The tomatoes, grown in her 'grow box', were beautiful and bountiful.
So were the patchoi, a kind of Asian greens similar to the bok choy. It's great fresh from the garden, sauted in some oil with garlic and a dash of salt and pepper, or mixed with other vegetables.
These flowers are from the pigeon peas trees. The peas have been picked and eaten, and the last of the trees were consigned to the fire weeks ago. We picked bushels of those things.
She also has bananas, two kinds of mangoes, five kinds of peppers, plantains, a tiny breadfruit tree, a dwarf golden apple, a young avocado tree, a plum tree, ochroes (okra), coconuts, dasheen and eddoes (root vegetables), and lots of herbs: parsley, basil, celery, rosemary, mint, thyme, chive, chadon bene (Mexican cilantro) and oregano. She's got ginger, too, and sorrel. Also pineapples that have never borne fruit, thus far.
The cabbages have been eaten, and she's about to plant another set. We tease her about her affinity for the soil, but we're actually proud of her produce when it reaches the kitchen - healthful, organically grown food with no toxic compounds. And as I've mentioned before, things grow in this valley with an almost frightening zeal.
9 comments:
You're evil, Liane! When we came to the tropics, I rubbed my hands with glee, thinking of all the lovely vegetables I could grow. Well, there's not much space in a rented apartment...although we do have a couple of tomato plants growing in our bathroom!
Seeds are difficult to get here without going through mail-order. I'm waiting till we buy a house. Until then, I'll just look at your mother's garden with envy. Happy eating!
Hee, hee. Tomatoes in the bathroom??!! That's the kind of thing my mother would try if she had no yard!
How wonderful this is. Makes me want to start my own garden again next spring. Think you could send your mom up to consult?
I'm sure she'd be glad to! :) She's happiest when she's fooling around in dirt. I'm actually trying to get her to set up a gardening blog. As it is she spends hours on the National Home Gardening Club site - when I can get her to sit at the computer, that is, which isn't often.
Beautiful garden. :)
Mine got overrun with weeds, as usual.
Your mom is so lucky!
I miss my parent's garden with all their fruit trees. Someday I would like to have a real garden.
Looks wonderful. Growing things in Dubai is a bit trickier but in Cornwall that's another story :-)
This makes me miss my grandma and her garden veggies. She canned her extra tomatoes -- there will never be better red sauce than that which was made with the contents of grandmas jars.
Jason, I'm passing these compliments on to my mom. She'll be tickled.
nyc/caribbean, I look forward to the day when I too have my own garden.
Liz, I just Googled Dubai and I get your point. Growing plants in the desert would be quite a challenge. But Cornwall...
Kim, I totally agree. Food grown by my mother is just so much better than the bought variety.
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