Growing Your Own Rocket

Nothing beats freshly picked rocket in a salad or on a sandwich !

I love rocket but we can’t get it here easily, so I have tried to grow my own – with little success – until just recently, that is.

I started out planting the seed directly into vegetable beds – but just as soon as the leaves popped up, they would get devoured by birds. I then asked the gardeners to fashion a makeshift tunnel out of old shade cloth to cover the bed of rocket and protect it from the birds, but the rocket was then devoured by insects.

I don’t use insecticides/sprays in the garden & thought that it would kind of defeat the object of eating fresh, tasty rocket leaves if they had been doused in some poisonous chemical first !

I then decided to plant the rocket in a container in a sheltered part of the garden – and it was eaten by insects again ! Justin then suggested that we re plant the container but that this time we hide it deep within one of the flower beds, with lots of foliage covering it. So we did, it was missed by both the birds and insects - and the photo above is the result !

I’ve now moved the container onto our veranda where I can keep a beady eye on it, and I’m happy to say that we’ve been eating & enjoying fresh rocket almost every day since.

Rocket has a spicy, peppery taste and is best eaten when young, so I like to pick the smaller/younger leaves – the bigger/older leaves tend to be hotter (though still very tasty) The more you pick it, the more it will grow – so it’s a win-win situation. Rocket is fast growing (& I’ve only ever grown it from seed before) & I think is ideal as a small crop, planted 3 to 4 weeks apart so that you always have a steady supply of it.

I’ve had the most success with mine when planted in full sun, and when the soil is kept moist. It germinates within 7 to 14 days and you can harvest it within 90 to 120 days but I must say, mine has always been ready to harvest within 60 days (but it may also be due to the variety you use, climate etc). The suggested planting depth is 4 mm.

Rocket is rich in iron and vitamins and apparently also has natural diuretic properties, as well as being used to soothe stomach upsets.

I think that rocket is best eaten raw, although you can steam it lightly and eat it as you would spinach (it’s not as peppery once steamed). It can also be sautéed quickly in olive oil and then tossed with pasta or risotto’s (I add roughly chopped raw rocket leaves to pasta and it tastes delicious !) We most often use it in salads and on sandwiches. It tastes great on a cheese & tomato sandwich, with cream cheese and with cucumber, too.

I’d love to hear from anyone who grows their own rocket, or who enjoys eating it as much as I do. What do you do with your rocket, and have you got any interesting recipes to share ?

Our Banana Plantation ....

We've been having some really hot weather lately, and are in need of some more rain to cool things down a little. No matter how hot it gets though, our small banana plantation (situated in the back of our garden) is always a cool and shady place to be. I call these banana 'trees' but of course they are not trees at all, but rather plants - they are classified as herb plants, infact !

It is estimated that approximately 452 000 hectares of land in Tanzania is covered by bananas and they are largely grown as cash crops, providing not only a source of food but also a source of income to the families who grow them. Bananas (which are called "Ndizi" in the local Kiswahili language) are a year round fruit which makes them a viable crop to grow as you do not have to wait for certain seasons in order to harvest the fruit.


Bananas are one of the most important carbohydrate sources for Tanzanians. Savoury or plantain bananas (known locally as "Ndizi Mshali") are widely used here and are commonly added to meat stews and soups - in the same way as you would add potatoes.

The banana plants can grow to 8 metres in height, with leaves reaching up to 3 1/2 metres in length. My office window looks out onto our plantation of around 30 tall banana plants - as my computer is positioned at a desk against the window, I can see them every day whilst I am blogging ! We also have another 30 or so plants running along the side boundary of our garden.

I eat bananas every day and use them often in the kitchen. You can see all the banana recipes I've published so far on the blog by typing "banana" into the search box in the top left corner. For an authentic Tanzanian banana recipe inspired by Mbise (one of the greatest African chef's I've ever had the pleasure of working with), you can click this link "Tanzanian Tangawizi Bananas".

