It's been a while since I put anything on the blog. I'm building up my resistance to Nigerian viruses (ie being laid low by one). It's not gone yet but I wanted to show you the serious gardening tool Bakle and Tapshek brought round this morning.
It's raining more frequently now and everything is turning amazingly green amazingly quickly. The garden is a bit like a treasure trove as seeds leftover from last year are sprouting before we even plant any of our own. So far there are red beans, potatoes and occra to go with the pumpkins, bananas, papaya I'm cultivating. By the end of the week we should have planted potatoes, carrots, leek, cabbage, lettuce and peppers. My herb collection is growing with basil, thyme, rosemary, two types of parsley and chives. There's aloe vera for burns and these plants shouldn't die of frozen insides like the ones I grew in Scotland. The guava tree is coming on nicely, I have a coffee bush and moringa (neem) tree and hope to get cuttings from a mulberry soon. There's red hibiscus and the possibility of purple ones, bougainvillea of all colours, red and yellow crown of thorns plants and some pretty though nameless orange and purple shrubs. The mangoes are ripening and growing so well Fraser had to prop up a heavily laden branch and the avocadoes are coming along nicely. I'm holding out for a plantain and might succomb to a second grape vine and passion fruit - you can tell I'm enjoying the garden. You might also guess that there's a nursery nearby. I think I'm turning into my mother, looking forward to going to the nursery to get more plants (they're between 40p and £1 each) - I just need to suggest they open up a shop with coffee and cakes.
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| Bakle & Tapshek |
I haven't forgotten what I'm really in Nigeria to do. BRICC is developing, my Hausa is progressing but having a beautiful and useful garden is a real pleasure.
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