology are one and the same – that an ecologically healthy forest is also the most economically valuable forest. For my grandchildren I want to leave a great deal of love and responsibility for all the wonders of a healthy, vibrant forest ecosystem.