Beach Birds in Chacala

This morning I walked on the Chacala playa early when the sun was still coming up. I liked watching this bird hopping around. He didn't seem to care when the waves inundated him. Very persisant little bird.

Succulent Garden in Chacala

I worked on my new little Chacala garden space early this morning, before the sun got too high in the sky. Yesterday I stayed out too long, until about 10am, and got too hot and too much sun.But this morning I worked from about 6:30-8:30am and then was pretty much finished. Except for watering in my new plants. I had to wait about an hour for the town water to come on. Sat around with some neighbors, waiting for the water to come on, and talked about this and that.I am kind of worried about maybe there being too much sun this summer, and too much rain for these plants. I am picturing everything being washed away during one of the nightly gullywashers in August and September. I guess all gardens are just experiments, so I will just wait and see.My favorite succulent from San Miguel is this one with sort of flat, paddle-like leaves with red edges. It's kind of in the center of this photo. It has some pups coming up from the base. I am going to wait until the plant seems established before I separate the babies.The plants in this new little garden are mostly cutting grown from the succulent plant I bought in San Miguel last October. Cuttings really do well here. Everything grows very quickly.I am intending to terrace off the rest of this little hillside, and to fill it with portulaca, and other drooping plants. But I have to wait to get more dirt. And some gloves.Frederick, who is helping Aurora re-build a garden retaining wall I built a few years ago, got a scorpion bite on his finger yesterday morning, while he was moving rocks for the wall. So I am especially worred about scorpions these days. It was a very minor bite, but it's still scary.My Desert Roses seem to be in trouble. Some of the leaves are yellowing and discoloring. I am changing their pots and dirt, and hoping that helps. And fertilizing. Some the little ones are going directly in the ground. I am curious about how they will do.I haven't planted very many plants directly in the dirt here. But the bouganvilleas and other plants I put in the ground at Aurora's two years ago are mostly looking great, so we'll see. Many gardener here have their plants only in pots. I can't figure out how people decided how to plant things: in a pot, or the dirt. I guess I will keep experimenting.

Gardenin' Angel in Chacala

A Primavera tree, in full bloom last week.

Sheri, my garden angel, will only be in Chacala a few more days. Then she’s back to Oakland CA, where she runs Merciari Design, her garden/landscape/design and installation outfit. I will miss her a lot.Sheri and family

Yesterday afternoon we hung around in the area in front of Dona Lupe’s house. Sheri came up with some very nice and very do-able plans for each of the five spaces in front of the house. These are the small flatish dirt spaces where I am hoping to plant the succulents and other tropical plants I have been growing in pots the past six months of so.

I have felt kind of stymied for months, but the plan Sheri come up with seems doable and will use the plants I have been growing from starts. I am worried about how things will work during the rainy season, when there can be nightly floods for weeks at a time. But, this a is learning experience, and mistakes are okay. Besides I can probably dig up whatever plants may or may not get washed away and replant them.

We decided to start with the nicest space, where Dona Lupe, or someone has built a rock training wall about 3 feet high on the east side, and the sidewalk * curves around the planting area on the north and west sides, and a steep slope down to the road level is on the south side. It’s a little triangle about 10X12 feet, sort of.Gardenia in front of the house. It's covered with blossoms.

I think Sheri’s son, Fred, who is in Chacala too, is going to give me some ideas about how to make one terrace about 20 feet long, running from the house to the west end of the new space. It will be made of two low rock walks, facing south.

I have an injured wrist, so I am not moving rocks right now. I am probably going to find someone to move rocks for me. Someone who doesn’t mind following directions from an old woman.

Yesterday Sheri used a pry bar, to kind of dig up the soil in the new bed. The pry bar was necessary since we couldn’t find a regular shovel or a pick around here. I think the dirt looked a lot better than either of us expected. The dirt is clay and gravel mostly and very sticky. Sheri thinks the succulents won’t mind the soil. And I am hopeful.This morning I removed a pile of small bricks from one side of new the bed, and then watered it heavily while the town water was on. That’s the only time I can water with a hose. So I have to time my gardening efforts in sync with when the water is running, usually sometime in the morning for three hours or so.

Then I started carrying the plants that are going in the first bed from the side of the house over to the sidewalk nice to the bed. I just realized that I don’t want to plant in the new space until the rocks are in place to hold the second bed, the long skinny terrace on the south side of the lot. So I am taking a snack break and thinking things over.

*Sidewalks are very unusual in Chacala. About two years ago someone built a set of concrete stairs and a sidewalk in front of Dona Lupe’s. It connects the house and the paved road. Before that there was a steep hillside in front of the house with some “steps” scratched into the dirt. Very dangerous and very slippery during the rainy season.

Creating a New Garden Space, in Chacala

Sheri, my garden angel, will only be in Chacala a few more days. Then she’s back to Oakland CA, where she runs Merciari Design, her garden/landscape/design and installation outfit. I will miss her a lot.

Yesterday afternoon we hung around in the area in front of Dona Lupe’s house. Sheri came up with some very nice and very do-able plans for each of the five spaces in front of the house. These are the small flatish dirt spaces where I am hoping to plant the succulents and other tropical plants I have been growing in pots the past six months of so.

