Gardening

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Growing, Harvesting, and Drying Moringa

I love to eat healthy and I love growing healthy food so our small backyard has one side just for my little garden. In the picture above under the angled blue sheet is my worm bin. It’s a challenge to keep it in the shade in the summertime but this little nook under the water heater only gets a small amount of morning sun. Next is my super happy fig tree. I had a fresh fig every other day for...

Grow your own Turmeric

I tried various times – unsuccessfully- to grow turmeric that I bought at the grocery store, and have finally figured out the secret. You should give it a try, you could even grow it in a pot if you want to – I have grown ginger that way as they are pretty shallow rooted. At the top is a picture of my turmeric bed. I buy fresh turmeric at Mega, the mercado, and Ley. For some reason they call it...

Worm Composting in the Tropics

I love composting. I don’t have a compost bin here in Mazatlán since our yard is small. But even in a small yard I am hoping it will be possible to compost with worms and keep them alive over the summer. I’ve had worm bins for many years, and love having that compost bucket on the counter and having a weekly visit with my little wriggly friends. This year I got some worms from farmer Sacramento at the Organic Market...

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Growing Moringa

  • September 8, 2015
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  • Food

You probably remember that I’ve written about moringa and it’s amazing health benefits before. I’ve bought dried leaves that have been locally harvested at both Naturalia (Zaragoza 807) and Mercado Verde (Avenida La Marina 24) and there are powders available in a variety of places around town. In mid-June a friend gave me a moringa seedling that was about four inches high. I planted it in a flowerbed that I knew didn’t have very good soil but I had read...

Don’t Weed Your Garden…

  • August 26, 2015
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  • Food

until it’s time to make a salad, anyway! Here in Mazatlán the weed I see most often in my garden is purslane – in Spanish verdolagas. Right now we have a good crop going and I use them in smoothies and salads all the time.  They are super nutritious and a good source of Omega-3’s. I see them in the grocery store frequently but why not just pick your own as you need them? I had a great trip to...

Gardening in the Tropics

Mazatlán isn’t really the tropics, but it’s pretty tropical, I’d say. And down here now is the time for planting your vegetables. The hot and humid weather has finally broken and we know that for the next (almost) eight months the weather will be moderate and sunny. Next Saturday will be the first Farmer’s Market of the season – from 8 – 12 at Plazuela Zaragoza. We are looking forward it, each year it is better and better. I like...

A visit to the Botanical Gardens on Stone Island

Last Saturday while enjoying an afternoon at Stone Island a friend suggested a walk down to the botanical gardens. We had seen a few pictures but hadn’t visited ourselves so we immediately said yes. The botanical gardens are the first phase of a huge planned development called Amaitlan. In looking around for a link for you to more information the best I could come up with is the link here. This development may or may not come to pass as...

Trying to grow edibles in the hot Mazatlán sun…

I have learned a lot trying to grow a few edibles in the summer here in Mazatlán. 1.  I thought that fruits and vegetables that like it hot would love the summer sun here.  At the top of this post you’ll see my pathetic little cantaloupe melon.  When I tried to grow cantaloupes in my garden in the Pacific Northwest I’d always yearn for a longer, hotter growing season.  Well, it can be too hot, for sure.  The little guy...

Pictures from around the house

              I’ll get back to regular Mazatlán news soon, I promise!  There’s been lots of work going on over at El Recreo, El Día de la Música is this Saturday, and this Sunday I leave for a a trip to Guadalajara with some girlfriends.  See you soon!...

Tropical flowers

  Yes, I am playing around again taking pictures of the plants in our yard and goofing around with Photoshop.  In the center picture you’ll notice the Mexican Flag Vine doesn’t look like it normally does – it is making seed pods! Hope you enjoy the photos, I will move on to another topic soon, I’m sure....

Flor de Mayo (Plumeria) in my Mazatlán garden

I am in love with some of the plants that are just ordinary plants around here. But to me they are spectacular – especially the lovely flor de mayo – or to most of you – plumeria. I suppose if someone from Mazatlán moved to Washington State they would be similarly stunned by the rhododendrons and azaleas seen everywhere! I have been playing around with my camera and working on making my photos a bit more memorable.  I hope you...

Mazatlán garden report

We enjoy spring in the garden. It is wonderful to see the new growth and change. Of course, learning a new climate, plants, bugs, and chores makes this a work in progress for us. At the top of this post you’ll see our pot with three cantaloupe plants. They haven’t even bloomed yet but we are very hopeful that we’ll get a few lovely melons. They love the heat, and that’s one thing we can promise them! Below is a...

Rooftop Gardening in Mazatlán

Before Paul and I moved to Mazatlán, we lived on ten acres in the country.  We loved to garden, and my vegetable patch was gigantic. (The picture link is during the winter, here’s one from summer) When we moved here we thought we’d be happy just growing ornamentals but as time went on we started to long to grow vegetables again.  With the birth of the Saturday organic market we realized the dreams could become reality.  Paul bought some heirloom...