WATERING AND WEEDING AS AN ART FORM

The hard part of the Bucare Garden is that everybody needs to be dedicated. Every plant has different needs, also different garden setups needed different types of maintenance and attention. Suzie liked the square foot garden method and boxes were the first to be built and set up in the back of the Bucare property. I learned a lot from it. It is a great method but is meant to be intelligently and methodically planned and is meant for people who need to be efficient in a small space. More than one tomato plant or basil per box was enough. If they weren't planned for and vertically supported and trimmed they would ruin the yield of a raised bed by casting the rest of the box in shade. Watering was easy and simple and that is good.
We learned the hard way with the first planting. The garden became lush with huge tomatoes and varieties of Basil and the massive and beautiful Mexican sunflowers. But the smaller plants suffered.
Suzie has a tendency toward impatience at times. She wants to plant right away and would do so and forego the part where you would sit down and figure out what box should be planted with what. I have more of an industrial or farmer style. I like nice long rows and profuse yields. I like using space and I love verticals. I also like a certain order to planting and like to keep like produce together and not spread apart among several boxes. What can you do. She is so enthusiastic and loves the garden and loves to plant, who doesn't? She also loves to be profuse with flowers. I agree the garden should bee enticingly beautiful! My only pet peeve (Ok I have a few more than that!) is people forgetting what they planted.
Patience and loving the moment has to be practiced in the garden I've found.
With watering, each plant has to be paid attention too as plants need watering for a number of reasons. They also don't like or want the same amount of water. It is hard to get people to relax and enjoy the experience as they get bored and generally water incompletely and that is detrimental in a hot climate like Puerto Rico. I found watering time an exquisite meditation and a great time to commune with the plants. It's easy to forget to pay attention to the plant to see how it is coming along, what bugs might be pestering it etc.
Weeding also takes a subtle eye as there is always a variety of new sprouts coming up at one time. It takes attention and mindfulness. One has to become acquainted with the local plant life over time. I have seen people walk down a row and yank all the fresh little baby sprouts out of the top of a row. Very disheartening.