My Tropical Vegetable Garden
I’m almost at the end of my second week in Maningrida – and it’s flown by surprisingly quickly. This week at work went just as fast as last week – no sooner had it started than it was over. I’m starting to get a feel for the job now – to kind of see the outline of it, like you might see a person coming towards you in pitch darkness.
And i’ve made a start on a vegetable garden at home. Over the last week i’ve planted a few seeds in a couple of bodgily improvised seed trays (made from takeaway containers). Some of those were seeds i bought at Rapid Creek market on the Sunday morning before i flew into Maningrida. But i discovered the Outdoor Centre – a camping and tool shop here – also sells packets of Eden seeds. They’re a lot cheaper than the ones i bought in Darwin, too – weirdly. So i bought a few packets there as well.
So far, i’ve got kang kong (which will happily grow on a bare rock, or in a swamp! Well, i’m exaggerating about the rock, but you know…), Ceylon spinach, snake bean, goat horn chilli, tropical tomato, pea eggplant, winged bean, jap pumpkin, and pak choy (an asian green leafy thing). I planted some of them last Sunday, i think, and the kang kong has come up already, along with a couple of the snake beans.
So far, i’ve dug two smallish beds, out in the back yard and i’ve transplanted the kang kong and the two beans that have come up. I’ve also planted some of the other seeds that i hadn’t already planted in the trays.
Today i went and dug up a couple of banana suckers from a small patch of bananas outside a council property, and i also picked a length of sweet potato vine. I dug holes and planted the bananas and i cut the sweet potato vine up and planted each leaf node separately in one of the beds. Warren, a mechanic, who lives next door, and who’s a keen gardener himself, gave me a few little taro plants and a basil plant, which i’ve also put in.
So the garden’s starting to take shape. There’s lot of other things i want to get – including papaya, cassava, ginger, turmeric, galangal, bush basil, bitter melon, lemon grass, and i don’t know what else – but probably a lot more than that!
It’s really nice to have a garden again and i’m looking forward to cutting down my first bunch of bananas!
Leave a Comment
To prevent spam, the first time you post a comment on this blog, it will be held for approval. After that, as long as you use the same name and email address, your comments will appear straight away.