Still helping out at the calamansi orchard, but decided to move. Unexpectedly, ended up with a really nice house right on the Pacific side of the island. Love to be situated at the foot of Wedding Cake Mountain, on the Sasanhaya Bay. Every morning from my bedroom window I can see the sun coming up over Mt. Sabana.
Past couple months, been scoping out the best places around the house to plant veggies. Have somewhat of a gardening plan for the next six months to a year. In addition to veggies, I also have to care for 4 banana trees, 1 tangerine tree, 2 lemon trees, 1 papaya tree, 1 Bangladesh mango tree, and various flowers.
Lets take a brief inventory of the trees I've inherited, starting with the banana trees.
Both of these banana trees are for "eating" (not for "cooking").
Obviously much younger than the first two, these young banana trees almost didn't make it. Moving in two months ago I noticed two dead banana trees - watered them regurarly, and these new trees popped up.
The neighbors and I love this tree. The tangerines are all so sweet and there are so many ready to pick. Been using the tangerines for yummy sauces and juice.
My favorite tree - papaya. Not a wild/jungle papaya, this one is very sweet.
Not counting the coconut trees, this is another tree in the backyard along with the papaya tree. Some people here call it Bangladesh mango.
So far, you have seen the trees at my new house. All of them need care - prunning, watering, and harvesting. The rainy season has just begun in the Marianas, so no need to water the trees for at least until January.
Now lets look at what's been going into the ground.
Planted three hot pepper plants this week (a good friend gave them to me). Really not sure what kind of pepper plants they are - for sure, they're not cayenne. Will find out in about a month when they start producing fruit.
Planted sweet basil right below the back water faucet. Sweet basil loves to get lots of water. So, with hardly preping the soil, sprinkled the seeds around (from dead dried mature basil plants). Only three days, many basil have already sprouted. Hoping to collect loads and loads of sweet basil leaves, dry them in the sun, then crush them into powder for seasoning. Freshly picked sweet basil leaves taste great in a hot cup of tea or in pasta dishes, as well as instant noodles. In a pinch, chewing fresh basil leaves work well as a breath freshener.
Several kind friends have given me seeds, soil, plants, super good soil, and lots of useful advice - very grateful to all of them. With a little help from my friends, hoping to have a productive home garden with lots of fruit and veggies to share. Here are all the seedlings that will go into the ground in a week or two.
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| kankong (water spinach), Chinese cabbage, and Roma tomatoes |
This July 2020 marks my 5th year anniversary of living in the Marianas (3 1/2 years on Saipan and 1 1/2 years on Rota). Very thankful to God for bringing me to this beautiful place and look forward to good times with my friends and in my gardens on Rota.
Unrelated to gardening, here's the most recent moonrise, from my backyard. That's the Pacific Ocean.
Thanks for visiting this blog. Hope you enjoyed it. 😎
