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.

June 15: Clean-Up, Ears & Hojas

Earlier this week, I went out into the garden and was overcome with what I saw. Through all the research I had been reading about stinkbugs, I realized that what I feared was happening to our garden. Last we learned that if Stinkbugs take over your garden it can potentially ruin your crop. Anything sucked of its nutrients can wither and die.

Our garden looked in bad shape! Saturday (June 15) we went out to the garden to do and discuss a few things: survey damage, cut down dead stalks, decide what we would do with corn, figure out what was salvageable and make a plan to keep what we could do to maintain a healthy garden.

Here are some notes of the day:
Corn

• Many stalks were damaged, however once we viewed them closely quite a few were salvageable. So we removed what we felt like we had to. 
• To remove the corn, we decided to cut the base instead of pulling out- to ensure new squash/bean seedling roots weren't interrupted. Reminder: squash/Beans can both grow without the corn stalk.
• The corn we chose is absolutely beautiful! When you look at it it shines, literally, it looks shimmery, it was so beautiful to hold.
• We have hojas to save for Tamales!

Amaranth

• Is big! The inflorescenes (tassel-like parts) are getting huge!
• Weeds grow really fast! Gotta keep an eye on the imposters...

Sunflowers

• The 1st sprouted sunflower, although wilted looks like it can survive with more care and water. We will leave it as is.

Tomatoes

• We need to watch out for the Caterpillar attacking the tomato. However in the time being we have quite a few small bulbs!!!

Onions

• Are growing, need to do reserach about harvesting.

Seed Saving

• We need to figure when/how to seed save for amaranth and corn!

Pests

• Ants! They can be nasty little things with their friends Aphids! We found 1 stalk that had damage from Aphids (no we didn't put it in the compost), but we do need to treat with grits/coffee more
• We need to get more coffee grounds from people... 

Compost

• This is hard for me to do, because in my home we eat every inch of a vegetable, except the little colitas of fruits and vegetables... Either way, I thought I would attach a friendly link of items you can compost for reference.

Watering

• Decided that we needed to water more. The damage had to be a combination of both lack of enough water and the stinkbugs. 
• Solution: Dee will water in the morning, and I will (most) evenings.

Juanes- Thank you for trimming the weeds around the garden. We appreciate both you and Juana's patience with us and for the space! Jane- Thank You for the wisdom and experience you have shared from your gardening. It is much appreciated.

Stink Bugs!! & Other Things

There were three main tasks on this visit: clean/replenish (with compost) Amaranth bed, do something about stink bugs, and compost.

Pests: STINK BUGS!!
Last time I wrote I briefly mentioned stink bugs. We have noticed there has been a large number of them on the corn. After some research on both parties we learned quite a bit, here are the essentials.

Stink bugs use their clypeus to penetrate and suck nutrients out of crops!! (similar to what a mosquito uses to suck blood.) No es bueno. Some of their favorite crops to eat are sweet corn, amaranth, okra and tomatoes (three of which we have!)

We actually saw a baby stalk have the life sucked right out of it. It was so sad to see it go from green to pale yellow and crusty. We decided we would remove the stalk, and possibly put it in the compost.

Some of the methods we read about included:

• pesticides (of course)
• spraying the plant with a lemon/water mixture
• drowning the bugs in a soapy water solution
• plant sun flowers to deter them from the crop being eaten

Some of the solutions were eliminated right away because we run an organic garden that has sunflowers in it. We strayed away from the lemon/water mixture because of the acidic properties and decided to go with drowning the bugs in soapy water. (helpful hint: they move slower in the morning)

We rolled up our sleeves, put on our gloves and got ourselves some bugs! At first my sister and I stared at each other, each anticipating the other one to begin. I don't know who did it, because the garden was soon filled with yelps and shrieks of  having to grab those bugs. If we accidentally squashed the bug with our hands we understood why they were called stink bugs. I got terrorized as one "screamed" (fluttered and hissed loudly) in my ear, it was one of those feelings, where you think they are crawling all over you at one point. *shudders*

We will have to give the garden some time to digest what's happening to it, but the research hasn't stopped! Natural predators include:

• Lady Bugs (which also fight aphids-but thankfully we don't have any of those!) *cross your fingers*
• Mini Wasps (parasitic size)
• Ants
• Ladybird Beetles
• Lacewings

OTHER NEWS:

After the dirty work was done we stopped and noticed our seeds had sprouted! All the commotion from the bugs had deterred us from noticing. It was a beautiful thing to see.

More updates soon!

Peace,