Farewell Puebla, Good Luck Gardeners

The Seaside Ruins of Tulum

 June 22nd, Puebla - After six great months in Mexico, staying in Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca and traveling for two weeks in the Yucatan, my visa is finally expiring and I'm heading back to Canada just in time for the glorious Vancouver summer. Our short time in the Yucatan was well spent and enchanting. We landed in Cancun, rented a car at the airport and quickly headed South through the Riviera Maya. The commercialism and hoards of tourists at Playa del Carmen bored us terribly and we ended up spending the rest of our time seeking out little-known cenotes (watery sinkholes in the limestone bedrock) and lesser-visited mayan ruins across the peninsula all the way to the western shores. 

The Spectacular City of Uzmal

We went to seven archaeological sites in total, refusing the guides in favour of doing our own research online, at museums and from books picked up along the way. Slowly and with much confusion we began to paint a picture of what really happened in that part of the world over a thousand years ago, when the dusty grey cities shone brightly with blood red, brilliant yellow and an unrepeatable topaz blue. 

Cenote outside of Valladolid

Just as mystifying was the eventual decline of their vast and complex societies, which in many cases preceded the arrival of the European invaders. Was it drought? Warfare? Famine? Prophecy? A combination of several or something entirely different? Some questions may never be answered. 

Rain water collection and shade cloth

Garden Update

After finally getting the roof constructed and the laminate and shade cloth installed, the sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) were ready to be filled. The tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers were all looking healthy and ready to be transplanted into their new homes. We also used PVC tubing to build a rainwater collection system that would feed water into the sub-irrigated planters. 

Squash climbing up chicken wire

Aside from a small detail that was overlooked in the designing, the SIPs appear to be working perfectly. The only snag was having to readjust the water levels after the bins were filled with soil, since the extra volume and weight caused the plastic sides to bow, which moved the overflow holes below the water level. Water levels can be easily adjusted by removing the float valve and slightly bending the metal rod. 

Looking greener by the day

Sub-Irrigated Planters

Moises filling the "soil legs" with coconut coir or peat, so that it's evenly distributed and snug

Place them into the holes in the plastic base for the soil

Moises filling the bins with a blend of peat, perlite, sifted bokashi compost, 
vermicompost, and fresh sifted worm castings

Thinly sifted worm castings ready for the transplanting

Fill the hole with a handful of worm castings and settle the plant in gently but firmly

Thinly and evenly spreading a mulch between the plants and covering all the soil. 
It could be straw, sawdust, wood chips, leaves.

Fill from the top right after planting and for the first few weeks until the 
water has wicked all the way up from the bottom. 

Planting pepper plants between the tomatoes

Worm castings and vermicompost should be dried and then sifted so that
nutrients are more easily dissolved in water and utilized by plants

All the SIPs finally planted: tomatoes, radish, peppers, sage, kale and bok choi

Warm thanks and well wishes to everyone at Casa Sattva and Casa Olinka, el Jardin Etnobotanico, Selene, Pepe, Alba, Moises, Arcadio the welder, Eduardo and everyone else who stopped by the rooftop to lend a hand or just say hello. Good luck and happy gardening! Please send me pictures of the harvest! 

- Spencer