Africanaussie

I had been bemoaning the fact that the grocery stores had a very limited choice of dried beans, and then walked into the expensive local health food store and saw their variety!   Wow!  Black beans, azuki beans - I was in heaven, but at 5.00 for  a little bag I didn't think buying those beans would be something I would be doing very often.  Then I started thinking about the climate that black beans grew in - well, if they can grow in Mexico - why not here? After making a batch of my yummy  black bean and corn soup   into the garden went a handful of my health food store beans, and they have all come up!  Now I am not sure if they are growing in the right season, but they sure do look healthy, I am so glad that I saved some seeds back.  How exciting - I might be able to grow my own black beans here!  then I tried with some azuki beans - same thing, yeah! Then I started doing a bit of research on chia seeds.  Amazingly these little seeds have more omega 3 than salmon.   Well I can

This is supposed to be the best time of the year for growing vegetables, or shall I say for growing  the more "normal" type of vegetables.  Lettuces, tomatoes, snow peas and bok choy.  I interspersed lots of flowers in amongst the veggies thinking that they might attract beneficial insects, but I cant really say that has worked very well.  Some things really got so chewed up there was nothing left of them.  The bok choy especially. I see Malay Kadazan harvesting lovely leafy greens that she says have been attacked by caterpillars - gosh mine are down to stalks, no leaf left......  leafy lettuces have been ok though and I have kept up with demand by continual planting every couple of weeks.  Radishes are supposed to be harvested in four weeks, but I am sure it is months since I planted them and now we are slowly seeing a few that are big enough to harvest.  Certainly not enough to trade them for chocolate the way Ali at Mud pie did!  The daikon next to them have not even sta