digging in the red clay

Highlight of the day was definately when I finished work, I stopped by a makeshift outdoor garden store (guess you could call it that. Row after row of various tropical plants growing in old milk or garbage bags).. The young guy working there was exceptionally nice and showed me through all the plants, both of us smiling as we noticed we had a great shared passion for horticulture. I found the African Violets (my favourite plant to date) and my heart melted. I have been a long time propogator of these back home, and to find them here, brought a little piece of home back to my heart. I bought the african violet, bought an avocado seedling to plant in our front yard, and bought some tiny soil baggies to germinate my Chocolate Habanero pepper seeds in. The soil here can be extremely fertile, but also very hard and full of clay, which gives it that lovely deep reddish brown colour that spreads most of the continent. I spent a good 2 hours, sweating profusely, doing backbreaking digging in the clay to soften and break it up to make room for my eventual habanero plants.. It reconnected me to a passion I was missing since arriving. I absolutely love the fact that the weather here is pretty much perfect all year round and can support plant growth sustainably, meaning I can be a constant gardner and not have to pack everything in for winter like back home (so exciting for me. hahaha)

My friend Laura Macchione arrived from Canada yesterday, and is currently on her way over for dinner. will be nice to reconnect with old friends and share the experiences of adjustment here.. I still can't believe she is here, nor can I believe Kevin O'neill is soon to be on his way either (another friend from Humber). have a little piece of IPMP here!!!

Tis it for now!!! just really glad to be working with plants again, so thought I would share..