+++++++++ 1st Annual Plant Sale - Vivero La Esperanza ++++++++

In a parking lot, in a land far, far away in a town named Riberas Del Pilar...The Vivero La Esperanza from San Juan Tecomatlan had its first vivero plant sale on Saturday Sept. 21st, 2019 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in front of Laura's Garden Center....and it was a grand success!

With a little (a lot) help from my friends soon tents, tables, umbrellas, plants started to arrive.

Our information and sales tables were set.  Presente were the beautiful jewelry products from the Jewelry making women's group of San Pedro Itzican.  Also for sale were the wonderfully made hand knitted products from the Knitting group of women of San Pedro Itzican.

As expected customers arrived early...but we were ready to serve.

Our green friend Kalina gifted the sale with love nurtured, vibrant plants from her home garden.

All throughout the day sales were brisk at the sales table.  The repurposed fabric, reusable bags from the Sewing group of San Pedro Itzican were available.

Just before high noon, the Traditional Dance Troupe from San Pedro Itzican arrived.

The dancers carefully prepared for their presentation

Procession

Opening circle facing south

Beautiful strawberry plants went quickly 

After the opening ritual the Sword Dance was performed.

This dance represented the struggle of the indigenous people throughout the

Spanish invasion in Mexico.

Closing Circle

In Gratitude, we'd like to thank 

all of our constant volunteers, 

Anita Torres Guerrero and the Brigadistas of San Pedro Itzican,

Laura from the Garden Center in Riberas Del Pilar

all the friends who donated part of their souls through plants,

the Poco A Poco committee,

the children of Vivero La Esperanza for all their hard work,

the people of San Juan Tecomatlan de los Chiles Verdes for hosting our efforts in their town,

and all the delightful people who came out to see, experience, support our efforts.

Without you, we could not have made this lovely day possible.

Un millón de Gracias.

+++++++++++++++++++ Seasonal Transitioning +++++++++++++++

Transitioning...how many times have we experienced this in our lifetimes?

One season comes and gifts us with her treasures as the next season, on the horizon,

looks on in anticipation, waiting to take her rightful place.

At Vivero La Esperanza it was time to remove our beloved Squash plants.

They had provided us with so many lovely orbs of food.  The Zucchini plants yielded a

surprise when removed....we found a lovely group of green chili plants

sprouting and growing happily underneath them.

 Our Amaranth garden continues to grow....almost ready for havesting.

And we didn't have the heart to remove the lovely, large Col/Cabbage plants due to their beauty.

Good thing we didn't...we found that a second harvest was growing, similar to the way

Brussel Sprouts sprout....and we're waiting to see if we can harvest these as well.

Mino led the charge with our Beet plant harvest.  I told the kids we could also eat the 

Beet Leaves...and they are waiting to sample the goods at home.

Time now to start a new garden bed with all the lovely plantulas/starters that we have

germinated from seed.  These are cold weather plants that will do well as our

days get shorter and cooler.

Meanwhile, out tomatoes happily were growing and turning a blushing red. 

 And while on a fabric shopping spree to the Santa Teresita neighborhood in Guadalajara we stumbled

upon the newest item on our Vivero wish list....a tinaco fit for a Rain Catchment King.

How far away is Dia De Los 3 Reyes?

In the following weeks at Vivero La Esperanza, Maestro Brad Mowers will be teaching natural found  material paper making and natural fiber dying to the community.

Stay tuned.

"The first day of Summer is also the last day of Spring."

- Kit Williams

And don't forget to join us for our Plant and Garden Sale

this coming Saturday.

++++++++++++++++ A Horse In The Garden....Ojo! ++++++++++++

Our computer scientist, inventor and friend Felipe brought his machinery today to the Vivero.

Since we have no electricity on the property the gasoline powered Weed Whacker was perfect.

The kids found this fascinating.

I had been told by our Brigadista Ruth Emily that the town had experienced high winds that week during a storm.  I found most of our equipment and plants had weathered the storm well.

