Gardening in the Jungle: Protection

A few years ago the Ix-canaan Women’s Group began a program of Square Foot Gardening under the direction of Rose Lord from Philadelphia. The reasoning behind this program is that many campesino people have poor health, not from lack of protein in their diets, but for lack of fresh vegetables, which are not grown here in Peten and cost more because they are imported from Southern Guatemala. With a properly functioning square foot garden just outside the kitchen door, a woman can feed a fresh vegetable to her family most days.

The women brought in a loads of earth from untouched jungle areas, and their first gardens were beautiful. Since then, unless they bring in more soil from the jungles and start fresh, their gardens don’t grow. If the seeds sprout, the plants either die early, or are stunted and don’t produce. The soil becomes denuded very quickly.

Last year we all began experimenting with vermicomposting to solve our soil problems, and producing incredibly rich soil. My plants started growing well, only to fall ill and die half way through their cycle. I realised that producing new rich soil was not the entire answer … the heavy daily rains were bleaching the new soil of everything very quickly … within one day of adding fresh soil, the rain left it parched and cracked.

So, I am now trying something new … I’ve covered the entire garden with a protective fabric.

I was worried at first that the black, relatively heavy fabric would keep out too much sun … but that doesn’t seem to be the case as is shown by this pepper plant below, which is healthy and green and is flowering and fruiting abundantly.

As a matter of fact, with the temperatures averaging around 100 degrees F., the problem is a little different, but the solution seems to be the same … the cover keeps the water from evaporating too quickly while protecting the soil from being baked and denuded of vitamins during the day.

The few tomatoes that had appeared on the tomato vine before i put the new cover up, are ripening perfectly.

Now, I’m waiting and watching to see how my little pepper plants will fare.

And in case you are wondering about the poles across the garden, they are to discourage the dogs from nestling and squirming into the wet cool soil when the temps are nudging 100*F.