Last year we really struggled with water as a result of the drought. The lack of water made it difficult to diligently water the garden, and as a result we didn't get much out of it. We were able to harvest from one hot pepper plant and basil plants. Despite the drought a few of our plants including the guava tree, lime tree, and orange tree are still alive but need some love. This year we are feeling more confident about water and have expanded the garden. I am optimistic that we will have a better harvest this year.

Garden 2024

We have planted the following in the garden this year:

• 20 tomato plants
• 15 hot pepper plants
• 10 bell pepper plants
• 4 squash plants
• 1 ginger plant
• 3 garlic
• 2 onion
• 7 pineapple plants
• 11 eggplant plants
• 1 brazilian spinach plant
• 1 longevity spinach plant
• 1 thornless blackberry plant
• 1 betel leaf plant
• 1 mulberry tree

This is such a wide range of plants and I'm excited to see how we do with them. The majority of the plants we have grown from seed, however, there are a few we purchased from a nursery. As we go through the season I am also going to practice propagating some of the plants. I have already started with basil from last year, and have been starting the onion and pineapple from scraps. The Brazilian spinach and longevity spinach should be fairly easy to propagate from what I have read. I am excited to try.

I am calling this the 2024 season but honestly with this climate I don't know when the season would officially start or end. We get a little cooler around November through January but it is still warm enough to grow. It will be interesting to learn how the lack of seasonality impacts plants and their growth. We are in zone 13.

Sun, slope, and soil

There is very little flat land on our property, and we are using what little we have cleaned up for living space. This means the majority of the garden is on a fairly steep slope. Gardening on a hill is also part of the experiment. From what I have seen there are two primary methods, when farming on steep terrain. The first is to terrace the land, and the second is to plant in rows that follow the slope, this is called contour farming. We are experimenting with both methods. It can take a lot to terrace a space and so to help get us going contour farming is the most pragmatic in many cases. While contour gardening is a little easier to setup, it is a little harder with the day to day maintenance because it requires walking up and down the hill. On the other hand living here has required us to walk up and down the hill for everything so it is not a huge deal. I am interested to see what it will be like long term, or if we will need to terrace the land.

Tomato's on the contour	Longevity Spinach

The sun here is intense. When we clear land for gardening we are leaving healthy trees because we want them to grow and be healthier, and because the shade they provide will hopefully help the plants we are trying to grow. I am struggling with full-sun vs partial sun. In our context I am starting to wonder if what we have as partial sun is what others might consider full sun. The eggplants might be the first evidence of this struggle, I worry they are getting too much sun because they are not thriving where I planted them. I am currency trying to find a spot with a little more shade to move them to.

Soil is always a challenge for a new farm. We are on well draining, rocky terrain that is covered in jungle. We are only clearing what we need to grow, and are leaving healthy trees and plants. We are mulching and composting the brush that is created when clearing land. Additionally we are using our version of a hugelkultur technique to help build soil. Normally this is done with raised garden beds, but we haven't built any beds yet. Instead we are digging small trenches, filling them with rotting logs and brush, and covering them back up. These produce mounds that should help slow and hold water while the brush decomposes and adds nutrients to the soil.