little coop garden

our new landlord mentioned that the old chicken coop spot would probably be a good place for our garden.

d. dug it all up. we mixed in some compost & good soil. put in a tall fence to prevent the deer from snacking away our plants. the gate is an old one we found thrown behind the shed.

we dug deep furrows, so we can irrigate the bed by occasionally flooding it. we are allowed to pipe water out of the acequia that runs by the house.

the acequia looks like a stream but is in reality a ditch. dug long ago to pull off from the rio hondo, which brings melted snow down from the mountains. it starts running in the spring, and it lasts until the water runs out (we've been told into the fall). northern new mexico is a web of acequias, small to large. around here, if you are lucky this is how you can water your garden, fields or just your flowers. the word is spanish. the technique is pueblo.   

we'll be growing roma tomatoes & basil, for pizza sauce. cherry tomatoes for my summer salads. cilantro in case we feel like having fresh salsa. enough basil for pesto to freeze for winter months. bell peppers, green beans & cucumbers for summer snacks. we opted out of growing corn, as I had a man on the pueblo tell me that last year, with the bad drought, the hungry bears came down and raided the corn in everyone's fields. we decided not to risk finding a bear in the garden.

from here, we grow. and pray most of the growing is done before the acequia runs dry.