My Garden At Dusk ............

I've written about it on the blog before ..... how much I love this time of the day - infact, dusk is my absolute favourite time of the day (and I'll certainly take it over early mornings anyday !) ....
When the shadows begin to lengthen, and the sun starts slipping down the sky .... the nocturnal insects begin their chirping and Africa's hot, baked earth begins to cool .....
These are a few photo's taken at dusk earlier this week - from the bottom of our garden, overlooking some of the farm fields. (The photo above was taken from underneath the old fig tree at the very bottom of our garden.)

In a few month's time - when the dust in the air is just right for filtering the fading light .... when the sun is setting almost directly in front of our house ...... when the pink and lavender and lilac hues swirl around the sun as she sinks fast into the horizon, I'll be able to share some lovely sunset photo's with you. So keep an eye out for those !

Herbs In My Garden .....

I'm busy replanting herbs in my garden at the moment. Fresh herbs are very difficult to buy here, so I have always grown my own. All start off in pots, then I transplant them into my garden amongst the flowers and shrubs - I don't have a set herb garden area as such, as I prefer to have them growing in and amongst other things. Above is a photo of my parsely, which as you can see is looking a little tired ! I use parsely in salads, salad dressings and fish dishes.

Here, above, is a thyme bush which has been growing for around 2 years now. It's getting a bit scraggly and woody so I am replanting thyme seeds now. I love adding fresh thyme to carrots, stews and roast vegetables.

I recently planted this purple basil (above) into a pot, and it's doing quite well. I love adding basil to salads and italian dishes - it's great when added to pasta sauces, too !

My unruly rosemary bush is pictured above - this is the only herb which was already growing in the garden when we moved to the farm just over 4 years ago. (You can read an old post I wrote last year about it over here). I love stuffing a roast chicken with fresh sprigs of rosemary & halved lemons before cooking, and also add rosemary to roast vegetables quite a lot. (We don't eat lamb - neither my husband nor I like the taste of it - but I know that rosemary goes beautifully with it).

A black and yellow beetle perched on a sprig of flowering rosemary. I often add flowering rosemary to my indoor flower arrangements.

Nothing beats fresh herbs when it comes to cooking and when given the choice, I'll choose fresh over dried anyday !

Flowers In Bloom ....

Some flowers blooming in my garden at the moment ..... though not for long as in a mere four months or so, an African winter will be upon us ..... a purple centred white daisy (above) with a friendly beetle in it's centre ..... (I cannot identify what type of beetle it is, though).

I planted these last year (below) from seeds brought back from South Africa ...this is Linseed (Flaxseed) and the variety is called "Purple Dress" ... I love it's delicate yet hardy purple flower and have left it growing wild & untamed underneath a shady tree .... We have 2 different kinds/shades of hibsicus in our garden as you can see below .... you can see my recipe for hibiscus flower syrup over here. I made this last year for the first time, & it was delicious !
Here's another paler pink coloured hibiscus, which flowers just near my daughter's sandpit ...... Did you know that hibiscus only bloom for a day or two ?

Here's one of my Hydrangea below .... I only have this colour in my garden & almost always have a single flower floating in a wide, flat glass vase on a low wooden display table in our guest bathroom .... it's just so pretty !

Geranium flowers through the thick bouganvilla which covers the front of our veranda ... there are always a couple in bloom, looking out of place against the backdrop of the bouganvilla leaves .....

Mini white daisies .... I sometimes like to pick bunches of these & place them in small glass vases around the house ..... they're so dainty looking.

Bouganvilla below ... we have so much of it everywhere - growing over the house & in garden beds ... even in the tiniest, dustiest, driest Tanzanian villages you will find bouganvilla flourishing .....

We have both yellow and orange lilies in the garden. Did you know that lilies are very poisonous to cats ? (I learnt this recently on FreeKibble !) Azaleas (not pictured) are very poisonous to dogs .....

