Projects at the Finca

Here is a fence Chilo and I put up for the maracuya vines to climb on, set with 8 - 10 ´ poles. Para jugo fresco!

One of the first things we did was pretty up the front path by trimming the dead ojas (leaves) from the banana trees, which then serve as mulch for the trees.

Watering is an ongoing chore on the finca, with water from the river. Hoses are used sometimes, other times a sprinkler, and also drip irrigation. Here I am making sure to wet down the leaves of a mandarin tree.

Here is another banana grove in the front corner of the property, after I trimmed the leaves.

Here´s Chilo after we replaced the front gate with some new posts, and a center pole (removable for large vehicles).

Chilo´s new screen for filtering out basura (sediment) before it gets into the system.

I think we put five large posts in around this mat of Chayote vines, tied with metal fencing so the vines have space and support for their climbing. Chayotes are a prized squash-like fruit which can fetch a good price in town or be traded with neighbors. Chilo says he prefers to eat them!

Here is a garden we planted made up of camallones, thin raised beds, planted with peppers and parsley. We then put up a fence to keep out chickens, dogs and other animals.

Nearby is a field where we planted more peppers, in hoyos (holes) about two feet apart, because the field was too rocky to make beds.

This is the garden we planted nearer to the house, with raised beds that have small berms around the outside. These were seeded with celery, cabbage, beets, tomatillos, chiles, and cilantro, much of which came from seed from Plants of the Southwest.