I was pleasantly surprised when I followed a link from my other blog and ended up at Plants in The Middle East! Another gardening blog from Bahrain. Brilliant.

I’m looking forward to read more of his techniques and experiments and judging by what has been posted so far, it is very promising indeed.

Well done Abdullatif!

Got Banana?, originally uploaded by malyousif.

My banana tree is bearing fruit! Just got back from Morocco to this scene, I am very excited and can’t wait to sample its wares!

This long weekend has been pure gardening pleasure so far. On Thursday, I mowed the lawn and strimmed all the edges too. That took most of the day at the end of which I was happily tired. Needless to say that sleep last night came fast and deep!

After a good night’s sleep, I woke up at 5am raring to go. I intended to trim the climbers so I thought to visit Manazil to buy an electric hedge trimmer, unfortunately they didn’t have them. I’ll go to Almahroos tomorrow to see if I can get one.

Next on the list is buying enough summer annuals to fill the empty borders; I got 80 gazanias, 60 portulacas and about 100 other regular stuff that I can’t remember the names off (will be corrected tomorrow!) as well as four 50L bags of compost, those went into the borders first as I mixed the compost in to air and rejuvenate the soil.

I planted the various annuals in 4 areas; gazanias went into the “tear-drop” and the small area by the small pond at the back; portulacas went in the front path borders. I punctuated the borders with rosemary and crutons in clumps, I hope the arrangement will work.

By the time I was done just after lunch I was absolutely bushed, again! I showered, had lunch and dozed off at the sofa. My wife and son decided that I might be better off in bed, I didn’t complain too much! Off to a siesta I went - a thing I hadn’t done in years - and had a good 3 hours exhausted sleep. Even though I woke at 7pm, I’m still sleepy and it’s only a couple of hours later!

Anyway, I’ve got a nice task-list for tomorrow and hope that I get through it fine. My regular gardener is on holiday at the moment and his replacement was useless. I had to fire him. Regardless, there is work to be done and as I only have the weekend to actually do things in the garden now, I am thankful for this long weekend to accomplish as much as I could in it.

I hope that you had a wonderful gardening time too. Let me know what you’re planting, particularly if you are in Bahrain, and maybe we can share ideas.

I received an exciting announcement this morning which was the inauguration of a Farmer’s Market in Bahrain for the first time. It is very much hoped that this event will become a regular seasonal market with facilities that will promote local and seasonal produce and will support small scale growers and producers in Bahrain.

The organisers bill this event as:

A great day out for the whole family.

Lots of fresh local produce as well as handicrafts, entertainment for the kids and a tasty Bahraini-style BBQ lunch. It doesn’t get better than this!

Don’t miss out on this fantastic event. Enjoy a chance to reconnect with the land and the produce of the season.

Entrance fees will be charged at BD3 for adults, 1.5 for children but free for those who are under 2 years old.

It’s going to take place on Saturday the 12th of April, 2008, next to Jassim Agriculture (this is the “old” Jassim’s) between 10am through to 5pm.

If you are interested in having a stall for fresh produce or local and hand-made items (such as bakery items, preserves, chutneys or handicrafts) or sponsoring a needy person who produces such items, please fill in the contact form and I shall be happy to forward it to the organisers. Please include your contact details.

It promises to be fresh, fun, local and friendly!

The particulars;

• 1.5 x 1 meter stalls are rented per day and will contain a table and 2 chairs for BD 60
• Vendors keep all their sales and profits
• All proceed from rentals and admission fees will go towards the organizers of this event.

I’ve just received an email from the Garden Club informing me that my garden won the first place in the New Garden category! This is fantastic news and a fantastic start to the day!

Yipppeeeee…