On yer marks

The arrival of Spring is a onestepforward onestepback process. The days are slowly getting warmer, but the winds are strill and bitter. I have trimmed, repotted, fertilised and weeded. All is ready. The African Violet on the sill beside my computer is a joy in waiting.


The avocado and the fig are filled with Thomas' 'green fuse'. Remember when the avocado was but a sluice of slime in a bottle?

And the olive trees are being their usual mediterranean selves: promising much, flaunting their fertility, but wisely producing much more than they need 'just in case'. Let's hope they all thrive during my absence in La Republique.

Another additon to my orchard

This Shepard Avocado was so delicious that I googled how to grow avocado in my climate and figuring I could manage that (I figure I can manage most things, so long as I change the rules!), I set about striking the seed. I found me a coffee jar, broke a bamboo stick in half, and using two pointy ends, set up a cradle across the lip of the jar so that the seed just sat in the water. I guess that was about the beginning of March.


I took it out of the water when I returned from down south, to be greeted by this long root covered in slime.Figuring that to be for the good, I stuck it in a good friable soil, watered it, and proceded to sit back and watch it grow.

So, now I have an avocado, a fig, a lemon, a lime, two olive trees, and herbs (basil, oregano, parsley and mint).

Goodo ...