I’ve got a green thumb!

I’ve got a green thumb! Well, not really. Here in Angaur we are far from the capitol city and so all imported foods (read: fruits & vegetables) are very hard to come by. So, I’ve expressed interest to my host mother that I wanted to start a garden. I’ve dropped enough hints to her and those in her circle of my desires that finally one day she found me some seeds, planters, and designated a part of our yard that I could use to grow.

The first step was the seeds. As of now, I’ve got 300 seedlings started. Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, snap beans, cucumber, squash, watermelon, okra, and a few other vegetables are soon going to be on my dinner plate. They are all growing decently, and should be ready for transplant soon. The part of the yard designated for my project is said to have “good soil”. Cortez and I worked to clear the land. We cleared it completely, which is no easy task. There were trees we chopped down that were at least as old as me, stumps that we had to dig out, tons of root-rich ground cover, a bunch of crabs, beetles, ants hills, and remnants of WWII (nothing interesting, just rusty scrap metal)- and everything had to go. After a gnarly sunburn (we cleared the trees providing shade before clearing the undergrowth- poor planning on my part) and nearly suffering heat stroke, we finished. I’m pretty proud of myself. I’ve got blisters on both hands from the digging, chopping, and swinging of the machete.

I’ll let you all know as soon as I can how good the veggies taste.

Before

After