Hola from Mexico!

Hi! I grew up in the mid-west US, and I always helped my mom care for our HUGE traditional garden. When I grew up and got married, I dreamed of a huge garden of my own.

I did that. One year.

Since then, I always had big plans -- but never actually planted more than a couple of containers of tomatoes, squash and melons. Lazy, over-committed, whatever.

Well, a friend just sent me the new SFG book, and I'm in! I'm excited and motivated (since Sinaloa lost all their crops this winter, produce has been expensive where it's even available). BUT I'm such an amateur, I'll be asking tons of dumb questions, I'm sure!

I'm in the US right now on furlough, so I think I'll try importing a bit of vermiculite, but I think I'm going to have to be "creative" with my soil mix. Not much available where I live, but we'll see!

Looking forward to meeting you all and to learning a LOT this growing season!
-- MrsDC

Welcome! I Google-mapped your location to see where it was. It came up and I thought "Wow, way down in Mexico!" Then I zoomed out and saw that you actually aren't that far south of me...just on the opposite side of Mexico. Kinda put things in perspective!

It'll be fun to see what your growing season/conditions are like!

Welcome to the forum and to Square Foot Gardening!
Ask all the questions you want.
When people have difficulty finding all the ingredients they sometimes use straight compost. I did that once due to moving after a divorce and not having the money for anything else. It would still be best if you could get three to five different types of compost. If you are not adding vermiculite do not add peat moss and visa versa.

As soon as you get back home, start a compost heap. There are threads on the forum to help. Then check around where you are living and see if sombody has chickens in a pen where you can get some chick poo. Soon you will have your own compost. In the meantime check local horse, cow, chicken, goat, llama raisers and see if they have a pile that has been sitting around for a good while. Folks in the Philippines use bat guano.

If you can get the vermiculite into the country all well and good, but in areas where it is not possible, mel says use 100% compost. Are you APO or Dip pouch? If so, send yourself a bale of peat and a box of vermiculite. They are both under the 70lb limit. Vermiculite is about 18lbs for 4 cu ft. If nothing is available, then check out local farmers, growers for possible compost. See if one of the local Universities offers a hortacultural program what they say about local conditions. Check the other posts in the overseas forums. See what they devised.

Ask question here on the forum. Eveybody is eager to help. Build a couple of beds and enjoy fresh veggies.

Kay

I do already have a good compost pile going -- been doing that for years. I also have an almost unlimited supply of horse and cow doo-doo, so that's a plus.

The problem with the doody is that it brings in seeds -- which I REALLY don't want. I'll have to "sterilize" it before I fill beds with it. I filled my rose beds with a dirt/sand/poo mixture and got a beautiful, lush crop of clover.

My greatest fear is that I'll get to the Mexico border and discover that I can't take vermiculite in. Can't really imagine that happening -- who ever heard of problems getting "garden supplies" INTO Mexico? lol

Thanks for the warm welcome!

From what I have read, the horse poo is the culprit. Apparantly the extra stomachs that cows have do a better job on the seed. But you are ahead of most of the rest of us who said "compost what?" Coir can be substituted for the peat as well. Very small blocks apparantly fluff up very big. I haven't used it but attended a workshop of sfg and the speaker used a block of coir.

Kay

Coir? Is that basically shredded coconut hulls? Hmmm. I can get that unlimited and free, too. I guess now all I need is a substitute for vermiculite and I'll have the Mexican version of Mel's mix...Mel's Mex Mix?

-- Rebecca

I have not tried using coir for SFG but Mel has experimented with it and did not feel it would work well as a peat moss substitute in this situation.

beuna, you will find Square Foot Gardening to be easier than row gardening, have a good first garden. This forum is a great place to come to get so many of your questions answered and it is fun and welcoming.

Hola, que tal? Bienvenidos aqui!!

My spanish is so bad, I'm surprised I got that out. Anywhoo, it's great to have someone here from so far away. Hopefully, this becomes a match made in heaven. So many of us like to learn about other places, and if you have questions, we will get a great opportunity to learn from each other as you describe what are likely foreign issues to most of us....no pun intended.

BUT I'm such an amateur, I'll be asking tons of dumb questions, I'm sure!

I really, really hope you ask lots of questions. And, I hope you can share pictures of both your garden AND your surroundings. I love gardens, but I also love to see WHERE people live.

I do already have a good compost pile going -- been doing that for years. I also have an almost unlimited supply of horse and cow doo-doo, so that's a plus.
The problem with the doody is that it brings in seeds -- which I REALLY don't want. I'll have to "sterilize" it before I fill beds with it. I filled my rose beds with a dirt/sand/poo mixture and got a beautiful, lush crop of clover.

Compost sounds like it will be your biggest ally down there. If the dirt is as poor as I have heard, proper MM will be a big challenge for you. There are tons of people here that are pretty creative. I think we can get super close in time.

As for the seeds, "friability" is the biggest thing to achieve in your garden imo. MM is great because the weed seeds just pop out. You can likely control weeds way better than in rows. I don't know about seeds coming up all at once, but at least they will be super easy to remove.

Good luck with your "smuggling" operation...lol. I usually hear of that coming in the other direction on the news. Be safe there, and be active here. It's great to have you.

Hey! I am from Sinaloa! What are you planning on growing?

beuna wrote:I have not tried using coir for SFG but Mel has experimented with it and did not feel it would work well as a peat moss substitute in this situation.

But he did say is was an acceptable substitue if that's all you can get.