Tikkun ECO Center Prepares for Climate Change [] Rotary Midday Program

La Biblioteca (Sala Quetzal)

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Breakfast starting at 8:30am

Meeting starts at 9:30am

by Elizabeth Adlung

The Tikkun Eco Center promotes solutions as the climate and ecological crisis unfolds.

Tikkun has built five rainwater catchment ponds and planted over a thousand trees and magueys. Last year Tikkun’s water harvesting systems collected over a million liters during the abundant monsoons. This water is used for the food bank and to establish young trees. The ponds also contain tilapia and are covered with hyacinths – the same plant that is currently choking the Presa Allende – but which Tikkun regularly harvests and uses as an effective mulch for the new trees planted in Tikkun’s reforestation project.

Over the past twelve years Tikkun has been developing an off-grid permaculture farm with solar and wind energy, adobe buildings, water harvesting, drip irrigation systems, organic gardens and composting. Tikkun also has fruit and olive orchards, fish ponds, and chickens to manage the grasshopper infestation in the area.

In 2020 Tikkun began to grow vegetable gardens and milpas (corn, beans and squash) for a community COVID food bank during the pandemic that provided fresh organic food to over 60 of the most vulnerable local campesino families–elderly and single mothers. During the COVID crisis, Tikkun also began helping its neighbors build their own home gardens and roof water catchment. However, most local villages suffer from extreme water shortage with scarcely enough drinking, washing and cooking, leaving little possibility for livestock or home vegetable gardens. Tikkun’s mission has therefore expanded to building a village scale reservoir to promote regional water and food security.

This year, Tikkun began to restore a reservoir in the community of San Jose de Gracia.  The ‘estanque’, which had previously served four villages but had not been maintained for decades, was filled with soil and had been reduced to 20% of its capacity. The dam also required repair. Tikkun is in the process of fixing the reservoir, so far removing over a thousand truckloads of this good soil, which had eroded from the farms and properties above. They have spread much of the soil on eroded fields of local farmers, for a garden in a school, and a local village plaza. With the remaining soil, they plan to reforest barren land with native trees and build a small community park and soccer field next to the reservoir. Tikkun’s intention is to use hyacinths from the Presa to mulch the new saplings, which will help protect them from heat and drought.

Tikkun hopes to inspire the citizens of San Miguel to advance sustainable ecological practices in our municipality, and to help our local communities become more resilient in the face of our many ecological challenges.

Ben-Zion Ptashnik is a retired Vermont State Senator who served on the Senate Agriculture, Health, and Economic Development Committees. He retired from the Vermont Senate in 2001, moved to Mexico, and pioneered the renewable energy industry, installing hundreds of solar and wind systems in the states of GTO, Jalisco, Nayarit and Mexico. He now promotes climate crisis mitigation and ecological renewal through the Tikkun Permaculture center.

Victoria Collier is a writer, artist, ecologist, organic grower, and non-profit director. In the early 2000s, she was co-founder and director at Tierra Lucero in Taos, New Mexico. At Tierra Lucero she developed organic gardens and a home garden program for low-income Taos families. Victoria, co-founder of Tikkun, oversees the development of the farm and community outreach programs.

Join us on Tuesday, August 30 at 9:30 AM to welcome Ben and Victoria and learn about the Tikkun Eco Center.  Our meeting are held at the Biblioteca (Sala Quetzal).  Breakfast is available starting at 8:30 AM.

To attend via ZOOM, go to the Midday Rotary Club website at https://www.rotarysmamidday/  and sign up. You’ll receive an email with instructions on being a part of this week’s meeting. Rotary is where neighbors, friends and problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders and take action to create lasting change. For more information, contact President Lee Carter at mailto:leecarco@gmail.com.

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