I'm not a 'fundi' gardener by any means, some of these flowers may go by different or 'proper' names in other parts of the world, so all gardening fundi's out there - please give me your feedback if you think I've made any mistakes, or have any interesting info to add ;)

An Early Evening Walk Around My Garden ....

The sun will be going down in an hour or so & this is my favourite time of the day .... when the sun begins to set, the night insects start to come out (moths, praying mantis, flying ants, crickets, beetles - all depending on what time of the year it is) and the small nocturnal animals (like bush babies, owls and nightjars) can be heard in our garden.
The photo above shows the far left portion of our house, which is the 'kitchen part' of the house. The window you see is one of two which my main work surface & kitchen sinks run along - so I have a great view when I am working in there ! (You can have a quick tour of my kitchen over here.)

I love this ornamental ginger, it grows in a huge colourful bush in a corner of the garden near my daughter's play area (swing, jungle gym, sandpit etc). (You can read a previous post I wrote on this beautiful plant over here).


This is where our washing line is (can you just make it out ?) - to the left of the photo (not visible) is a wonderful view of Mt. Kilimanjaro and the trees which you can see include several fruit trees (including oranges, banana, passion fruit) and a single pecan nut tree in the foreground. (If you'd like to read a post I wrote a year ago about the fruit trees we have, you can read it over here.)

This is part of the view from our main bedroom window and veranda (our main bedroom has it's own private veranda with a door leading out of the room on to it - great for early morning tea !) ... you can see the wooden fence where the bottom of the garden ends, and farm fields begin.

Well the sun is about to go down so I'll leave you now .... it's a busy time for me as it's bath, supper and then story time and bed time for my daughter, and my husband is due home from his day's work on the farm soon aswell ..... enjoy your evening, & I'll see you back here again tomorrow ;)

A New Year's Walk Through My Garden ...

Our garden is looking very green at the moment (lots of rainfall before Christmas) and a little tangled and overgrown (our gardeners have been off a lot over the Christmas holidays). I look at my garden - which is around 3 acres in size - & often think that I really should make more of an effort with it, but to be honest I am not really a gardening person - it is enjoyable to garden, but not something I'm keen to do on a regular basis. (Not like cooking and baking, which I just couldn't live without doing at least daily !) Anyway, here my garden is as it looks today - warts and all - for you to enjoy ! The photo above is a view of our house taken from our fruit orchard area .... you can just make it out between all the foilage !

A few days before New Year, a large Kite suddenly started visiting our garden for water. He's been here every day since, & I wonder why he has suddenly appeared and hope that it isn't because the tree he lives in has been chopped down somewhere. At first glance, we thought he was a large bird of prey & my husband said to me "Watch out for the cats - especially the smaller ones" as birds of prey can carry cats off in their talons ! You can see him sitting above, perched on our bird bath.

My lifeline to the outside world - our internet satellite dish. No one dare touch it incase it's set off balance & I lose contact ! I once caught Hemmed happily washing it with a bucket of hot soapy water "STOP !" I shouted and he thought "Oh no, Mama's in one of those moods again !" It's as slow as dial-up *sigh* and we go online, offline, online, offline a hundred times a day. But I'll take it over no connection at all anyday !

Delicious Monsters (the cats love hiding under these !) - we had them growing in abundance in our garden in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and they grow really well here in East Africa, too. They bear an edible fruit which when ripe taste like a cross between a pineapple & a banana. Or so I'm told (I have no desire to try it !) They are most commonly potted as house plants, but these ones grow "wild" and the leaves are huge.

I'm trying to introduce some more colour into my garden, and am also going to be planting a whole batch of new herbs for the new year, so I'll post more about these in the future.

I hope you enjoyed the quick walk through my garden. Now would you like to join me on to the veranda for a nice cuppa tea ?

A Summer's Walk Through My Garden ....

