Saturday Stuff

It’s been a busy day, and one of those that holds the promise of good things to come - books collected, bulbs and seeds bought. I like days like this, because they exist beyond just the 24 hours. I know that I’ll get to plant the stuff I bought another day, and enjoy them come springtime. And the book will keep me busy for a while too, and help prolong the day. It’s like having your birthday over a weekend - you get to stretch out the fun. And books and plants are just about the funnest things I can think of.

This morning, I went to the post office to collect another BookMooch book. This one came from Kalamazoo (yes, really) in the States. It’s Mark Salzman’s “True Notebooks - A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall”, and I’ve been looking for a copy of this book four about 3 years, ever since I read about it in Nick Hornby’s “Polysyllabic Spree”. It’s about Salzman’s experience as a writing teacher at juvenile hall in Los Angeles, and even though I’m only a couple of pages in, I’m already really enjoying it. He writes with real humanity - he’s not sentimental about or patronising towards these kids (all of whom have done really nasty stuff) but he’s truly moved by their writing right from the get go. I can already tell I’m going to like this one.

Today was also a bulb and seed buying day. Autumn is here, no question, and we had a really wet and cold spell a few weeks ago, so I think it’s a good time to get some bulbs in, even it’s a bit early the soil should be cool enough. I got some Ornitholgalum, which I’ve never grown before. Some of them have already started sprouting in the bag, so I’m confident it’s time to get them in the ground.

I also got some Ranunculas, which I absolutely love. They were the first bulbs I ever grew, and I just love how bright and unabashed they are. If I get them in this week, they should start to flower in July/August, which will make for some nice splashes of colour in the brown-brown-boring Johannesburg winter garden.

To be honest, we’ve always actually had quite a bright winter garden - we’re lucky here in Joburg - even at it’s coldest, there is enough afternoon sun for flowers to bloom, and as long as the frost isn’t too bad, things look quite good. Of course, the grass it brown and stained by dog piss, but the poppies, californian poppies and Namaqualand Daisies usually make up for that. To this end, I got some more poppy seeds and Namaq seeds too. We’ve got last years Shirley poppy seeds saved up, so I’m hoping for a nice red/orange/pink mix.

These should all go into the ground on Tuesday, when Mr Khumalo comes, and as soon as they start to show some progress, I’ll upload some pics. Hopefully by then the camera should be back too - it got left in Cape Town a few weeks back, hence the scans…