My garden has a lot of green, but needs more colour. The bed in the foreground is an old fish/duck pond which I had filled in ... too risky with a young child around ! You can see a row of banana trees just beyond the 'pond' It’s finally stopped raining ! We’ve had a few lovely, sunny days this week and I have been able to spend some time working in the garden at last, which I’ve really enjoyed !
I can’t believe I just typed that ! I should let you in on a little secret - I never used to enjoy gardening or exercise (I especially detested the latter !). Lately, I enjoy both. Isn’t that odd ? Must be because I’m getting older – ha !
I can’t believe I just typed that ! I should let you in on a little secret - I never used to enjoy gardening or exercise (I especially detested the latter !). Lately, I enjoy both. Isn’t that odd ? Must be because I’m getting older – ha !
Anyway, back to the gardening. Almost all the seeds which I planted in March (you can read about that here) have germinated and were at the stage this week where they were ready for transplanting. The gardeners - who can’t read or speak any English - could not be left to transplant the carefully labeled seedlings on their own, so I had to oversee it.
I would go up to the seedling “nursery” and show them which seedlings to put into the wheelbarrow. Then I would escort them down to the specific area in the garden where that particular seedling was to be planted and show them the photo on the original seed packet e.g. “Do you see this picture here ? This is what this flower will look like when it blooms” (lots of head nodding and “safi sana’s” – very nice’s – all round). Then I would say “And it likes LOTS of sun and not very much water” … there would be more nodding, and Hemmed, my one very animated gardener would clap his hands and point to the sky “Lot’s of sun” he would say, smiling and pointing upwards, nodding his head again. Then he would point to the hosepipe and shake his head “Not much water. No no”. “Yes, that’s right !” I would say, before we would traipse back up to the seedling nursery to load the next wheelbarrow.
Of course this is all very well in theory, but leave the gardeners to their own devices and I can guarantee you that within days all the seedlings will be dead because they’ve mixed up which ones should be getting a LOT of water, and which ones shouldn’t *sigh* I can’t explain it, that’s just how it is here sometimes.
Anyway, I positioned the seedlings in their little black plastic bags in the spots where I wanted them (taller flowers at the back of the bed, shorter ones in front etc) and then the gardeners simply had to dig the holes, put them in and water them.
We were being watched most of the time by labourers working in the bean fields above the house and must have provided them with some great entertainment because they stared at us for ages …. Hemmed pushing the wheelbarrow with Lillian (the lady gardener) next to him, with Justin and I leading the way and my daughter trailing behind in her hot pink gumboots. Then behind her were Dibble and Tessa, who always follow us around when we’re gardening – and there I was, holding empty seed packets above my head and pointing to the sky and nodding furiously whilst Hemmed clapped and pointed upwards with me !
So, the seedlings are all in the flowerbeds now and of course (Murphy’s law) just when some rain would be most welcome, we’ve had none for days so everything has to be watered daily by hand, and we put the sprinklers on at night. Because if they are on during the day/late afternoon, my daughter runs through them until she is soaked to the bone and full of wet, red mud. (Not fun or ‘cute’ anymore, once it becomes a twice daily occurrence !)
So, I will take some photo’s as the seedlings grow and flower to show you how they’re all doing – hopefully the packets are all correct when they say “90-120 days to bloom”. But I won’t hold my breath. Because this IS Africa and things rarely happen when they should here, and also because maybe - just maybe -Hemmed will get the entire watering system mixed up and we’ll lose the lot. Until then, I’m holding my breath and crossing my fingers …..
I would go up to the seedling “nursery” and show them which seedlings to put into the wheelbarrow. Then I would escort them down to the specific area in the garden where that particular seedling was to be planted and show them the photo on the original seed packet e.g. “Do you see this picture here ? This is what this flower will look like when it blooms” (lots of head nodding and “safi sana’s” – very nice’s – all round). Then I would say “And it likes LOTS of sun and not very much water” … there would be more nodding, and Hemmed, my one very animated gardener would clap his hands and point to the sky “Lot’s of sun” he would say, smiling and pointing upwards, nodding his head again. Then he would point to the hosepipe and shake his head “Not much water. No no”. “Yes, that’s right !” I would say, before we would traipse back up to the seedling nursery to load the next wheelbarrow.
Of course this is all very well in theory, but leave the gardeners to their own devices and I can guarantee you that within days all the seedlings will be dead because they’ve mixed up which ones should be getting a LOT of water, and which ones shouldn’t *sigh* I can’t explain it, that’s just how it is here sometimes.
Anyway, I positioned the seedlings in their little black plastic bags in the spots where I wanted them (taller flowers at the back of the bed, shorter ones in front etc) and then the gardeners simply had to dig the holes, put them in and water them.
We were being watched most of the time by labourers working in the bean fields above the house and must have provided them with some great entertainment because they stared at us for ages …. Hemmed pushing the wheelbarrow with Lillian (the lady gardener) next to him, with Justin and I leading the way and my daughter trailing behind in her hot pink gumboots. Then behind her were Dibble and Tessa, who always follow us around when we’re gardening – and there I was, holding empty seed packets above my head and pointing to the sky and nodding furiously whilst Hemmed clapped and pointed upwards with me !
So, the seedlings are all in the flowerbeds now and of course (Murphy’s law) just when some rain would be most welcome, we’ve had none for days so everything has to be watered daily by hand, and we put the sprinklers on at night. Because if they are on during the day/late afternoon, my daughter runs through them until she is soaked to the bone and full of wet, red mud. (Not fun or ‘cute’ anymore, once it becomes a twice daily occurrence !)
So, I will take some photo’s as the seedlings grow and flower to show you how they’re all doing – hopefully the packets are all correct when they say “90-120 days to bloom”. But I won’t hold my breath. Because this IS Africa and things rarely happen when they should here, and also because maybe - just maybe -Hemmed will get the entire watering system mixed up and we’ll lose the lot. Until then, I’m holding my breath and crossing my fingers …..