It's Summer time here in Tanzania - long, hot, Summer days .... crickets chirping in the grass & butterflies flitting from flower to flower as small sunbirds land on taller ones closer to the veranda. The agapanthus are in full bloom (above) .... there are hardly any white agapanthus this year - all are a gorgeous deep lilac colour ... a whole sea of them, gently bobbing and weaving in the cool Summer breeze ....

A row of icy white Amaryllis - with deep cerise veins running through their petals - form a row at the bottom of the garden, standing out against the deep green colour of the hedge behind them ....

And all our Jacaranda tree's are in bloom ! Their small, velvety lilac flowers drop daily, forming a thick, soft purple carpet on the lawn. I warn my daugther to put her shoes on when she goes outside, as many bees hide - silently - in the fallen flowers. A family of bush babies live in this tree - they are very active at night and just recently I have woken in the early hours of the morning to the soft "Twoo Twoo" of an owl in this tree, too.

It's a lovely time of the year - especially since Christmas is just around the corner. Just think - in one month's time it will be Christmas Eve. Where has this year gone to ?

My Spring Garden

Winter is behind us & Spring is here .... my garden is a little greener than it was. Our farmhouse sits prettily, nestled in the shade of the Gum and Jacaranda trees, wrapped in a coat of bouganvillia that slowy bears her fuschia blooms .....
A lone lavender lupin stands guard ... one of only a few seeds to have germinated. I've learnt now, that they don't grow well in Kilimanjaro's soil - but this one, somehow, has ... and towers like a lonely soldier standing guard ....
Like a brightly coloured feather duster, or an exotic hand held fan ... this bouganvillia sits proudly on the front lawn, showing off her new (& rather brightly coloured) Spring hairstyle of velvety soft flowers ....

"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden." ~Ruth Stout

My Winter Garden ....

As you can see in the photo above, my garden is looking rather dry & brown at the moment - a real African 'winter' garden. The big fig tree at the bottom of our garden is losing it's leaves, too. Even the blue African sky is now a wishy washy white colour ....

In some parts of the garden, it is still a little bit green. But only just. I feel extravagant - wasteful - switching the sprinklers on as I watch women carrying buckets of water on their heads on the horizon ... drinking water for their families. And here I, the 'mzungu', waste water in my garden as drinking water for - flowers ! So I guilty switch them on at night, sometimes. Just to keep the flowerbeds around the house looking lush.

When I got back from South Africa, most of my vegetable garden had gone to seed. I told the staff to take what they needed whilst I was away, but they have no need for things like rocket (below). No matter. I will dry the seed and use it for my next planting. (The crudely made wooden frame had shadecloth over it at one stage, to protect the young seedlings from birds).

The only thing I have left in my veggie patch at the moment is red lettuce. Quite a lot for a family of 3 - as you can see. So it's salads every day for us - for a while at least. It's not as though you can freeze lettuce ! In the safari camps, when supplies were VERY scarce, we could not waste a thing so used to make lettuce soup *ugh* I never really got used to it though. So you won't be seeing any recipes for lettuce soup coming up soon .....

Winter is my favourite season .... but I must admit, I'm looking forward to Spring .... which is usually at the beginning of September. If we're lucky. I mean, you can't really count on anything happening on time in Africa. There's never any hurry. Not even when the seasons change. So I'll let you know - for sure - when Spring has definitely sprung in the foothills of Kilimanjaro.

The Nasturtiums Are Taking Over !

Help ! The Nasturtiums have invaded & are taking over !

In April this year, I found some tiny Nasturtium seedlings growing ‘wild’ in our garden which I carefully transplanted into a new flower bed. (You can read about that fun day of gardening I had here.) As a novice gardener, I did not know at the time that Nasturtiums can pretty much spread like wildfire – a bit like weeds ! I was amazed when I returned from South Africa last weekend, to find that they had taken over almost a quarter of the flower bed I planted them into …. I only transplanted a few, but they seemed to have trebled in number as soon as I’d turned my back !