I have felt kind of stymied for months, but the plan Sheri come up with seems doable and will use the plants I have been growing from starts.I am a little worried about how things will work during the rainy season, when there can be nightly floods, sometimes for weeks at a time. But, this a is learning experience, and mistakes are okay. Besides I can probably dig up whatever plants may or may not get washed away and replant them.We decided to start with the nicest space, where Dona Lupe, or someone has built a rock training wall about 3 feet high on the east side, and the newish sidewalk * curves around the planting area on the north and west sides, and a steep slope down to the road level is on the south side. It’s a little triangle about 10X12 feet, sort of.I think Sheri’s son, Fred, who is in Chacala too, is going to give me some ideas about how to make one terrace about 20 feet long, running from the house to the west end of the new space. It will be made of two low rock walks, facing south.I have an injured wrist, so I am not moving rocks right now. I am probably going to find someone to move rocks for me. Someone who doesn’t mind following directions from an old woman.

Yesterday Sheri used a pry bar, to kind of dig up the soil in the new bed. The pry bar was necessary since we couldn’t find a regular shovel or a pick around here. I think the dirt looked a lot better than either of us expected. The dirt is clay and gravel mostly and very sticky. Sheri thinks the succulents won’t mind the soil. And I am hopeful.This morning I removed a pile of small bricks from one side of new the bed, and then watered it heavily while the town water was on. That’s the only time I can water with a hose. So I have to time my gardening efforts in sync with when the water is running, usually sometime in the morning for three hours or so.

Then I started carrying the plants that are going in the first bed from the side of the house over to the sidewalk nice to the bed. I just realized that I don’t want to plant in the new space until the rocks are in place to hold the second bed, the long skinny terrace on the south side of the lot. So I am taking a snack break and thinking things over.*Sidewalks are very unusual in Chacala. About two years ago someone built a set of concrete stairs and a sidewalk in front of Dona Lupe’s. It connects the house and the paved road. Before that there was a steep hillside in front of the house with some “steps” scratched into the dirt. Very dangerous and slippy during the rainy season.

Cacti in My Chacala Backyard

This morning I transplanted a new plant Sheri brought me at the nursery in La Penita yesterday. It's a form of portulaca and I love it. She is going to show me how to make cuttings later today.And I set out some more cuttings from some other succulent piece s I had left out overnight so their raw cuts would dry out some.I have been interested in the Nopal plant that grows all over Chacala. One of the hundred's of varieties of Nopal is supposed to be helpful for diabetes, but I don't know which one, and neither does anyone else around here. As far as I know.
Then I started searching around the back of the house, hoping to find a piece of piece to use askind of a curtian rod. The area behind the house is about 50 fifty wide and maybe 80 feet deep and is very overgrown and has alot of junk lying around.I hadn't walked to the back of the lot before, mostly because I am afraid I will step on something unfriendly. But this morning my curiosity overcame my fear, and I walked to the stone fence at the back of the property. There was a large Nopal back there covered with blossomed. I think it's the first time of have seen these blossoms, and I love them. I tiptoed back through the leaves and branches and got my camera. I still have figured out how to take close-ups of the blossoms. But tonight I am going to read the manual again, so we'll see. Maybe I will figure it out.

I brought Sheri over to look at the cacti, and she pointed out all the pieces which had fallen to the ground seemed to have rooted themselves. I am going back out there later with my trowel to dig some up and transplant them out in front of the house.

Back into the Gardening Groove, in Chacala

I think I am back into gardening mode again, finally. I have been keeping things alive, but doing only a few gardening tasks, ever since I moved back here to Dona Lupe's in early November. My level of enthusiasm for gardening has been pretty low. Don't know why.But the last few days I am getting back in the gardening groove. It’s partly because of Sheri, a landscape gardener and small nursery owner is here, at Aurora’s. Looking at the photos of her garden got me back in the mood. Very inspiring. And now her lovely son is here too. He propagaes succulents (among other things) at the families nursery/landscaping business. So I have a chance to learn alot.I have just started doing lots of leaf and stem cuttings. Of succulents mostly. I am going to ask Fred for a critique of my sloppy propagating method tomorrow.This morning I did some gardenia cuttings. They are blooming now. I think there are about fifty blossoming getting ready to bloom now. They smell so wonderful.Actually, I don’t think they are really gardenias. I think they are Mock Gardenias, (Tabernaemontana divarticata). The roots are supposed to be poisonous, which I will keep in mind, just in case I have some poisoning to do.And I tried doing some cutting of Plumbago (Plumbago capensis) , which have blue flowers, and seem to bloom almost continuously around here. I grew plants from cuttings from this plast last year, and they did okay, so I will see.I am doing some dividing too, the Sanservieria (Sanservieria trifasciata) really grows quickly here, and sends up shoots quickly too. I am imagining I will put them all along the walkway up to the house here. Right now I only have three plants, but I will have more soon.

My Chacala Secret Garden

I have a short-cut from one part of Chacala to another. It goes thru a little wooded area. I think of it as my secret garden. But, really, it's not a secret garden, since there is a clear path thru it.
This morning some plants had just recently blossomed, and I took some photos.
I love this little area, when though there is some trash here.

My Trip to the Veggie Stand

I know that there are mostly the same vegetables and fruits in Chacala and Las Varas as in most places in the U.S. Well, the fruit are often different but most of vegetables are the same. Plus jicama and more peppers. I love looking at the fruit and vegetable displays at the local markets and tianguis. Everything looks so delcious. I had a great time this morning at the street market in Las Varas. I went there to get some more cheap maset/pots for plants, but looked at everything else too. The plant lady had some nice single eccheverria plants but she wanted 30 pesos, almost $3US for them, which is kind of high for Me














And this is Terry, my little buddy. His name is pronounced with a verrrry rrrrrolled R. I see every week or two, and he always jumps up for a pet from me. We have been friends for almost three years. He sits with his elderly owner on the same corner of the main street, watching the world go by.