University of Puerto Rico

English Department

MEMORANDUM

DATE: December 8th, 2022

TO: Professor Pier A. Le Compte Zambrana

FROM: Camila Marie Rodríguez Padilla, Juan Carlos Sebastián Figueroa Vega,

Eliezer Cruz Maldonado and Andrés Leonel Castro Vázquez

SUBJECT: Progress Report on Huerto Atabey at University of Puerto Rico in Ponce

INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY
The purpose of this project is to inform the progress made at Atabey Garden in University
of Puerto Rico in Ponce from August 17th, 2022, to November 29th, 2022, as part of the
course of Technical Writing. This progress report requires eight hours of community
service at Huerto Atabey. The hours were completed by working in the garden or donating
materials to the Coalición Estudiantil Pro-Agricultura (CEPA) Organization. The days
and time the stundents attended to the Atabey Garden were mostly on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Fridays from 3:00-4:00pm. The goal of CEPA’s Organization is to serve
as a role model for completing their mission using humanistic, economic, and socially
advanced progression and adaptable to the resolution of other sustainable development
projects in the nation. The following components make up this report: Objectives, CEPA
Organization, Research, Tools, and Materials, Tasks Completed, Tasks Unfinished, Work
Scope, Future Work, and Conclusion.

OBJECTIVES
The main objective of completing the service community hours in Huerto Atabey is to
relive the garden and to offer students a common space to produce horticultural nutrients
for self-consumption and to produce sofrito. Some of the other objectives of this labor
were to learn how to plant and maintain crops, to improve the quality of life and
coexistence among students and contribute to the improvement of landscape quality and
environment of the university.
CEPA ORGANIZATION
The Coalición Estudiantil Pro-Agricultura (CEPA) was founded in 2014, at the
University of Puerto Rico in Ponce to spread awareness around the country about the
importance of horticulture and agriculture. They have as purpose to create horticultural
output for personal consumption and to harvest plants to produce sofrito. During this
project we worked hand to hand with the president of the CEPA Organization, Miguel J.
Costas and the organization’s treasurer, Francisco Castro.

RESEARCH
We decided to make a research based on learning the difference of horticulture and
agriculture. Horticulture is the science and art of producing edible fruits, vegetables,
flowers, herbs, and ornamental plants, improving, and commercializing them. On the
other hand, agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops, and
raising livestock. Also, we really wanted to be sure about the true meaning of a garden
because it is how the CEPA Organization refers to the Huerto Atabey in English. A garden
is a small piece of ground used to grow vegetables, fruit, herbs, or flowers. We gained
understanding about the subject through background study, enabling us to start working
more productively.

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

The organization’s members received tools and materials from the University of Puerto
Rico in Ponce to perform proper work in the garden. These tools and materials made more
efficient and facilitated the work. Here are a few of them used in the garden:
1. Garden watering containers
2. Hedge shear
3. Hoe
4. Hose
5. Pickaxe
6. Planting containers
7. Rake
8. Shovel
9. Sieve
10. Wheelbarrow
TASKS COMPLETED
Several tasks were completed during the period of August to November, being the
garden’s cleaning and organization the key responsibility at the start of the semester. The
chores emphasis shifted toward planting and caring for the plants at the end of the
semester. Progress was made along the way, bringing the organization’s main goal closer
than previously. A few tasks completed and worked on were:
I. Planting Medicinal Plants
a) Basil
b) Garlic
c) Lavender
d) Mint
e) Oregano
f) Rosemary
g) Thyme
h) Sage

II. Planting Tobacco

• Small tobacco leaves were planted near main crops to keep insects
away from them.

III. Cleaning the garden

• Picking up the trash
• Removing the weeds that were near the medicinal and nutrients
crops

IV. Composting
• The compost was used for some of the plants s its terrain could be
fertile, along with the crops.

V. Watering the garden

• We watered plants with a garden watering container or with the
hose. Making sure every plant was watered correctly.

VI. Creating Medicinal Orchard

• We created a Medicinal Orchard, which is a spiral formed with soil
and rocks picked from the same orchard to plant medicinal herbs.

VII. Donating
• Donations as plastic bottles, bags of soil and medicinal plants were
accepted as part of the community service hours. We helped by
donating all the products asked by the members of the CEPA
Organization.
TASKS INCOMPLETED

The task that was not completed during this period was to plant all the medicinal
plants that were donated by students. The installation of a more effective and long-lasting
irrigation system as well as the creation of the furrows and planting beds were among the
tasks that were unable to be finished because of labor shortage and Hurricane Fiona.

WORK SCOPE
A problem that the garden encountered was the vast amounts of rain that poured
frequently and the passage of Hurricane Fiona. This was a challenge because that amount
of water ran the risk of harming the plants. The crops in the pots were put inside a nursery
garden as a solution to the issue to prevent damage to the plants. The plants that weren't
anchored to the ground were transferred to the nursery garden so they wouldn't be harmed.
The garden was left unattended for days while classes were suspended for more than a
week. The wind and the rain damaged the garden and encouraged the growth of weeds.
Also, the lack of funds is a big problem, this prevents the university and the CEPA
Organization members from purchasing higher quality tools and supplies.

FUTURE WORK
The CEPA Organization’s current work plan is to keep working to achieve the garden’s
primary goal in the future as it has not yet been done so, such as producing horticultural
products and sofrito. The Atabey Fair, a better irrigation system, planting and providing
students planting models are additional goals for their future work.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, our progress report made clear how much upkeep the Atabey garden needs.
CEPA and the Huerto Atabey volunteers were able to better the garden and respond to
the pandemic and hurricane Fiona during the semester. Additionally, the volunteers were
allowed to care after already-planted crops. The group was given the chance to learn about
agriculture, horticulture, and the subfield of sustainability it has produced. We also
learned the value of growing our own food to avoid consuming it if it has undergone
genetic or phenotypic modification. We were better able to understand agriculture and the
numerous methodologies required to maximize cultivation on our lands thanks to the
project's many points of view. Although we all had different experiences, we learned a
lot from this project.
SERVICE LOG

Camila Marie Rodríguez Padilla

Juan Carlos Sebastián Figueroa Vega
Andrés Leonel Castro Vázquez
Eliezer Cruz Maldonado
PICTURES OF WORK

Camila Marie Rodríguez Padilla

Removing the weeds that were near the medicinal and nutrients crops.
Juan Carlos Sebastián Figueroa Vega

Removing the weeds that were near the medicinal and nutrients crops.
Camila Marie Rodríguez Padilla y Juan Carlos Sebastián Figueroa Vega

Creating Medicinal Orchard

SELF-REFLECTION PROJECT WORK