From seedtime to harvest at Rock Point and in El Salvador
by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Clark Ely, Bishop of Vermont
Mountain Echo
June 2007

The gardeners have started to arrive at Rock Point, one of several sites for the Community Gardens program in Burlington. I love to watch the annual transformation of the two parcels of land our diocese offers for this purpose. The process usually begins sometime in April when a tractor is brought in to turn over the now well-rested land that has slumbered undisturbed since the late autumn. Then, one by one they start to arrive and
lay claim to the parcel of land that they will till and plant and tend and eventually harvest over the next several months.

I am not a gardener, but I do love to watch these gardeners work. By my observation, I suppose there are over 50 gardeners who spend time here on Rock Point—some everyday, some a couple times a week—and I am fascinated by their different approaches to the planting and tending of their produce. Some use wood stakes to support their plants. Some use metal stakes. Some run strings while some run wires to help guide the growth. Some put up fences around their plot, while some use other creative means to discourage animal would-be intruders.

I am impressed with the variety of approaches and the sense of community I witness from time to time as they talk with one another and share the wisdom of their techniques, the joy of their endeavors, or perhaps the sorrows of their agricultural disappointments. Soon the planting will turn to tending and eventually to another harvest, and they will leave and let the land rest, only to return yet again. Or if not, perhaps others will come and take their places.

This annual liturgy of seedtime and harvest at Rock Point always reminds me that for many in Vermont, and throughout the world, farming is a way of life—and not an easy one to be sure. So when the gardeners arrive at Rock Point, I am reminded to pray for all those who farm the land in order to bring food to the tables of others and who try—and often struggle—to make a living doing that.

I am also reminded to pray for all those who labor in agriculture, and especially those who work the fields, often for modest or meager wages. Many of these are immigrants to this country, and many send much of what they make back to their families in other parts of the world where poverty is extreme. Here I am put in mind of the line from one of the prayers from Compline about remembering that our common life depends upon each other’s toil. While people on all sides of the immigration debate struggle to find common ground, I try to remember that what is at stake here is not policy but people, human beings whose dignity we promise to respect in one of the promises of our Baptismal Covenenant.

The arrival of the gardeners at Rock Point this year is also significant for me because of my sabbatical time in El Salvador, where I worked with local farmers and the vestries of three small Episcopal churches to initiate a revolving loan program called Hasta la Cosecha (Until the Harvest). The need is clear. Many local farmers in remote villages lack the financial capital to sustain their small farms through the critical growing season. As a result, they are often not able to bring a full harvest to market, and they remain locked in a cycle of scarcity. The banks are no help, because the risks from floods and drought are too severe, and any loans would carry burdensome interest rates.

The idea behind Hasta la Cosecha is that churches and individuals from Vermont (and maybe elsewhere) will provide funds for the local church vestries in El Salvador through our connection with Fundación Cristosal and the Diocese of El Salvador. The local church vestries will receive requests from community farmers (they don’t have to be church members) who will submit agricultural plans, including budgets and commercialization plans for review. The vestries will receive training to assist them in their role, and there are people in place to assist with this. Qualifying farmers will receive “bridge” funding to help carry them from seedtime to harvest. They will repay the loans at the harvest, thus assuring available funds for the next cycle.

Will this program work? No one, of course, can say for certain. Are there risks? Absolutely, there are risks. Is it worth the risk? I think so. If you or your congregation thinks so too and would like to be part of this project with me, I welcome your inquiry and your financial contribution.

I’ve just received word that the two $300 loans that I provided during my time in El Salvador have worked fairly well. Cornilio Rubio, the farmer who most inspired this idea, was able to repay his loan, despite some of the unforeseen challenges he faced. He took a risk by being the first farmer to participate in the program, and he has demonstrated that it can and does work. He is ready to encourage others.

Cornelio Rubio

If you choose to share in this program, what I promise you is that your money will go for the purpose described above and that I will keep you informed about how the project is fairing. I also hope that we will have reports from the local farmers in El Salvador participating in the program, as well as from the local vestries. As the good earth of Vermont is plowed and planted this Spring, my hope is that you will want to reach out and support our sisters and brothers in these Episcopal parishes in El Salvador as they seek to break new ground in responding to the needs of the people with whom they are trying to minister and proclaim the Good News of God in Christ.

Hasta la cosecha,
+Thomas