Hi everyone!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE WARM WELCOME!!!
Please excuse the delay in my reply - it's school holidays here, so we took our 3 sons and went 'snow hunting'... didn't find any though!
It all melted before we got there unfortunately.
...so I still haven't ever seen snow! There are areas in SA that habitually gets snow in winter, but this year there's been more spots closer to Cape Town than usual - maybe next time... I can't wait to experience snow!
I'm surprised I'm the (possibly) first South African on board - typical... Capetonians, in general, are just too laid back - they need to be led to the water... then you need to tell them you can do more with the water than just surf in it
! I'll have to introduce a few more of us to the site!
Oh yes... Ina! If you have family in Pretoria (otherwise known locally as Jacaranda City), if you ever go visit them again - do yourself a favour and go visit Margaret Roberts 'farm'. I recently went onto her site, and it's a 'bit boring' and definitely not indicative of what actually happens there, but she's this really cool lady who's been bringing in plants from all over the world and introducing S.Africans to different ways of gardening. Her books are really great, and really informative... she's written books on everything from herbs to companion gardening! Definitely worth a visit if you're ever this side of the world again!
Hey Millie, where in SA is your hubby from? Is the 'FIL' you mentioned your hubby? If he's into orchids, then he should know about the 'vanilla dilemma' I spied on previous forums. I read somewhere (in one of our local gardening journals), that the inport/export of vanilla is somehow tied in with all the orchid gardening clubs - that should be interesting. I meant to enquire when I read it... but never got around to it... and now I don't know which mag I read it in!!!
And Robin... do you get different kinds of gooseberries? I've always been under the impression that they come from SA, but I've read on the other forums, that they're being grown all over the world - is it the same kind, or do you get varieties?
Peggy Sue... Joburg is truly terrible! It's truly an 'urban jungle', and I really hope that you can possibly see another side of SA one day. I've been there once in my life... and I'll never go back again
, not if I have a choice in the matter!!!
Yes, we do have a lot of export 'stuff' happening here... but unfortunately the rest of the world gets all the good stuff. Luckily though, gardening provides a 'festival of variety'... as long as you can lay your hands on interesting seeds. Our veg - even though it seems we have a variety, is quite limited. We have one kind of potatoe, red onions are a rarity - otherwise it's just your plain old white onion... and as for shalots (?)... what are they? We get big round tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes... see what I mean? I suppose the 'unknown' always seems exotic - we do have a lot to offer... and as for variety, I guess we're getting there - the past two years I managed to find seeds for butter lettuce and rocket!!!! Awesome, we've only had access to iceberg lettuce for years and years now! Fruit.... no complaints... other than my 'berry dimma'! Thanks to everyone who's been giving me more info on the berry issue.... I'm determined to start growing different berries here!
So that's all from me for now. Thanks once again for the warm response, it's been really cool! Can't wait to meet more people and read more responses. Cheers for now!!!
PS. Thanks for the nice remark about my avatar Hedgewitch (nice name!), it's one of my more recent works.
I have been to SA twice, ages ago, as my sister lives there (in Pretoria) - her daughter lived in Cape Town last time I heard from her, but that's a few years back... And the only edible thing my sister grew in her garden was lemons! Mind you, I found it quite impressive to just pop into the garden for a lemon when you are making the dressing for your salad.
)
