miércoles, 27 de agosto de 2008

Mi garden and me

For the first time our law school closed for a week and I had an unplanned vacation to stay home. It was mid July and quite hot in this western city of Puerto Rico, but being outdoors was what my soul required ... so I found a new hobby: gardening. It wasn't totally new to me, but definetely at a new level, more ambitious and with real usefulness, based on the fluctuations of today's world economy. It was still fun, and here some pictures to prove it:


<--Yautía - a root vegetable that takes a whole year to give fruit. They resemble a long potato, but the taste is very different. It's a healthy side dish that can be served mashed with oil and garlic and can also be used to prepare "pasteles", one of our typical christmas dishes. I continue to plant some more in the back, so we can enjoy them for several months next year...


Hopefully there wont be any huricanes or bad storms messing with them.









A couple of visitors made my work more enjoyable:

<--- San Pedrito de Puerto Rico - a small insect eater that protects the coffee trees - his top part is all green, making it hard to see in the trees, his song sounds like a kiss blown in the air, and his nest is a little cave he digs in the side of the hills. --> Lizard - keeps the flies away and is a temptation for Kiwi, my cat.











--> Not easy to keep the yard clean... it's all Adam and Eve's fault....


---> and Nicolas' fault too !!




<-- A blooming farmer; I think my grandfather would be proud of me.. I really enjoy this!! -->


















<-- Tito prepares the soil for planting okra.. which is a vegetable that we love to eat. We usually cook it together with some meat and accompany with white rice.

--> okra seed - it took less than a week for the first little leaves to come up.. that was exciting!






<--Another wonderful visitor: a stick bug... first time I see one "in person".. we were very careful not to harm him. --> We put him on this 'yautía' leave where he stayed a long time, for us to enjoy his company.












<-- Don't ask me... must be the sun and the hard work!!



--> OMG... Nicolas too... this is bad!!






<-- Always wanted to plant some flowers... hopefully they'll keep blooming and I will try a few more.


--> This is how big the okra plants are growing in August... we hope to have a good harvest soon... of "molondrones" or "quimbombó" which are a couple of our names for okra.

Datos personales

Mi foto
I was born once in my dear city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where I now live once more, after living 18 years in the state of Massachusetts where I was born again.