Growing in uncertain times

on APRIL 7, 2020


One of the reasons we moved to Pescadero was the abundance of fresh produce available year-round. We are lucky enough to have a verdant view of the farm fields below which grow produce primarily for the U.S., but also local organic produce. Right now, the fields adjacent to our neighborhood are filled with poblano peppers and herbs. I even heard that one of the fields is growing eggplants! I’m looking forward to the poblano harvest when we can nab all the discarded peppers. This year, I’m hoping to process and can a bunch of them to help make pozole and chili verde even easier.

It is probably unlikely that our access to fresh produce will get interrupted, more likely that the produce will stay here and provide a surplus as the supply chains get interrupted. However, since we’re home and not traveling anyway, Switch and I made the decision to put in a garden this year. We chose the front yard, for easier accessibility and protection from the wild rabbits (las libieras) that bound through the desert looking for tasty treats. Working mostly in the morning before the sun got too burn-y, we started by pick-axing a plot about 3 x 9 meters and 1/2 a meter deep. Hard work, but good exercise!


tiny but mighty garden

Luckily the soil here is surprisingly fertile. I say “surprisingly” because most of it is disintegrated granite with a healthy amount of rocks and some clay mixed in. To give it a little boost, we removed most of the rocks and added some compost. In about a week, it was ready for planting. Not too bad!


ghost pepper – a gift from our neighbor

one of our volunteer tomatoes

I started a few things inside (cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers), but planted the rest from seeds. If all goes well, we’ll start harvesting the following in a couple months:


smuggled seeds (shh… don’t tell the government!)

It has only been about 5 days from planting, but the choy, carrots, radishes, kale, chard, cucumbers, beans, peas and tomatoes are already popping up!


chinese choy babies

Until we start harvesting, we found a great CSA delivery – Baja Farm Fresh – that gives us a 10 kilo (20 lb.) box of beautiful organic produce for 400 pesos (about 20 bucks). That lasts us a good two weeks. Our last box had a crazy bounty – tricolor beans, mixed greens, romaine, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, oranges, zucchini, brussels, cauliflower, cilantro, onions, russian kale, arugula, daikon radish, etc. We just send them a request in Messenger and meet them at the gas station in town at a specified time. Easy.

Mexico (the entire country) is now in lockdown. I recently saw some pictures of downtown Cabo with completely empty streets and shuttered businesses. All construction has ceased. It is incredibly quiet out there except for the noisy woodpeckers and the sound of the waves that we can’t visit due to the beach closures.

Even though Mexico seems to be faring better (https://coronavirus.bcs.gob.mx/english/) and our town is small and remote, we are taking it seriously. For about three weeks, we have been sheltering in place except for a few adventures to get food. So far, we are healthy, but also nervously watching the news and fearing for all of our loved ones in the US and Europe. Stay safe everyone! We’ll be looking forward to come visit you and give you a big unprotected bear hug when we get on the other side of this. Sending our love to all of you.


keepin’ it ridiculous – love you all!