Weekly Recap Sept 22, 2024

Every morning and evening, we have mostly routine chores (Hey, I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie). We just refer to them as morning and evening chores. Pretty creative, huh? We also work on projects. This week, we focused on the market garden.

Market Garden Backstory

Our first market garden was a slope covered in African Tulip trees and sticker bushes (Latin name Scratchus legus ‘cusses’). We practice the regenerative principle of minimizing soil disturbance, but we decided to pay the neighbor to clear the areas to get us going. The land is mostly a heavy red clay that was almost rock hard, so Levantando.org set up a volunteer work day on our farm to see if someone would use Levantando’s walk-behind tractor to make us some plantable rows.

The problem was that nobody knew how to make these rows and the work day was almost over when someone came to learn how to use the machine. What we ended up with where a few zigzaggy rows of various widths and depths that Nicole and I tried to improve with basic hand tools. Soon after, we got weeks of daily rain, and the rows flooded. We attempted to grow a few things, but with the constant rain, most plants succumbed to fungus or failed to thrive. We basically abandoned the rows.

Pedro to the Rescue

I researched, and Pedro and I devised a plan to redo the market garden one row at a time. The remade beds would be wider, deeper, straight, and reinforced to help with erosion. First, a volunteer experienced in squaring things, setting lines, etc., came over ready to work. He helped mark all the rows to be straight, with even walkways between them. Then, Pedro cut and hauled bamboo from the other side of the finca. Next, he used it to add sides to the rows so that erosion would be greatly reduced. The first row looked great and handled heavy rains without flooding or eroding! Finally, it was time for Nicole and I to get our hands dirty.

First Plants

Nicole and I are still experimenting with what will grow well with natural and minimal inputs. We are also big proponents of biodiversity and companion planting. For the first row, we planted Holy Basil, Purple Basil, Sweet Basil, *** Pepper, **** Pepper, *** Pepper, marigolds, and sunflowers. The basil is supposed to improve the flavor of the peppers and also help deter aphids and spider mites. The marigolds help prevent soil nematodes and squash bugs from taking over. Sunflowers help to bring pollinators into the garden, which helps the other plants. Also, peppers and sunflowers like full sun with soil that doesn’t stay wet, so they should grow well together. Since our holistic approach also considers beauty an important goal, the mix of flowers in the market garden adds another layer of enjoyment to the environment.

Thanks for following us on this amazing journey!

Maria