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,

Loss & Gain

I don't know how to write this- but a blog that is supposed to be about keeping you up to date on the jardin has to be truthful- has to maintain the reality of what is happening- to the food and to the people that plant it..and today, we suffered together.
Over the weekend, kids that were next door to the garden for a party, apparently went unsupervised and destroyed a portion of the jardin while no one watched them.


I'd spent Sunday indoors painting, and Monday morning when I went to look out into the jardin, something was wrong and I looked at the floor space and saw a few stalks lying about. I took my keys and went out and found about 40% of the garden was damaged or knocked over..and I was at a loss.
My emotions turned me backwards as I looked on to something that had taken months in the making- to maintain- to build- to grow- and with a quick snap, it was hurting & I had to go to work in Gringolandia*..
Well, I sent out the text and let people know & within the hour that I was suffering from leaving the garden for 'work', comrades & familia were @ the spot with reinforcements- like bamboo sticks, garden tape, and care.
When I got out of work and to the garden, they were steady working at lifting tassels and stalks back towards the Sun to take in it's goodness.
We have a few more stalks to go, bamboo has been bought, and the jardin will be okay.
I felt loss today..and it weighed heavy. In my sadness & confusion, I reached for logic, strategy, and towards the energies that sustain us all - and said 'Mujer, everything happens for a reason.' All loss, all change, all pain..all growth.. it leads to paths that have to be walked and situations that need addressing.


So, we will be keeping a close close eye on the recovery of the maiz, and for those that will not recover- the land is still rich for more planting and planning..
We never forget to stop and remember why we planted the first seeds- because of our love and respect for the tierra y la gente de este mundo and our replenishing.

The garden is still peace.

*what I call the Galleria area - coined by Frida Khalo, when she visited America while Diego Rivera painted the Rockefeller Building walls.

what's the buzz?

So, this past week- Friday, June 5th- I went out to water and weed the garden and realized that there were quite a large number of honey bees stopping in. Since the tassels and silk are appearing on more and more of the stalks, I assumed that bees help pollinate corn and just observed as they moved from tassel to tassel quickly working.

Yet, upon some research, i've found that corn is like a grass or grain crop, which only needs the wind to pollinate and that "many wind pollinated flowers such as maple, oak, hickory, corn, and ragweed are visited by bees collecting pollen."
So, although they are not vital to the pollination of the corn, they can assist. I also learned that we should feel good about bees visiting our 3-sister rows because honey bees are disappearing off the face of this Earth more rapidly than ever before- a phenomenon that really took effect in 2006 that has been dubbed colony collapse disorder .

A Cosmos Magazine article from 2007 reads:

"In hives hit by CCD, adult workers simply fly away and disappear, leaving a small cluster of workers and the hive's young to fend for themselves. Adding to the mystery, nearby predators, such as the wax moth, are refraining from moving in to pilfer honey and other hive contents from the abandoned hives; in CCD-affected hives the honey remains untouched.

The symptoms are baffling, but one of the emerging hypotheses is that the scourge is underpinned by a collapse of the bees' immune systems. Stressed out by cross-country truck journeys and drought, attacked by viruses and introduced parasites, or whacked out by harmful new pesticides, some researchers believe the bees' natural defences may have simply given way. This opens the door to a host of problems that the bees can normally suppress."

So, lucky and welcoming is how we feel toward the honey bees. Visitors like this remind me why we've chosen to stay organic in our garden. So that natural friends- that need us just as much as we need them- can co-exist and try to reach a balance in the crazy world around them - and have a safe space to explore that possibility.

Centeotl - Mexica (Aztec) God of Maize

Visit Pollinator.org for more info on pollination and what is being done to save pollinators!

Frijol Pinto

May 30, 2009- Pinto beans (Espanol- 'frijol pinto' literally 'painted bean') were planted in 2-3 seed holes on either side of each maize stalk in the jardin. The third sister has finally arrived!

As we were out there adding this element to our space, I began to have small musings and epiphanies under the cool shade of the maize leaves. I realized that this project is absolutely no small feat- it hadn't been up to there- yet, the realization that frijol is now in the picture made it that much more real for me. These are living things that are reacting to the care we can afford them and the care their environment provides them when we cannot afford them.
But, it's a funny word 'afford'. And I push myself out there because I look at these seeds and sprouts that we have planted thus far and see how incredibly valuable they really are. What a commodity the organic seed and environment has become. How much of my ignorance toward all of this, I know now, was staunching a part of my brain and self-realization.
Epiphanies.. didn't I warn you?

Oh and the maize stalks have started to show their male & female characteristics. The male flower, called the 'tassel' sit at the tip top of the corn stalk waiting on the wind to carry their pollen to the female part of the stalk called the silk. The silk sits a little higher than midway on the stalks in the jardin and are blushing with yellow-white & red silk. Each silk may become pollinated to produce one kernel of maize, and we are keeping up with the 3 - 4 day watering sessions to keep them health and productive.

Back to the beans, though. So the last sister has brought with her nutrients for the soil around the corn & will create an even richer place for more squash to be added on- along with chile plants we plant to also incorporate. The beans will grow in vines that will wrap around the stalks and leaves of the corn and from what i hear, this happens fast. The watering may have to become more frequent and the sowing of the beans will go on every 2 - 3 weeks until mid-Summer, for continuous harvest throughout the Summer.

In the meantime, we have been discussing ways to make the jardin more efficient and easy to keep up with. We need to come up with a system that allows us to account for every plant in the garden in every row- give them attention and acknowledge them for what they are- alive.

So, as that has begun, so has my research of uses for corn & frijol and on the different varieties of squash that can make an appearance if we so choose. I want to make sure that all the work we have put in does not go to waste in any way. And this can best come about by utilizing every piece of the maize that comes to harvest and paying attention to the bean sister making her way up the stalks to hold it all together.