Monday, November 26, 2007

Gardens, Critters & Compost


We knew St. Lucia was beautiful, but the more we see of the Island the more we appreciate it’s exotic treasures. We did a bit of touring over the past week. Some of it was close to home, some at the other end of the Island. Even though St. Lucia is only 27 miles long, and 14 miles wide, because of all the twisty turns through the mountains, it takes at least an hour and a half to get to the southern end of the Island. Some of the roads are in great shape but on some sections you have to be prepared for missing pavement and pot holes. Luckily, at 35 to 45 miles per hour, it isn’t too bad. I got my first view of the Pitons this week. A photo of the Pitons, in this case towering over the city of Soufriere, is the image most often used to promote the Island. It’s also the image Norm chose for our blog. And because of the Pitons, there are a lot of high end resorts and other tourist sites in the area.

One of the places we visited was a tropical garden near Soufriere, one of several throughout St. Lucia. This one features the Diamond Falls which you may recall seeing in a scene from the movie “Romancing the Stone”. The water is heated by the volcano higher up the mountain. The volcano also accounts for the copper colour in the water. There are mineral baths on the property in which Josephine, Napolean’s wife, apparently bathed as a young girl.
But it’s not just the beautiful flowers and trees that got Norm’s attention. He got to check out a Tropical Garden compost. It is comprised of several three sided bins with an opening at the front, very similar to what he built at home with pallets. The big difference here is that they compost things like cocoa beans and coconut shells. We don’t see much of that in Dieppe. Good thing they didn’t have a shovel nearby. Norm wouldn’t have been able to control himself.



Last week, I went on a field trip with the grade 7 and 8 students from Norm’s school. In exchange for a bit of chaperoning I got to see some of the local sites. We visited yet another Tropical Garden. This one is about 5 minutes from home. It’s a 4 acre property that was purchased a few years ago by an English couple. Not only do they tend to all of the gardens, they also take in dogs that have been abandoned or abused. (Sorry Mom and Dad…more dogs). They have 15 of them and they let several of them roam free during tours, as long as the visitors are comfortable with dogs. You’ll notice the one lying on the ground while the owner, Nick, talks to the students.




We got to see a lot of the trees that bear the fruits Norm has been discovering, including guava, star fruit and soursop. I learned that the coconut tree is called the Tree of Life, because you can live off coconuts for a long time. And check out this incredible caterpillar. It was munching off a vine that was growing on an arbour. I didn’t catch the name but at 4 inches long, it was quite impressive.





The main house on the property is at least 200 years old. It’s a stone house with tall ceilings lined with large wooden beams. The dining room has no less than five doors which open onto a little yard. I thought it made a neat photo. The committee that set up the private school where Norm is teaching apparently investigated the possibility of buying the property when they were creating the school but it was too expensive. Too bad! It would have been a great location. Norm could have gardened during his breaks.



I’m also glad to report that our pool is finally done. We started swimming in it as it was filling with water. It took about 15 hours to fill. And our cucumber plants are in bloom. Life is good.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Norm and Denise
Just read your writeup...very interesting.
Glad you're enjoying your vacation and that your pool is finally up and running.
Your Mom checks the blogs often and she pretty good at finding them.
You'll be home in a few weeks I guess and Norm can check his compost and bring back a small shovel when you go back to St Lucia...You might get a part time job.
Things a pretty good here. We went to another potluck Monday and Dec. 12th we're having our Christmas supper in the hall.
I've been sending emails but they are always returned saying your mail box is over quota so I guess with your internet problem, I won't send anymore.
Well getting late and I'll say goodnight.
Love you both
Mom and Dad