I have since learnt that they can be quite a pesky garden plant if not properly controlled. They self seed and return year after year, and they do spread like wild fire – and quickly, too ! (I’ve even found stray seedlings growing in my lawn !) It has been recommended that I remove them (or at least, thin them out) before they flower again, so that they have no chance to self seed again. (Else my Nasturtium ‘patch’ will rival the size of my husband’s wheat crop this year – ha ha !)

I only have yellow and orange Nasturtiums, but I believe that they can be found in a variety of other colours such as rose, cream, salmon, scarlet and crimson. They grow in either direct or indirect sunlight (I have found that mine here grow best in full sun).

Nasturtiums originate from South & Central America and are an edible plant. Both the leaves and the flowers can be eaten and have a peppery taste similar to watercress.

When the seeds are dried and ground they can be used as a pepper substitute (as they were in some parts of the world after World War II) and the unripe seed pods can be pickled in vinegar as they are a good substitute for capers. I used to think that the caper came from the Nasturtium but have since learned that the caper actually comes from the pickled bud or berry like fruit of the spiny Caper Plant, which is a shrub native to the Mediterranean.

I have never cooked with Nasturtiums, but the flowers and leaves can be added to salads, soups and stir-fries as well as to flavour vinegars. They apparently taste great when finely chopped and mixed into dressings or added to butter, and you can even stuff the flowers with something like a cream cheese based filling and eat them whole *gulp* look out for some Nasturtium recipes coming up on the blog soon.

Or … maybe not ?!

Orange Skinned Lemons

A close-up of the unusual lemons which have orange coloured skins

The tree which they grow on had previously been knocked down by elephants & is growing at an odd angle

I recently wrote about a lovely walk which we took in the Tanzanian bush several Sunday’s ago. This unusual lemon tree was something which we saw on the walk that day. At first I thought that it was an orange tree, but our friend who was with us at the time told us that it was, in fact a Lemon tree with orange coloured fruit !

Of course I had to take a closer look and as you can see by the fruit which I am holding in my hand in the picture above, it looks exactly like a lemon aside from the bright orange coloured skin. On breaking the fruit open, it looks exactly like a lemon inside (colour/size/texture), and tastes like one too …. quite bizarre !

When I got home I tried to read up on it and research it a bit, but I could not find much out there. They don’t seem to ‘exist’ ? The only thing I can think, is that it is a hybrid of some sort, created by crossing a lemon and an orange. The area we were walking in was wild African bush but it used to be local farm land, and there were fruit trees there before (although I’m not sure exactly which types).

I should also point out that the tree is growing in a lopsided fashion like that because it had been knocked over my elephants ! It has continued to grow though, and is situated in quite a marshy/wet area.

If anyone can shed any light on this unusual orange skinned lemon, I’d be most grateful. Do they grow in your part of the world, or have you ever seen or heard of anything like it before ?

How Does My Garden Grow ?

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 !

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 …..

A Day of Food, Fun and .... Gardening !

These are just some of the herb seeds we sowed in to old yogurt trays

I’ve had a really productive day today. I spent the morning in my kitchen and thankfully the rain held off so I was able to work in the garden in the afternoon.

My day started with baking a batch of bread rolls for the weekend. I then went on to make a special recipe of my sister’s which I will be posting about soon, and a great salad which we had for lunch – yum !

After lunch I went out in to the garden with my daughter and the dogs (a few of the cats were nosing around, too). I love my Saturday and Sunday afternoon’s when all the house and garden staff are off duty, because this means that I can potter to my heart’s content without being watched !

I started by planting some rocket, thyme, sweet basil and sacred basil into seed trays. (Or should I say - recycled yogurt pot holder trays and empty plastic margarine tubs !) I then got stuck in to my well established pots of herbs (Basil, Thyme and Coriander) and weeded them out, snipped off the seeds and tidied them up.

