I'm so sorry about your plants. At least the dahlias survived. I asked if we had any Ethiopian students in the department. Unfortunately, we don't. I thought if there were just one, I could ask him/her to write down in Amharic what you want to tell the gardners. Perhaps the cuttings will provide non-verbally the communication you need. :) Love you.
clearly a need to learn more Latin Salve Lump,
Ya know a "picture is worth a thousand words...." You could really stand to learn the Botanical names of all these plants and then show these "savages" the errors of their ways: not "weeding them out", accepting you as their garden client. That being said: If you were to draw a garden plan and show the place of each of these plants in the plan it may jump the language hurdle. I also liked Hank's mom's comments but be careful with manure. It is very high in Nitrogen and it will burn plants if it is not composted well (explain THAT one to Tomas). I've read estimates of up to a year to kill any weed seeds and to fully compost manure. I'm sure there are varying estimates on line, maybe you have some extra time to investigate such a quandary. Who knows, maybe there is an overly helpful Peace Corps volunteer in the area with just such expertise.
Hakuna Mattata -Ed
plant propagation Colin-
I'm not sure, but it looks like the larger vine with the trumpet-shaped flower in the upper right of "front porch biology" is Mandevilla. It should do well in full/part sun. Dare I wonder what would happen if the guard(eners) had motorized tools? Good luck preserving the biodiversity of your yard!!
Hilarious! Traveling to Ethiopia in the next 12months and stumbled upon your blog. Just a quick note to say I found this latest entry laugh out loud funny. Keep it up!
a little gardening information from St. Joe I love your blogs forwarded to me by your generous father. As one who attempts to garden in pots in the unpredictable Missouri weather, I thought I would at least name a couple of the plants in your photos for you in case no one else has. The beautiful "survivor" flower appears to be a dahlia, some of which have blooms that can grow to be dinner plate size. They are also found in an array of colors back here. I am making the assumption that fertilizer in the form of cow manure wouldn't be too hard to come by in a 3rd world country but it may be hard to communicate to your gardeners the reason that you want them to find cow manure in order to grow the larger blooms. The "something picked and stuck in the ground" appears to be an aloe vera plant which is known for it's medicinal relief to skins issues such as burns or itching. It should grow fine in the unfriendly soil that you described there and requires very little water. Please stop by and see us the next time you make it back to Missouri. The Burks children continue to amuse us frequently with their antics. Those same antics do not often amuse their parents as much. Dan's giant boy, Niklas, is 10 years old and 5'3" and weighs 115-120. He was chosen to be on the All-Star football team in Pulaski County to play in the Show-Me-State games in Columbia this summer so I got to go watch that. He was pretty much the tallest on the team and dwarfed many of the other players. Valerie's tiny son, Christian, that you held at our house 9 years ago is now an Honor Roll student in the 4th grade at Coleman and her daughter is in kindergarten. Veronica is a mini drama queen just like her mother so Valerie is getting paid back for all of her childhood drama. Grandchildren provide all of the excitement and joy that I need in my life so it is pretty boring compared to yours. Sandy
Priceless Terrific. Of course the gardener thought he was digging up weed!!!!! When do you get to plant your kindergarten project. Have the reaper do it and then he will know that those are not weeds!!!!!!! lol
You get what you pay for Don't forget, the blue donkey is the most economical way of travel only if you don't get pick-pocketed. It is also, as the name suggests, only slightly faster than walking.
After reading it today I wonder if you are missing Transantiago! Sounds like a limo compare to your blue donkey.
Congratulations! I have enjoyed reading it very much and also have learnt some Ethopian history
Regards
yeah, but be honest, you miss Santiago Right? Nah, I bet you don't, and even if you do a little, you can be happy that you're missing the latest H1N1 craze that appears to be taking over :) Thanks for the great post and I hope your birthday is exactly how you want it to be!
whoever Abebe is is probably Ethiopian and is correct, Addis is safe and the people are extremely friendly, but there is no getting around the fact that the city is not easy on the eyes.
" Addis, or to be fair, the little of it that I have seen, is ugly as hell." Wow..Perhaps a little unkind words to one of the safest capitals in the world and a home to 3 million friendly people.
Addis a Bobo Great landing story, Thanks!
I laughed a lot and learned a ton of things. In particular, I understood that you'll go take a walk on the 30th of the 12th at 5.00 on Bobo Bole with a corkscrew on your head, but maybe it was in 1997.
The end of the rainy season will probably bring the colors back?
Bobo is a lucky duck to eat some.
7 days When your celebrate your birthday you can act like an idiot and regret it all, because you have another chance to celebrate your birthday 7 days later. What I'm sayin' is that Ethiopia gives every one a second chance.
Interesting first impressions Oh, my. It 's hard to know what to say! The contrast between vibrant, colorful Santiago and this is quite stunning. And poor Bobo. I hope you find him some Purina or something else suitable soon. If not, we'll send a care package! The front yard looks like stone. Is there a back yard with grass?
Love, Mom
Travels w/ mo mo. Glad to see you arrived safe. Travels w/ Bobo sounds like an interesting story. Maybe he should write it. It could be called "Travels with Mo Mo." I'm sure you'll make it to visit the scrolls from the nag hammadi library soon, as any good fan of Christianity, or P.K. Dick, must.
Try to steer clear of the pirates, and if you fail or feel threatened remember to squint your eye and say "Argh, It's drivin' me nuts"
Best,
JPB
Karen
non-member comment
Great
This is a terrific photo, one worthy of framing.