Mid-late Sept Update: Todo hay un razon

It's been a while, but things have been in motion.

Quick update on growing plants:

• Tomatoes- are still growing, giving us their all until they complete their season cycle.
• Amaranth- something is wrong. Our prized crop has been invaded by critters. There are pockets missing from majority of leaves, we suspect hungry-hungry catepillars. We plan on getting rid of what's necessary and salvaging what we can. More info to come on that process
• Beans- some are growing and flowering! That is exciting, some aren't doing so well, but we are watching them.
• Squash- Doing it's thang, there are small yellow flowers, so we suspect some baby squashes soon. <3 font="">
• Okra- (upper left corner) looks so tasty. Some are a deep purple and others bright green, I am excited about these! They feel so fuzzy :)

Saturday 09/14 Update:

We love having new fresh energy in the Jardin. We were blessed with overwhelming male energy, it made up for a long summer without hombres. My brother Roland and his workers (amigos) came to help us get dirt from A+B Soil (down by Telephone & Bellfort). Go, call, and/or check them out!! (713) 649-0747 7425 Bellfort ST 77087

We debated how much soil we needed/wanted, but decided on one (1) cubic yard for a raised bed and had plenty excess. It was just shy of half a bed of a pick up truck. They dumped it straight into the truck, and upon arrival at the Jardin the guys kindly removed it from the truck. Besides resuming the "womanly" duties of offering water, we supervised.

We gave them a quick tour and prepared for other people to come volunteer. An old friend of mine from college came and brought a friend with him. We went straight to business from the moment they came out of the car and just to work! Wheeling new cynder blocks no joke! The plan for the day: welcome newbies to the jardin, tour of what we had growing, what we grew, why we grew, what the mission for the day was (building a raised bed) and plans for the fall. [We mean business!!]

We were able to prepare the new bed in this order: 

1. A layer of BROWN cardboard boxes broken down (minimal ink is key, if there is some, no worries just make sure you have brown up and ink down to the ground. Don't fret about weeds, the cardboard takes care of that.
2. Followed by cynder blocks to hold in the soil, be fun and creative, we stuck to a rectangle for our Fall crops.
3. Add soil and fill. We used a blend from A+B which consisted of dirt, mulch and manure. We also used some of our supply and enriched it as much needed. The key to a healthy garden is GOOD SOIL! Don't cheap out.

Hours passed as we laughed, joked, built with each other, shared knowledge and I daresay opened our hearts to hear the faint whispered the cosmos meant for us to have. It was beautiful thing, and as I sit here reflecting on it, the high from that day carried me through the next week.

Real Talk:

The connection we gain from working the earth is UNREAL. I cry every time, not because of sadness, but because this mission for our own self-sustainability is reaching people. Igniting fires. Inspiring. Educating. Decolonizing. Allowing them to have a place to reminisce on their ancestors and make connections to the history of their people and blood that flows within them. It's a beautiful thing. I was happy to hear their stories, about the knowledge they had, and laughed at hearing some of the things they knew were things we had to research. If only we had known each other before, but we didn't and we do now. #superfeliz Definite connections made and I am happy about that.

Tlazokamati / Gracias / Thank You / Shout-OUTs:

• Gina and her baby Bella, your boxes did us good! Gracias hermana de mi hermana! 
• Roland, Rene & the other hombre, mil gracias! Your time, energy, truck and sweat was well appreciated and won't be forgotten.
• Ruben & Josh, you own this garden too! Communal love and good spirits to each of you! You guys sent me on that good ol'natural high for a minute. I am happy to have spent the time with each of you and invite you to come back.
• Dee, como siempre, thank you for allowing the space, knowledge, good vibe and for being a trooper that day.
• Obaid, plant your seeds! Our seeds are siblings from the same lot. So we want to see progress, don't let us down. Happy belated birthday too!

BTW - we planted since and as of 09/22 Things have sprouted!!! More info in a new blog soon! 

July 10 & July 13: Talacheras y Okra

July 10: Wednesday we met to do some light work in the garden. While I was making executive decisions on the fly about our new soil to be added, my sisters were preparing to come in to the garden for work.

We kept it light:

• lifted weeds
• scoped out the area for okra areas
• bagged the sunflowers to ensure we were saving as many seeds from birds/rodents, etc.
• make sure to cut small holes/slithers for sun to poke through!
• took the Amaranth that was ready out.

• The best way to tell is to see how the inflorescene (tassel like top) becomes too heavy it weighs the plant down.
• In order to take out the amaranth you cut the steam about 1-1.5 ft off the ground and it will regrow itself.
• We harvested seeds by saving the inflorescene to dry out and shake out seeds
• We saved leaves for eating and put the stalk in the compost.100% useable

July 13: Saturday the plan was to create a space for okra that gets at least 8-10 hours of sun.

