Anarchapulco Permaculture Farm, Garden Update 6: Admitting Defeat, Starting More Seeds, and Loss

Partially by the sight of healthy growing bell peppers, I got motivated today to further the garden.  It's time to let go of my dead tomato plants, the ones ravaged by keeled treehopper nymphs.  I've started seeds to fill the now empty beds.  We're preparing part of the hill for some terraces we plant to plant three sisters gardens in.  So long as we both don't come down sick again, we should have another garden update within a few days, sharing much more than this one.  

We lost a good chunk of our seed stock, to the bugs shown in the first picture.  They ate their way into the bags we stored our multicolored organic popcorn seeds from the US, as well as some home grown sweet corn seeds. It was a sad fate, first rule of farming in Acapulco is not to underestimate the jungle.  If you come with seedstock, do your best to keep it in glass, even if you just keep seed packets in glass jars.  You'll keep your stock despite the bugs. 

We grew some of the blue variety of that popcorn before the stock got eaten, which I honestly barely saved due to laziness.  I'm glad I did, because that's all we have save for a very dainty popcorn variety, lady fingers.  I started some on a paper towel after I went through the bag and pulled out all of the damaged seeds.  The rest of the stock went in a jar, where they should remain bug free.

I planted some seeds today, including: congo watermelon, scarlet runner bean, sugar pea, 2 larger than usual Jack O Lantern (come on giant pumpkin), blue popcorn, cayenne chili peppers, market more cucumbers. I'll check these twice daily until they sprout.  I only plan to plant the chilis into containers, the rest are intended to be put outside as soon as they sprout. More motivation to get things ready for them!

I finally got around to cleaning out those ant ridden dry food bins that I've been avoiding.  In doing so, I freed up a container to use to make some peat moss, which I did today.  I broke it up, added a bit of used potting soil and organodel.  I added probably 10 liters of water, bit by bit until it got to it's current state.  I intend to add more, tomorrow morning it'll be ready to add to the garden.  I'll make another batch as soon as it's empty. 

It's official, the keeled treehoppers have gotten the better of my cherry tomatoes.  I've decided to cut my losses and clear them out, making way for something new.

I will leave these basil plants, as they're little bushes that are fairly healthy.  They've got woody stems and only surface bug damage. 

The plan for this one is to plant the marketmore cucumber seeds I'm sprouting, where the tomatoes went.  The trellis is broken in spots so I'll fix it, adding more string to make a net of sorts.  This will be done before the cucumbers ever need it, so it's there when they do. 

I forgot about this start again, and I'm wondering now.  What if I just cut off the old foliage and let the new plant grow with the old root stock? Is that not what it's already trying to do? I'll look into this then make my permanent decision. 

My old yellow tomato plant that was making a comeback suddenly died.  I removed it's old trellis and the plant.  I plan to do a small three sisters plot there, with a watermelon to grow over the rocks.

I replaced many of the plants in these beds with tomatoes.  A big part of the reason is it's a high wind area, that whips my fragile cucumbers around.  With a now damaged main stem, they become prone to things like powdery mildew.  The sad looking squash plant is an example of that, it won't be in the garden much longer.

Rebel dog and Tequila have been protesting the rocks in the walkway by repeatedly trampling this bed.  It had a healthy eggplant plant and 2 bean plants that are now pretty damaged.

They've managed to miss this chile pepper plant, which is super happy.  It's got flowers and will be covered in chilis before I know it.  I forget what type of pepper it is, so that'll be a surprise I'll find out soon. The red cypress vine has decided it likes the pepper plant, so I'll just let it go.  There will be a pretty mingling of red and white flowers here soon.

We've got our two kohlrabi for seeds growing, and they're both getting big.  It'll honestly be a long time before they're done, so we're in for the long haul for these seeds.  The other kohlrabi seedlings have died, I've resolved to make a proper second attempt at them. 

The ledge of cherry tomatoes died, I did not get to them early enough to save them.  I cut my losses and cleared off the ledge.  I've been pondering what to plant next, so I'll get back to you on that.

The newly transplanted tomatoes in the windy bed seem to be doing well, for the most part. Will trellis them very soon.

The Rugters and Red beans in this bed are doing well, probably will trellis it tommorrow.  Come on big tomatoes!

There's nothing I love more in a garden than a volunteer.  Sometimes however, they don't always show up in the best place, for my tastes anyway.

There were six of these little guys invading our lettuce bed today, as well as many other weeds.  I pulled out the useless plants and left the tomatoes.  I prepared containers for them and transplanted them.

Watered in and put inside, these will spring to life soon.  I'll put them in a better, more permanent home soon.

The lettuce that survived is coming along nicely, mostly oakleaf variety for the most part.  These little guys seem like they're going to explode in growth soon.  Time to get some lettuce seeds started to fill in the rest of the bed!

The driveway tomatoes have produced 2 good romas, one shown in the photo above.  Both types seem to have a bit of pest damage, so I intend to keep a good eye on them. 

The radishes did better than the beets, although we had loss of both

The carrots took the best, although I planted them at the perfect time.  So long as the garden doesn't get trampled by dogs, there should be a lot of carrots coming out of here soon.

 

A week or so ago we noticed our banana tree was really unhappy.  It appeared that the grey water hose got moved, and was now flooding the base of the tree.  Banana's like a lot of water, but too much will kill them.  I moved it away.  

It seems like it's got a healthy green leaf coming out, so it'll probably make it.  It's children seemed unaffected by all of this.

(tom and tee)

Tomatoes have received another good pruning, as they took off like wildfire from the last one.

My peppers get really droopy in the hot sunny part of the day, it's pretty bright here even in December. 

I did some weeding of this hill, to make it easier to see the contour of the land.  Within two days, these terraces should be completed.

Things are changing here, but I think for the better.  I've adjusted my farming, hopefully to help with some of the challenges I've faced here so far.  I'm determined to have better respect for the jungle, which is pretty harsh when it comes to dainty garden plants.  Tomorrow will be another productive day, you should have another update within a few days. Thanks for reading, happy gardening :)