A Small Pandemic Garden Grows Into a Family Business

What began as a small garden for family meals during the COVID-19 pandemic now provides Rosalba Cabrera’s household with its main income.

Cabrera lives with her husband, Dionicio López, in the Mburika Reta community in San Juan Bautista, Misiones. The couple returned there in 2020, during the quarantine, after Cabrera had moved to Itá in Central Department for work. They had land in the community and decided to start growing vegetables.

At first, they planted only for themselves. Then neighbors began asking to buy the produce, and the couple started selling in San Juan Bautista, where the vegetables were well received. Tomatoes and peppers came first. As demand grew, they expanded both the range of crops and the area under cultivation.

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We started little by little with our crops. At first it was only for family consumption, but we tried selling our produce and it was in high demand, first among the neighbors.

The garden now produces tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, chard, carrots, beets and green onions. The family has also begun the required tax registration to become a formal small family business and hopes to supply supermarkets in San Juan Bautista.

“From producing for family consumption, we are now selling our work very well, and thank God we support ourselves from what we produce, because we have no other income,” Cabrera said. She sells vegetables weekly at family-farming fairs, where she has built a regular customer base. The family also sells home-raised chickens and eggs.

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From producing for family consumption, we are now selling our work very well, and thank God we support ourselves from what we produce, because we have no other income.