While I was doing this, I noticed several Nasturtium seedlings which were about 10 cm tall and were growing in a lawn the gardener’s had recently planted for me (I’ve just had them grass over a huge flower bed that ran the length of our veranda and made it difficult to access the lawn without having to walk around it all the time). So, I decided to transplant them in to another flower bed to fill a gap between the Hydrangeas and Agapanthus.

I also planted some Thyme seeds directly into one of my flower beds, underneath a large shrub as I have heard that Thyme makes a lovely border plant and the established thyme which I already have, looks pretty hardy and bushy so I am going to give it a try ….

My daughter had great fun “helping” and digging for earth worms, which she collected in a small container. “Mummy” she said to me at one stage (I was busy digging and had my back to her) “I’ve just kissed an earth worm !” I spun around and said to her “No ! You mustn’t put them near your mouth !” and she just looked completely unfazed and said “Why not ?” (Kids, ‘eh ?!)

After my busy day I must admit that I’m now feeling pretty tired and my husband and I are just about to go and crash on the couch and watch one of the DVD’s we brought back from our recent holiday in the UK. Saturday night is “movie night” in our house, after our daughter goes to bed – we buy recently released DVD’s as and when we travel, and then we ‘ration’ them out so that we always have new movies to look forward to on a Saturday night !

So it’s goodnight from me, until tomorrow then …..

Lilies and Lazy Weekends

Lilies in my garden ....

These are just one of the varieties of lilies which I have growing in my garden. I have them dotted all over the garden - they seem to prefer growing in the shade, though.

I was not sure what type they were so I had to email a photograph to my Mum (who’s an avid gardener - unlike her novice daughter on the other side of the Continent !). We think they may be some kind of Oriental lily, but are not 100% sure ? They are very large, very beautiful flowers and I try to avoid picking them for indoor arrangements if I can, because they just look so lovely outside. Also, they don’t seem to last very long once cut.

We (my daughter and I) are looking forward to a quiet weekend ahead. My husband is very busy with his planting programme so will be working for most of the weekend (poor him !) and I am hoping for some sunny weather so that I can do a bit of gardening.

I will also be posting a simple and delicious homemade Vanilla Ice Cream recipe sometime over the weekend – so watch this space !

A Garden Update ...

The gardeners thought that they would surprise me by building a wooden enclosure for the seedling bags. It was a surprise, alright !

I just wanted to post a quick garden update. The flower and vegetable seedlings which we planted a few weeks ago are coming along well. Most of them have germinated and some are doing particularly well (like the Alyssum, Hollyhock and some of the lettuce varieties).

The gardener’s thought that they were being very efficient and organized and decided to build a small wooden enclosure (pictured above) so that all the seedling bags would be kept safe and out of harms way (from galloping dogs and inquisitive toddlers – although they didn’t say this in so many words !). It was meant to be a “surprise for Mama” and they were very pleased to show me what they’d done earlier this week.

The only problem being, that some of the seedlings require more water and sun than others and the reason why I colour coded and labeled them all in the first place, was to make it easier for the gardeners to know which ones needed sun/shade/lots of water/limited water. Now they are all lumped together in one spot, and as none of the seedling bags are sealed underneath they are very tricky to move. Some of the sticks have also fallen out of the bags and been mixed up or lost completely – so much for my careful planning and labeling – I despair !

Anyway, they were so proud of their little seedling enclosure thingy that I didn’t have the heart to tell them to take half the seedlings out, but thanked them very much for all their hard work instead (!!)

I think I will be transplanting and thinning some of the seedlings out within the next week or two, so will keep you updated …..

Ornamental Ginger

The brilliant red flowers of the Ornamental Ginger make a stunning addition to flower arrangements

I had never seen Ornamental Ginger until I came to Tanzania. I first saw it in a friend’s garden and at first glance, mistook it for banana trees – she had it growing as a thick boundary hedge, and the two plants do look quite similar - especially the leaves.

