3 new Neem trees on Pinal Villa Plaza

These are two of the 3 new Neem trees I've been planting on the plaza.  My Neem had about 10 babies this spring and I put them all in buckets.   3 neighbors have them in their yards and I still have three more ready to plant.   Someone even cut the grass yesterday and with all the rain we've been having it looking real nice.

The store owner on the corner wants to cut down the only tree there because it split in a wind storm but it's the only shade around.   Hopefully in 6 months these will be shade trees.   Mine that is about 2 years old is over 20 feet.

Keeping the pool clean in this heat

A few weeks ago the water temp went through the roof and started turning green. That's the first time in over 4 months. I gave it a good hit of Shock and surprisingly it was clear the next day. Now I just give a hit of Cloro out of the bottle every morning and it's doing fine even with big crowds.

I gave up doing the chemical testing for PH and CL. It just didn't seem to be doing anything for my knowledge or helping the pool. I will get some more Shock but adding acid in any form was just a waste of time and money. I stopped by the local pool store to see what could be done for vacuuming and the kid that works there gave me the best tip. Just get about 4 meters of 3/4 or 1" hose, get it siphoning and suck out the stuff on the bottom. Good excuse for me to get into the pool.   Every time you vacuum the level goes down so a chance for some fresh water. 

Cleaning up the yard

I had a section of grass that seemed unable to recover mostly due to traffic and a dog that excavates to cool off so this is what we came up with. The problem with bricking it all is water drainage from the shed roof above so I decided on that gravel strip. If that area wasn't dirt it was mud and both getting tracked everywhere. This is going to be so much better.

For a long time I've talked about filling in the door in my front wall that was originally designed as a second entrance to the other lot. The lots won't ever be separated so it's only a window for my dog to bark at kids passing in the street. It wasn't very attractive and the metal requires upkeep. I ordered way too many bricks for the patio so Hugo said why not use them for the door. And he needed the work.

New patio with shed roof above

No dirt showing now

Hugo filling in the door

Mostly about garden

Except for a little impermeabilizante (roof sealer) around the edges, it's mostly taking care of the garden. Learning what works, what things are, what the bugs like to ruin, what stops the bugs and what plants do during different seasons.

As you can barely see I have a new pineapple. The plant is about a year old and I bought one, cut the top off and planted it. Wasn't sure it would do well in partial shade but it looks healthy.

Tomatoes are everywhere. My cherry tomato is huge, tired around the edges, turning brown but still cranking out lots of tomatoes every day. It probably will be finished in about a week. The Mexican or Italian tomatoes are popping up all over my compost pile. The largest has 5 big green ones.

The neem tree had a bunch of babies from it's dropped seeds and just waiting until they get big enough to transplant. Neighbor and I are thinking on one side of the jardin/playfield but there's no water there right now. If not, I'll look further.

The corn is only an experiment. I had no luck with some sweet corn seeds I brought down from Seattle .. so a neighbor gave me a couple ears of dry Mexican corn and that's what you see below. The only problem has been either my cat or the neighbors chickens like to get into them.

New pineapple

Volunteer tomatoes

Tomatoes in the compost pile

The largest new Neem

Corn experiment

Impermeabilizante on the Ramada

I'm about 3/4's finished with the Impermeabilizante on this roof that was letting a little water through. I was surprised with the angle that water didn't just run off but cement is porous and a thin wash of Impermeabilizante wasn't working. This time I'm putting down a fiberglass cloth with Impermeabilizante below and above it. There are two grades of the cloth - thin and thicker. I'm not sure how much thicker but it's probably what you want to use if putting down large pieces. The thin stuff I'm using is hard to control and impossible with a breeze. I'm forced to cut 1 foot sections off the 1 meter roll and lay them down with a paint brush. I start in the morning before the wind starts and before the sun is too hot.

The rest of the time I'm working in the garden which has suddenly awakened in this winter weather. A dozen or so baby Neem trees below their parent, tomatoes sprouting out of the compost pile, lime trees are in bloom and the Avocado tree has come to life after doing nothing for almost a year. Gardens are a good thing.

Impermeabilizante on the Ramada

Roll of the fiberglass cloth

Avocado tree finally coming to life