garden fails

We've learned a lot about gardening in the last 3 months, it would be fair to say we have seen more failures than successes. Here are some photos to show some of the things we've encountered lately: 

 

 

The above photos include: blossom end rot, root rot and stem primordia, dying cucumber plants, carrots that did not grow well, and lettuce leaves covered in spider mites. 

We have researched some potential causes for each of these things. The blossom end rot caused from excessive heat in the blossom set. The root rot and stem primordia from the plants being unable to grow through the starting planters that supposedly dissolve and plants grow through them. The carrots may have been placed too close together. The spider mites were not discovered until it was too late, but now we know they can be taken care of with an insecticidal soap- of which there are many homemade recipes on the web. The cucumbers, we are still clueless on. 

All of that on top of learning that lizards will eat vegetation if they are desperate for food. This is such a learning experience. As for now, we humbly accept defeat with the plants above. Next round, is a different story...

First Fruits!

As you may have guessed from the last post, we were able to pick a few tomatoes this week!

 

Two beautiful cherry tomatoes! 

There should (hopefully) be more to pick when we stop there today. We also added on to their watering schedule, so we're hoping to keep these cucumbers growing and producing, too! 

 

We will keep you posted- keep praying for the garden! 

I'm seeing color...

At the end of last week, we saw something pretty amazing...

Yes, our first tomatoes are getting color! These were our first tomatoes so the rest shouldn't be too far behind!

My good friend Erin and I were chatting today about our gardens. She lives in Virginia right now and planted a garden this spring as well. We were laughing to ourselves about how dorky it makes us feel to be excited about our little plants growing and producing fruit. It's so exciting to literally be able to see the product of all of your hard work. I can't wait until the kids at Rancho de los Niños can taste all of the delicious veggies we are growing for them!

The trials of being a gardener...

Learning to be a gardener has been a very interesting, and at times very frustrating, task. Learning being the key word. We did not come into this task having much experience or knowledge. We've run into quite a few challenges along the way. From over-watering to insect invasions to lizard devastation... now we've been faced with a new challenge: many of the plants are turning yellow/pale.

At first, we believed this to be from an incorrect watering schedule. We tried changing the schedule to no avail. After some research, it seems that the soil may be lacking in nutrients. We are starting a compost pile, but it's no where close to usable. We added some fertilizer yesterday in hopes that it will being some immediate relief to the plants, but we're still working to another possible solution to adding more nutrients.

Although, if the problem is improper drainage, there may be nothing we can do about it until the next growing season... We are praying that it's the former and we will still be able to get some good veggies out this this round of growing.

Hey, June!

 It's June already! Today, we've officially been here in Mazatlán for 3 months. It's hard to believe that we've been here for that long already! 

Even more cool things have been going on here, outside of our super awesome garden project in El Castillo. Every year in the beginning of June is the Quiksilver Classic surfing event here in Mazatlán. We went to check it out on Saturday and here are some pictures of what we got to see!

(Finally a photo of the two of us doing something fun!)

Latest project

A few weeks ago, we asked the staff at Rancho de los Niños to come up with a list of some projects that we could help with. We're not here to try to take over or try to change what they're doing, we're here to help in whatever ways that we can. And we would rather help with work that already needs to be done rather than create more work that isn't as important. This is what we've been working on lately: 

Painting. You would be surprised at how difficult it is to paint concrete. And how long it takes with only a six-inch roller. And how hot it is cutting the wall by the ceiling. We painted the ceiling in white and the walls in a pale yellow. What are these rooms for, you ask?

Well, there is a couple who stay at the Ranch over night. It is their job to get the kids ready for bed, get up with them in the night, get them up in the morning, be the support if there are any issues during the OTHER 12 hours of the day. They used to live in a separate house on the property, but it's easier for them and for the kids if they are right there, right down/across the hall.

This couple is also the full-time caretaker of their granddaughter. All three of them share one room. In desire and need of more space, they had some help building on two more rooms. That is what we have been painting.

All that's left now is cleaning and staining the floor, and then it will be onto helping with the patio... :)