I have a single plant growing in a corner of my garden here on the farm. It is a lush, tropical looking plant with the most brilliant red flowers (pictured). Sometimes I pick a single flower and put it in a vase (you can see a photo of one here) they are stunning when mixed in to flower arrangements, too. (Although they are a little heavy and can topple the vase over if it is not a sturdy one !)

This ginger is not edible (as far as I know) and although some species are native to Australia, I believe that it originates from Asia.

If anyone knows of this Ornamental Ginger or has it growing in their garden, I’d love to learn more about it.

My Vegetable Seeds Have All Been Planted ...

Justin posing in the newly planted vegetable seed beds

I have been busy with Justin and two of our gardeners (Nelson and Hemmed) this past week planting the remainder of the flower seeds, and some vegetable seeds, which I brought back from South Africa with me.

In addition to the flower seeds we planted last week, we have now also planted -:

Lupin (“Giant King” Variety)
Alyssum (“Violet Queen” Variety)
Phlox (Drummondi)
Linum (Blue Dress)
Bellis Perennis (Monstrosa Mix)
Verbena (Mammoth Mix)

We can buy most vegetables easily in the local markets here, and as we have a problem with birds eating our vegetables in the farm garden I do not ever really grow many myself - except for vegetable varieties which cannot be bought easily here as very few people grow them. (These include different lettuce varieties and almost all herbs.)

As I already have Basil, Coriander (Cilantro), Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary and Mint growing in the garden (or in pots), yesterday I planted the following herb and vegetable seeds -:

Lettuce (3 varieties – “Great Lakes”, “All Year Round” & “Veneza Roxa”)
Spinach (Monstrous Viroflay)
Rocket (2 varieties – “Eruca Sativa” & “Sweet Salad Rocket”)
Mixed Herbs (which included – by the look of the picture on the packet - Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Sage, Fennel, Coriander/Cilantro, Basil and Chives)

The flower seeds have been planted in to bags and the vegetable seeds have been planted directly in to beds. Once they have all germinated and grown a little, we will thin them out.

Each morning it is really exciting to walk up to the “veggie patch” and see what has germinated overnight ! So far the Linum and the Hollyhock have started to germinate. I think I may just have to post a weekly “Gardening” update with photo’s so that you can see how my garden grows ….

My Flower Seedling "Nursery"

We managed to plant 5 different flower varieties this afternoon

I’m not a gardener. I have very little experience with growing things other than vegetables and herbs. But as my interest in the garden grows, and as I went to a couple of really great “Garden Centres” when I was in South Africa recently, I have become quite inspired to try and grow some flowers, especially new ones which you cannot find in Tanzania easily – if at all.

So, I came back home armed with (amongst other things !) packets and packets of flower seeds and little marker sticks. I asked Nelson, one of our gardeners, to please fill about a 100 or so plastic planting bags with good, rich soil for me and this afternoon Nelson, Hemmed (our other gardener) and Justin helped me to plant the first “batch” of seeds (with a little help from my daughter and one of our dogs, Dibble – who you have yet to meet !).

The gardeners were quite amused at my scribblings on the coloured sticks. Seeing as they can’t read English (and some of them can’t read at all) I thought that the coloured markers would be easy for them to understand e.g. “Hemmed, the bags with the yellow sticks in them don’t need a lot of water, but the bags with the pink sticks do, okay ?” My instructions were met with amused nods all round and I bet they are going to get them all mixed up in no time, so I will have to keep a beady eye on things.

Anyway, today we planted 5 different types of seeds (with many more to follow over the next couple of days), which were -:

Hollyhock (“Chater’s Double Mixed” variety)
Bellis Perennis (Double Daisy)
Snapdragon (“Magic Carpet” variety)
Pansy (“Cape of Storms” variety)
Primula Malacoides (Mixed)

Our little ‘nursery’ is set up under the trees at the back of the garden, and I hope that all the seeds germinate and then we will be able to transplant the seedlings into flower beds in the main garden.

So watch this space, as I’ll be doing regular garden updates !