Thursday June 16th: Use What You Have
June 16, 2022
A nation of prayer warriors
June 16, 2022
The anticipation of a beautiful long weekend filled with festivities is amongst us! For some, it’s the perfect opportunity to start that do-it-yourself gardening project. It all begins on Thursday as we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
There is often a great deal of rainfall around the time of the Corpus Christi celebrations. This is a fact as we have the active start to the 2022 wet season.
Keeping with the tradition of Corpus Christi, gardeners in Trinidad and Tobago consider the day to be the best day of the year for planting, as it is believed that anything planted on this day will thrive and be fruitful. Some planters even carry their seeds to church services for blessing.
If you are planning to get that garden started, excellent crops that will peak in prices as we proceed into the wet season includes tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins. You can also get a kick start on planting your green peas and sorrel trees, because in a short five months, Christmas will be upon us.
For perfect preparation of your garden beds for these vegetables, you can create a raised garden bed. Raised garden beds drain well and help prevent erosion, give you control over the soil you use making it possible to plant intensively, and plants grown close together mature faster.
In addition, they keep weeds from taking over because the beds are elevated away from surrounding weeds and filled with disease-and weed-free soil.
To make a basic raised bed, outline the spot where you want it with string. Keep the bed between three to four feet wide so you can still reach the centre easily. Loosen the soil in the bed, flip any clumps of grass upside down in the bed, scrape soil from the pathway around the outside and add that to the bed, along with any other amendments you wish to use to raise the level of the soil.
Continue the gardening fun into Friday and Saturday leading up to Dad’s perfect gift for Sunday. The perfect plants for dad this Father’s Day are going to spruce up his garden. For a fun fruit to add to his garden, dragon fruits are the perfect match! Dragon fruit can be started either by cuttings or by seed. Starting by cuttings is the best, because they grow, and fruit faster than seedlings do. You can also purchase a plant at your plant shop.
If your dad loves ornamental plants, bromeliads are the perfect choice. Bromeliad plants provide an exotic touch to your home. Monstera plants and bonsai plants will also peak dad’s interest.
While in the garden don’t forget to trim, prune, and repot old plants. Fertilise generously and keep an eye out for those pests and diseases.
After a long weekend of gardening, I do hope you enjoy Labour Day in your beautiful gardens with brunch or dinner. I wish all fathers a Happy Father’s Day 2022. May God continue to bless you richly.
Send questions to rayannaboodram@hotmail.com
