The Garden

We have decided to start a vegetable garden - this idea grew from a simple statement made by one of our neighbors in Tradewinds.  Dion asked if anyone had any fresh Basil (all the fresh basil we knew of  belonged to neighbors on second floors -he noted it is hard to go and "borrow" some Basil on the second floor)  - he continued on to state we need a community garden.  I immediately agreed and well the idea has grown from there with great support and assistance from Hans and Kathryn.  We found a little protected corner close to our home and the work began.

this is one side of our corner garden with the beautiful tomato plants that Kathryn's friend Janet brought over from her place

we had to make do and create some tomato cages out of old broom and mop handles - but it works and the tomatos are very happy - notice the basil plant in the middle?

our first task was finding rocks around the property to line the garden with - you will see later in another post how our friend John took it a step further and made us a beautiful rock wall.  although the garden is small for now it will be a good start as we gather seeds and experiment with what will grow well here on the island.  the concern is not freezing the plants but overheating them.

the tomatos are ripening very quickly

on the other side of the path we have a banana tree

we check the bananas regularly to see how they are coming along

i also took some time to take pics of the beautiful flowers in Hans and Kathryn's garden

the flowers had a drop of water from a recent watering

we have also been closely watching this bird of paradise bloom - it only happens once every 2 years

another favorite

delicate

we are surrounded by beautiful gardens in our community Tradewinds and excited for our vegetable garden to grow.  it is a small and slow start but will grow over time.  we have some seeds we are going to start in some small pots and we will go from there.  Mike just completed his final exams of semester 2 - this means we will be on break until the begining of May.  We are very excited for the arrival of Grammy and Boompa (Mikes parents) on Thursay.  They will be here for a week and we are looking forward to showing them around the island.  Michael we are very proud of you and all your hard work.  You are getting there - before you know it we will be headed to England.  We love you and congrats.