Garden Enclosed, Pest Problems, Forest Garden, House Construction

Puriscal vegetable garden
Our work crew put thick, clear plastic on top of my enclosed garden space. Last rainy season I was unable to grow much of anything in there because of the deep ruts in the soil caused by rain dripping off of the bamboo roof structure grid. The structure still has some life in it so I decided it was worth the expense to cover it and try to grow throughout the rainy season. Three collard plants are still producing as are the yard long green beans, fennel, kohlrabi and basil.

okra plant flowering
A few months ago I pulled out all of the tomato, cucumber and bean plants because they were infested, beyond control, with aphids. I cut the beans in a way that they were able to regrow and I planted more cucumber plants. Every few days I go into the vivero and spray the plants with soapy water to cut back on the aphids. Actually, the real pest problem is ants. The ants are herding and raising the aphids to eat. Unless I get rid of the ants, the aphids will never go away. I read diatomaceous earth is the best ant control, but haven’t been motivated yet to acquire some in Costa Rica.

Our work crew has been busy helping us maintain the property. Last week they finished digging out the overgrown pasture grass in an area below the old pool. I am going to try to establish a forest garden in this area. There are already several mature trees as the backbone. Today I planted mango and lemon seeds, a few fruit trees that I grew from seed as well as some native flowering shrubs. This week I plan to plant all of the squash seeds I have in order to get a ground cover going to help smother out the grass seeds that are waiting to germinate.

Puriscal house construction
Progress happened with house construction. Doors were installed, septic tank covers are in place and the structure for the bathtub was built. The crew went home last night and hopefully they will be back tomorrow to continue chipping away at what’s left to be done.