How it went down:

• First things first, we needed to get tools out, we pulled out almost every tool we had. ha! 
• Next to pick a spot to place our okra, we initially made plans for a particular area, but based off Dee's research found out it probably isnt the best place. so we moved on to a different area.

• Creating Patches: 
• Using the Talacho. I don't know what the proper term for the tool is in English, but I can say I can pick it up and use it! I think it's called a pickaxe. It was such an experience as I literally used almost every muscle in my body to properly use it and create spaces for us to use. 
• We picked down about 6- 8 inches of the ground so we can create a area to make a nice rich 
• Soil mix: After making a small basin we decided to mix the following ingredients. With this we were able to make a mound that gives the roots a little bit over (1) foot to grow in rich soil.

• compost mulch
• manure
• our collective compost
• O.Jardin's finest dirt ;)
• planting of the seeds
• The matron of the house (Dee's Mama) usually comes out to visit us in the garden, this time she came in to plant seeds! special moments 
• Put more soil down to support growing Squash
• General clean-up weeding, picking up branches, etc.
• Cleared patch of weeds under the tree [took a quick nap...hehe]

Sentimientos: Well, if you don't know me personally, I am a relatively private person, with the exception of those closely surround me. This past week has been so emotional for me. Experiencing life, watching our garden grow, sharing laughter, having deep conversation and understanding what it all really means. As I/We continually strive towards Mexicayotl we are constantly evaluating what we are doing in relation to this life. I put my sweat and tears into this and watching things grow is truly an amazing experience. We are watching seeds form into food that goes into our mouths. I always leave with a heart full of accomplishment and a step toward creating sustainability in my communidad. I am excited about the okra. I love the way it was tastes and can't wait to share it with my father.

Gracias/Tlazos:

A Juan! We got a cool weed/grass tool to use. Juana, thank you for helping us plant the okra. To our sisters, thank you for either contributing to the compost, coming to learn, weeding, conversing, listening and/or sharing your palabra, your words, sweat and hearts help us reaffirm the work that we do!

Other:

Peace to Trayvon Martin, may your soul rest and continue to be one of many who opens our eyes to be proactive in our communities. There is NO JUSTICE, there is JUST US.

Carving Space

I wrote this 6/6/10- the day after we first went out to the jardin- to my fellow garden workers. i humbly share pieces with you:

It felt so good to be out in the garden again. I think that the time the jardin had 'off' (not being used and covered with grass/leaves/etc) helped it survive over the extremely crazy winter we went through here in Houston. My home lost cactus and aloe vera plants to the freeze that we had enjoyed for many years- it was cold!
Anyway, I think the soil looked great once we were done uncovering both areas.
The heat now is what is immense. Thank you Jess & Mate for bringing water to share, Amber for the Gatorade, and Myra for the PB & J Sandwiches. Coming together and sharing what we have with full knowledge that it will be reciprocated ~ but with little care if it will be, is part of what communal working is about. We want to be there, we want to grow, we know what's to be done to make it happen- and that, to me, is a huge part of what drives the work and the onda of the jardin. The details of that- we leave to conversations in the jardin.

Please lets keep in mind that the Sun is heavy now & that has the potential to create sunburn, excess sweating, headaches, wetness, discomfort, dehydration, and thus, frustration. The beautiful thing about this is that it can all be prevented by taking proper precautions while we are working. You know your body better than anyone, so work with this in mind.

Another thing I thought to share is the fact that most of the people involved are conscious, revolutionary thinkers. We are most definitely all people that know that the energy we exhibit is the energy that will exist in all the things we are manifesting constantly (every day, hour, min, second) - on several levels at once. Everything we feel & do in the garden is felt by Tonantzin/ Mother Earth. Of course, because we have our hands in her.

We maintained this ideology & onda (feeling/mood) in the Jardin great last year- It's an amazing thing and I know we all felt it again when we saw the soil. When I picked weeds and broke apart land, it wasn't just so that we could plant food, it was also because as I physically did those things, I was mentally breaking down to rebuild, giving action to the words that I use & the things that I discuss, working on social living/relationships with friends I trust with mySelf, partaking in creating balance in the Universe, and creating a space for people of color that does not rely on 'the powers that be' to decide whether I can eat, coexist, and live.

All of these thoughts came to me while we worked and when I came back in the afternoon to the plots to reflect.
I'm excited about the next phases and cannot wait to see the maize standing tall again soon!


Peace y Tiahui!!