Two and a half years ago, an area of land on the southern edge of San Lucas began to be developed into what is now generally termed the granja, or farm. This area comprises one of the two lowest points of San Lucas; the other is Lake Atitlán at the north end of town. During the rainy season, this land used to fill with one to two meters of water which stood until the dry season, during which it was a cattle pasture.

     Today, a two and a half-acre portion of this land has been converted into a demonstration farm for educating local farmers about both traditional agriculture and permaculture (permanent agriculture). Although the land is owned by the parish, this part of the granja is managed by a separate entity called Associación Ij’ Atz which works with farmers to develop the most effective use of their land. These efforts at San Lucas, which resemble other associations around the world, began with Ronaldo (Roney) Lec, a friend of his who is no longer in San Lucas, and the help of children from Casa Feliz, who maintain their own area of the granja.

     The development of traditional agriculture is the lesser of Iz’ Atz’s two areas of concern. Conventional agriculture, which is typical in the United States and uses machinery and chemical fertilizers, is showing its weaknesses in its over-use and under-care of farmlands. It quickly depletes the soil’s nutrients and thus its future ability to produce. Traditional agriculture is the attempt to return to natural, organic methods of planting, fertilizing, and cultivating.

     Unfortunately, traditional agriculture is no longer sustainable in Guatemala. In the past, an area of land was farmed intensely for several years until it lost its effectiveness, then the farmer moved on to another area. Within ten years, the land regenerated itself and was again used. Today, due to social and political forces, there is no land to move on to.

     Land is thus being both over-used and mis-used. Monoculture, the planting and harvesting of one crop at a time, does not properly care for the soil. Planting in rows is conducive to conventional machine-harvesting, but it is improper for the local terrain. Also, the soil is developing resistances to stronger and stronger chemicals, creating the need for the development and introduction of more toxic fertilizers. These are polluting ground waters, and the use of DDT, which is banned in the United States and other nations and is no longer effective in Guatemala, has caused wide-spread contamination of human breast milk, especially in the plantations along the coastal plains.

     The permaculture movement began in Australia in the late 1970’s and has spread throughout the world. This, the larger focus of Ij’ Atz, is the effort to create a fully sustainable local agricultural system using both traditional, local resources and current, scientific understandings.

     At the granja, the land is rich because it is so low. Water flowing into the area carries with it many nutrients. Unfortunately, it also carries contaminants as it washes through the streets, but the Associación has developed methods for filtering the water as well as for keeping the land free from its natural inclination to flood.

     Water flowing in from the street is channeled into several deep ponds. Within these ponds are plants such as water hyacinth, willow, elderberry, and banana; these are natural filters. The water snakes its way through these filters and then into a canal which directs the water completely around and finally into the garden. Moving the water through the canal both continues the filtration process and slows the force of the stream. Along the canal and in the garden’s ditches are several holes, approximately five feet by five feet, covered with bamboo grates; these collect the water and aid the filtration. Each year, they are emptied of the natural compost that builds up throughout the rainy season. This is used as fertilizer.

     Within the garden, everything is planted on raised beds surrounded by the irrigation ditches. This is called a chinampa system, said to be the most productive agricultural system.

     The garden is planted using guilds, or groupings of plants that complement each other in an effective use of the land. Each guild at the granja contains at least three functions. For example, the three sisters guild – corn, beans, and squash – is common in Guatemala. Corn provides a stake on which the beans can grow. Beans, as legumes, are nitrogen fixers and feed the soil. Squash provides ground cover, protecting against erosion and suppressing weeds.

     Compost is actively harvested with the help of the California Worm. Hermaphroditic, it procreates quickly. Its seven livers break down organic material into rich compost in a fraction of the time it would normally take. It is near-immediate compost. Rain water seeping through the compost is collected as a rich juice and used to feed plants.

     Pest control is achieved naturally. Insects are guided by smell, and the use of geranium, marigold, and other plants confuses and wards them off. Castor bean plants are poisonous and kill pests that eat them. Living fences of short, narrow palms are planted along the edges of the garden to direct the wind, cutting the inflow of insects and fungi. These fences also create shelter for birds.

     While pests are kept away by some plants, bees and butterflies, necessary for pollination, are attracted by others.

     There are natural trellises, providing food-producing shaded areas. These living shelters are made of plants such as beans, güisquil, and passionfruit.

     There is a large area of Ij’ Atz which is being developed into three different sections: a cornfield, a food forest, and a chicken tractor. For now, this entire area is covered with beans, which are building up the soil. The food forest will consist of several layers, producing coffee on its lowest level and may include avocado, macadamia nut, and other levels above the coffee. The chicken tractor is a method of soil care that extends fenced rows into a garden so that chickens move about and do much of the maintenance by eating bugs and weeds and fertilizing the soil.

     Next to this developing area is a community coffee nursery, nurturing young coffee plants through completely organic methods.

     Within the established section of the garden, there are several specialized areas. There is a medicinal garden with small, spiraled hills that allow each plant the amount of sunlight it needs. There is a mandala garden, a wheel-shaped area of raised beds which, when fully developed, will produce five pounds of produce per day. There are also biointensive gardens, developing organic commercial gardening and farming. Eventually, food from this area will support three families; for now, anyone can come to purchase the fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

     In addition to the plants, the Associación is also developing the use of dry-composting toilets and clean, efficient wood-stoves.

     Ij’ Atz is the Cakchiquel word for seed. One of the two silos, in addition to being where Roney Lec and his wife live, is also a seed bank. The entire granja is a living seed bank as workers continually select and protect the best seeds from the best plants.

     The granja is an agri-ecoligical center, designed for both research and education. Currently, there are four horticulturists and two educators at work; they do not accept volunteers from the parish unless they have background in permaculture.

     Ij’ Atz is involved in outreach to local farmers and people in the surrounding communities in their produce, coffee, and home garden production. They provide technical support, asking that farmers set aside ten percent of their fields for organic, permaculture development. In the future, they will move from this type of consultative work to more focused educational efforts. Beginning next year, residents from the communities that make up the San Lucas parish will be invited to the granja for permaculture education. Farmers and home gardeners will learn how to most effectively use their land for both maximum production and maximum land-care.

     The failure of conventional agriculture, combined with the growing ineffectiveness of traditional agriculture, is creating the need for changed attitudes. Organic, sustainable agriculture is the answer to the weaknesses of current farming approaches. With natural fertilization, efficient erosion control, functional pest-control, and the use of guilds, farmers are learning to use the principles of permaculture with the simplicity or the complexity that their own land requires. Fascinations with foreign products and plants (such as chemical insecticides and useful but ecologically destructive (to Guatemala) eucalyptus and silky oak trees from Australia) will be curbed.

     This labor-intensive, thoroughly natural method of caring for and harvesting the land will prove to be more inexpensive, more effective, and more productive than any other system of agriculture. By putting into practice the developmental work of the Associación Ij’ Atz, the land of Guatemala will thrive more than ever before.