Update from the Garden

Good morning, everyone.

Garden time is one of my favorite times of the year. This year it is even more special because we got so much help from friends and family. Two visiting scholars, one a Dean of Agriculture from a university in the Philippines and another one is a professor of architecture at a university in Indonesia, helped us prepare the vegetable beds. With four of us working, half of the plot was ready and planted within two hours! Our parents helped us working on the other half of the plot. In just a week (of working maybe only half an hour each time), everything was done. My friends' moms also helped us by planting some tomatoes and peppers in our plot. Of course next comes the fun part, weeding, watering, and harvesting.

We started our garden plot quite late, on April 30th. Today the plants are growing
wild despite excessive drought that this state is suffering from. Different from last year where I could just water the plants once in two or three days, this year I have to water the plants every morning and afternoon, or at least once a day. Last weekend the water was out for two days, and some of the plants dried right away on several plots. So sad because not everyone lives very close to be able to water every day.

Last year we enjoyed sharing our harvest with so many of our friends. Like last year, this year I wrote down their names and so far we have been sharing the harvest with at least 15 people. I am hoping to be able to share with 100 people, so we have a long way to go and hope the plants will agree with us (and cooperate). :) I will keep you updated.

This year we planted cucumber, okra, carrot, green bean, watermelon, pepper, zucchini, eggplant, garlic, spinach, kale, cantaloupe, lettuce, and our friends planted tomatoes and peppers. Please enjoy some of these pictures of the plot and what we've harvested so far.