It has been raining all week. Rainy days are great. The sound drowns out the noise of the world and it makes the air smells clean. Rainy days are peaceful and soothing. Hawaii rain is warm. It is comfortable to just stand there in it. Sometimes it is just a fine mist that you can barely see. Something about the rain comforts me. I love it.
Today the sun is back and everything is green, lush and beautiful. If you turn your back for a few days the jungle takes over the yard. The ground is still wet but I had to mow.
The cucumber plants have made some serious progress in the last couple weeks. Hopefully soon we will have some to eat. The last time I planted these they were delicious. After a few weeks of steady cucumbers to pick and eat the plants died. I am not sure what happened. I have a couple theories so I am trying again to see what happens. The lettuce is also making some good progress. It took me some time to learn how to grown a garden in the desert. That was challenging, but I figured it out. I thought it would be a piece of cake here in paradise. I was mistaken.
The island climate is a challenge to the traditional garden. I used to wonder why people had plants in pots all around their houses. Why not just put them in the dirt? I think I might understand a little now. The dirt is full of things that like to eat plants. The pots are a shield from the creatures that like to eat the yummy things. The pots also help with drainage. It is wet here and mold is a problem. The potting soil is also easier to grow in than the red dirt we have here in Ewa Beach. The red dirt has too much iron and some plants don't like that very much.
Spring flowers are my favorite - tulips, daffodils, lilacs. These flowers don't grow in Hawaii. The climate is all wrong for them. I really love tulips. Simple, sleek, elegant - Bright vibrant colors -Tall and strong. I miss the tulips. Tulips have almost no smell, but the smell of blooming lilacs is so distinct and powerful that even the memory of it evokes memories - my grandmother's house in South Dakota , picking them in an empty lot in St. Louis, our one spring at the Church in Louviers. I only have to remember the smell and I am there.
Today the sun is back and everything is green, lush and beautiful. If you turn your back for a few days the jungle takes over the yard. The ground is still wet but I had to mow.
The cucumber plants have made some serious progress in the last couple weeks. Hopefully soon we will have some to eat. The last time I planted these they were delicious. After a few weeks of steady cucumbers to pick and eat the plants died. I am not sure what happened. I have a couple theories so I am trying again to see what happens. The lettuce is also making some good progress. It took me some time to learn how to grown a garden in the desert. That was challenging, but I figured it out. I thought it would be a piece of cake here in paradise. I was mistaken.
The island climate is a challenge to the traditional garden. I used to wonder why people had plants in pots all around their houses. Why not just put them in the dirt? I think I might understand a little now. The dirt is full of things that like to eat plants. The pots are a shield from the creatures that like to eat the yummy things. The pots also help with drainage. It is wet here and mold is a problem. The potting soil is also easier to grow in than the red dirt we have here in Ewa Beach. The red dirt has too much iron and some plants don't like that very much.
Spring flowers are my favorite - tulips, daffodils, lilacs. These flowers don't grow in Hawaii. The climate is all wrong for them. I really love tulips. Simple, sleek, elegant - Bright vibrant colors -Tall and strong. I miss the tulips. Tulips have almost no smell, but the smell of blooming lilacs is so distinct and powerful that even the memory of it evokes memories - my grandmother's house in South Dakota , picking them in an empty lot in St. Louis, our one spring at the Church in Louviers. I only have to remember the smell and I am there.
Everything I've ever planted died before it lived. I'd like to give up - I don't really enjoy gardening, it's just not my thing. But Alana just seems to love it, so for her sake I keep trying. I'd love to try one of your cucumbers!
ReplyDeleteWell, gardening is odd here, so don't give up. Seeds always seem to sprout, but something disasterous tends to happen before anything humanly edible appears.
ReplyDeleteThe birds ate quite a few of my tomatos - just as they were perfect to pick. As soon as we have cucumbers to pick you and Alana should come over and pick some.
I love the rain too. It always makes me want a good book and soothes me. I love falling asleep too it. Did that a lot as a child.
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