shoestring gringa

Just in case you’ve been on the edge of your seat all these months since my distant reference to our upcoming agricultural efforts, herewith a summary of progress:

The lettuce we grew this winter was a huge success.  We were inundated with the stuff (but oh so happily).  We grew Romaine and butter varieties, both from seeds bought here in Mexico at Home Depot.  The Romaine did somewhat better.  We planted it in a couple different spots, and the sunnier spot produced noticeably more and bigger lettuces.  I was amazed at how it grew in such cold weather.  We were really sad when lettuce season ended.

Basil from seed bought several years ago failed to start, but a newer packet started quickly and has flourished since.

Lavender and rosemary seeds from packets both failed to start at all (sniff).  Better luck next year!

Parsley started and three plants provided a continual harvest until about a week ago; I think it’s finally gotten too hot for it.

I was unable to find any tomato seeds to buy (and forget about plants, they don’t seem to exist here, or maybe I just don’t know where to find them), so I squeezed the seeds out of a couple tomatoes from the grocery store and they actually came up.  Since that supremely exciting moment, however, things have gone downhill.  I ended up transplanting five plants, two Roma types and three round.  One plant produced only one tomato and gave up.  The other four have produced quite a lot.  Unfortunately, they refuse to ripen properly.  We’ve been told variously that they have too much sun and too much water.  Probably both.  Also, of course, they’re the offspring of hybrids never meant to reproduce.  We’re probably lucky they didn’t sprout legs and come devour us in our sleep.

Seeds from a grocery store cantaloupe came up and grew into a beautiful plant which flowered but, alas, has produced no fruit at all.

Some friends gave us cucumber seeds last month which we planted directly outside.  They quickly turned into a jungle and are producing like crazy.

I’ve never done any gardening except for growing tomatoes in the Bay Area back in the 80s, which was akin to shooting fish in a barrel — buy plants at store, stick in the ground, water occasionally, harvest perfect tomatoes for 6 months.  O California!

This time around, I’ve referred mostly to Mel Bartholomew’s All New Square Foot Gardening, and Extreme Gardening: How to Grow Organic in the Hostile Deserts by Dave Owens, the Phoenix-based guru for our Sonoran desert climate zone.  We have one 6×4-foot  square-foot type box, built by the Mexigringo, which has held lettuce, tomatoes, parsley, basil, and cucumbers.  We have two tomato plants in kitty litter bins and some flowerpots with basil.  All of these containers are filled with pure compost. The best container by far, however, has turned out to be an old concrete planter about 5 feet in diameter which used to house a tree.   We put about six inches of compost over the top of the existing dirt.  Everything we have grown in there has done noticeably better, I think because the dirt underneath maintains moisture better.  The wooden box with only six inches of compost is hard to keep adequately watered in this climate — things seem to alternately fry and drown.

I found tons of inspiration, courage, and the proper spirit of adventure for this undertaking with Anita Sands Hernandez, the queen of frugal gardening, at her fascinating website here.

Even though much of what we’ve managed to grow could be described more properly as garnishes or herbs than food,  it’s made a huge difference in the quality of our meals.  Parsley, especially, adds a freshness, flavor and color to items like potatoes, rice and sauces which is truly cheering to the vegetable-deprived.

In all, it’s been a great learning experience, and probably the most worthwhile thing I’ve done all year.  Free (almost), fresh food!  Organic, even.  I can’t wait until I can plant more lettuce again.