What we had not expected was that a neighbor's black horse would pay a visit to the Vivero and eat and trample our crops.  Unfortunately, the horse especially favored my heirloom maiz/corn plants.

Heirloom Maiz (literally cut down in its youth)

When you grow a plant from seed, when you put it to bed in a blanket of nutrient rich soil and cover it with a warm layer of comfortable compost, when you water it daily until the plant is birthed and grows its first set of leaves, you bond with this new being.

And when someone or something rips the new born out of its environment, or 

chews it unconsciously or cuts the plant haphazardly 

your heart melts at the catastrophe.

As our friend Mino says "Perhaps the horse was just hungry?"

 + Ojos De Dios +

In one of our Victory Gardens in West Los Angeles, CA. Brad and I had created Ojos De Dios

to be used as protective talisman and decorative items for the garden.

So today I had brought Brad's beautiful yarns to teach the kids the craft and ritual.

Little did I know that we did indeed need talismans for our garden.

Santiago and Carlos Alfredo enthusiastically took to the work.

As did the rest of the crew.

One of my favorite things about teaching children is when they take a step, on their own,

and create 'outside the box'.  Karla did just that and when she showed me her creation

I was blown away...it was as original and beautiful as she is.

Jayden wanted to plant his own Ojo in the garden....he choose the exact

spot where the horse had devoured our corn.

This week's harvest

Our Daikon Radish (white) was a hit with the kids....they had not seen one before

and the size of the immature plant was amazing to their eyes.  We all took a bite

and tasted a sweeter flavor than what is usually found with the red radishes 

normally seen in our markets.

As the children finished their first Ojos, the ojos started appearing

throughout the garden...some on poles, some hanging from the 

numerous tree branches.

In the end the universal energies combined to help us 

make our Vivero more beautiful and to make us feel protected.

Now...if only that black horse would stay away from our Vivero
or spooks because of the Ojos, these talisman will have been worth all the effort.

Gracias to the people of San Juan Tecomatlan,

To our constant, wonderful volunteers,

And a special Gracias to Bradley Weaver for his generous

donation of beautiful, natural, hand dyed yarns.

💗

++++++++++++++++++++ Playing At Work +++++++++++++++++++

Prepping Pots for Seed Germination

Sometimes, as adults, we forget to play.

The young Brigadistas at Vivero La Esperanza are hard workers.  Our Maestra Mino declared just this when she and her husband Felipe arrived at the nursery on Saturday morning.

Our germination tables were organized and full with budding food plants.  Our ornamental plants had been moved and organized as well.

We quickly set out to do a "walk about" of the garden to identify the work needed that day, to see how our plants were growing, to identify problems or plaga and discuss how to meet these challenges organically....head on.

Our amazing volunteer Barb Reinhart brought her laptop and mobile modem to show the kids a short, educational video on plastic six-pack can holders and their effect on our environment.  The kids were attentive and interested.  I asked them how many of their family members use these plastic six-pack can holders and almost all raised their hands.  We showed them the harm they can do to animal life.  We also showed them a simple solution...cut up the plastic pieces and recycle them instead of throwing them in the trash.  All the kids vowed to do just that.

Maestra Mino also showed the youth the proper method of thinning bulging tomato plants and that the cuttings may take root if planted properly, propagating more plants.

Then it was time to harvest.  This week our bounty was fresh basil, eggplant, swiss chard, carrots.

I also introduced the youth to Teslaman, superhero of our environment.  My new friend Jorge A. Santana just published the first issue in the series and generously autographed my copy.

We will be reading a chapter every week at the Vivero.

Meanwhile the work (play) continued.

When I asked the kids to collect our donated plastic pots to store them, they made a game of seeing who could stack them the highest...after much laughter and giggles, our work was done for the week.

See us in the vivero in San Juan Tecomatlan De Los Chiles Verdes.

We are there every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.