We Have a Rancho in Our Backyard

This past weekend, we declared our 200-square-foot garden an official rancho 🤓🌱 Meet Rancho L’Abeja—home to figs, grapes, sexy fresas, gardening experiments, and two people trying very hard to reach mami-level gardening skills. Tell me about your plant life.

GARDENING

Esperanza Beltrán

5/20/20263 min read

This past weekend, we named our garden and officially declared it a rancho. Está grande– 200 square foot piece of land! I know, it’s far from being a rancho, but manifesting, maybe it works. We named it on a day when my husband joked that he was gonna go outside to walk our rancho. Walking the garden takes but one minute, two if we take our time admiring each plant, five if we take brief pauses, and hours if we’re interacting with it. We laughed, calling our garden a rancho, but then it occurred to me to name it. The name was between Rancho La Abeja and Rancho Las Abejas. The plural option didn't sound quite right, and in the singular option, the "a" in "La" and the first "a" and "Abeja" made the tongue trip, and I didn't like that. So, calling upon my high school French, I replaced the "a" in "La" with a bee. I loved it, and he did too, so it stuck.

Why bees, though? Bueno, because I love bees, and I think they deserve all the appreciation in the world.

So, what’s been going on at Rancho L’Abeja? Much, much has been going on. The figs are turning purple, radishes have been pulled out of the ground, and strawberries are showing their sexy red. Baby bunches of grapes are safe under their big leaves. Being smart with our money 🤓 we used old wood from our backyard to build a home for the grapes. Nos preocupa nuestra sandía, which does not seem to be growing much, our cherry tree, whose leaves have little holes all over them, and our hoja santa, which, although it is standing strong, has leaves struggling to grow. Dr. Bonner’s liquid soap says we can dilute 1 tbsp in 1 quart of water to use as a safe alternative to pesticides. Ya lo hice, I'll give you an update in a couple of weeks. Mientras, un foto-tour.

That’s what’s been going on here at Rancho L'Abeja. Casi casi llego al nivel de mi mamá. Is your mom like that, too? Does she throw seeds on the ground, and they just grow? Has it frustrated you how hard you try y nada? Yep, that's been me for years, until now that we've been working and learning what works and what doesn't, and how each plant prefers to be. My unsolicited advise to keep trying. Pero, let me also share some of the things I’ve learned while becoming a gardener:

Aloe plants prefer shade, and they love water. Don't let the cactus-y leaves fool you.
When you get a new plant, keep it in a pot so you can move it around until you find its home. You'll know right away by the reaction of its leaves.
Create boxes for the seeds you plant. It'll help you keep track and make it easy for you to distinguish between a sprouted seed and a weed.
And here's the safe pesticide recipe again: 1 tbsp in 1 quart of water in a spray bottle.

So, what’s been going on in your world? Any plants that you’ve grown or are trying to grow? Please let me know in the comments. I'd love to know.

¡Hasta la próxima!