By John Warrington
I often think that with a climate like ours you could almost live forever. I wish it were so. As far as plants are concerned you can almost hear new roots being produced. I made a note in my journal several years ago that I had been driving down Norton Street towards Camp Street in the early morning and came across a very fine plant of pure white morning glory. Later on I stopped on my way back and enquired of the owner whether I might get a small cutting. The lady of the house sent out a small lad armed with a cutlass and instructions to hack off as much as I wanted. In no time at all I was loaded down with cutting material. Such generosity. I have always found it to be the case that the thicker the cuttings are, the better they root. It was true in this case anyway. The two cuttings I finally selected were slightly over half an inch in diameter, and I cut them to about seven or eight inches long. They were inserted in fairly ordinary garden soil. And just two weeks after they were put in they were showing very encouraging signs of life. Shoots were sprouting on them which is always a good sign. Of course it is a very foolish gardener that takes this as a sign that roots have been formed, but at least it was a start, and a good start.
That week had been spent potting up Norfolk Island pines and Traveller’s trees – all splendid plants and big enough to go straight into three-and-a-half inch pots. They were established in about ten days. The Norfolk pines have become well established as Christmas trees in Guyana. In Barbados they spend enormous amounts of money getting in the spruce trees for Christmas trees which come without roots. After a short time and just a few days after Christmas they were dropping their needles. Norfolk pines do no such thing, and if they are grown for the first few years of their lives in pots they are almost as good as the real thing.
Dare I say it? The rains are easing off and this is the time when a young man’s fancy naturally turns to thoughts about his uneven lawn, made so by gardeners and grass-cutter boys walking on it when it is too wet. If you have an uneven lawn it means that it is cut unevenly. The right way to correct this is to top dress it with sieved soil (please not sand alone which will clog up your drainage). This is put onto the lawn by the bucketful and then raked evenly over the surface. The depressions are filled in as the rake draws the soil over the surface, and if it is done properly and carefully you will end up with a perfectly level surface in no time at all, for the grass will grow through quickly. Inverting the rake will help to create a perfectly even surface.
A few weeks ago I received Thompson and Morgans Seed Catalogue and a worried note saying I was leaving it a bit late to order. Now there’s initiative for you. Chase up the old customers, send them glorious pictures and they will buy something, as I have done. A microwaveable mini-pumpkin. Who ever heard of such a thing? It looks great and good enough to eat, and in time it will be. All you do is to slice off the top, scoop out the seeds replace the top and cook for 4 minutes or so, and eat the flesh. It’s about the size of a ten-ounce cricket ball, which should make it a winner here. The writer also says that if you keep the top you could then use the left over pumpkin as a kind of soup tureen, or for stuffing with rice and vegetables, using the top as a lid. Maybe a bit far fetched. Anyway here goes.
It is important that you enjoy your gardening and that you take care of yourself and your family, and may your God go with you.
