Second Year of Gardening -- A Joy

It's been about two years since we began gardening. The first year we were pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps, and it was a backbreaking effort. There was so much to do, and we had so far to go. Now we can see the results of two years of hard work, and it is truly rewarding.  Flowers, vines, trees, vegetables -- we are blessed. Maybe next year we will be able to pick our first orange.

GRASS
Much of the second year was spent on two onerous tasks -- redoing what we did wrong the first year, and putting down grass. Both of these things minimized the time we had to spend on what we love the best -- growing flowers and vegetables -- but they had to be done. I know grass is frequently pooh-poohed in gardening circles, but we wanted to create a backdrop for our beautiful plants, and we wanted to preserve our spectacular view. Expansive lawns do have their place.

Two kinds of grass were planted, using two different methods. We started by planting native pasture grass -- called jenjibrillo -- put down as rectangles of sod. We'd had good luck with a local sod merchant and had him put down a second batch for us. This time, unfortunately, it did not turn out as well as the first. Within a month or so it was taken over by white clover. Also, over time the first batch devoloped kikuyo grass, which must have come with the jenjibrillo grass in the first place. It is an invasive exotic species. The best thing about the jenjibrillo is that it thrives on average soil. The worst thing is that it grows quickly during the wet season and has to be mowed every week.

After our unfortunate experience with the native grass, we switched to St. Augustine. Some of it was planted as sod, some as runners. I purchased the sod from EPA, a Venezuelan-owned chain similar to Lowe's or Home Depot back in the States. It cost about $2 a square meter (about 10 square feet). I installed it myself.
One large area I had planted in St. Augustine runners in order to save money. The total cost for runners for about 400 square feet came to only $5. It took the runners about five months to spread and cover the surface and, unfortunately, there was considerable soil erosion due to the slope. If I had to do it again, I think I would have bought sod, even though it is much more expensive. The St. Augustine does not look as lush as the native pasture grass. I think it requires more topsoil. So far I have only had to cut it twice.

Happy Gardening!

The Weather -- 1st Year of Data Collection

I began recording daily weather information on June 20, 2010. Now that I've completed one year of data collection, I can report two big surprises:
  (1) it is much rainier than I'd expected
  (2) it is much windier than I'd expected.

As for annual rainfall, I was originally expecting something in the vicinity of 80-90 inches. This was based on the data provided by the Aranjuez station in downtown San Jose, only seven miles away. Average rainfall there is 70 inches. Our property is 1,300 feet higher, in the central volcanic range, and I reasoned that we'd receive an extra 10-20 inches. Then I discovered weather data from the station in Barva, only two and a half miles away, and only about 400 feet lower elevation than here. The average annual rainfall in Barva is 90 inches. What I recorded in the first year was a whopping 145 inches.

My guess is that this higher-than-expected rainfall is due to two factors:
  (1) during this period we were experiencing a niña, which brought about 50% higher than normal rainfall
  (2) we are located near the Zurqui pass, which allows wet, stormy trade winds through the mountains from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.

As for the winds, I didn't acquire a wind gauge until November 2010. It is a handheld device, so I only take readings when we are experiencing high winds. The high wind recorded to date is 34 miles per hour. 2009 was much windier than 2010. I'm guessing we had winds up to at least 50 mph. I wasn't expecting winds this high, as I'd been visiting my wife's family near downtown San Rafael (2.5 miles away) for the last 40 years, and knew what to expect, I thought. Again, I think the fact that we are located close to the Zurqui pass is the main contributing factor to these high winds.

The high rainfall and high winds have been two of the four complicating factors to gardening here (the other two factors are the clayey soil and the invasion of African star grass). The rain, combined with the clay, tend to waterlog the soil and cause fungal infections in root systems. This requires the use of either raised beds or drainage ditches to channel the water away from the plants. Many of the plants cannot withstand the high winds, so they have to be planted on the leeward side of walls and fences.

Happy gardening!

July Weather Report

Nun Orchid

Rainfall increased significantly, from 10.9 inches in June, to 15.5 inches in July. Despite the increase, we received more sun, and no fog. There were two dry spells: six-days early in the month, and 10-days toward the end. The first dry spell was accompanied by moderate northeast trade winds. The rest of the month was calm.

The increased sun was beneficial for the tomato plants growing in the greenhouse. We now have a fairly extensive system of drainage ditches around shrubs and trees. As a result, they seem to be handling the rainy conditions much better this year.

Temperatures stayed the same as June, with the average high of 78 degrees and the low of 63. The high for the month was 82 (on July 5); the low, 60 (on July 14).

Happy gardening!