around world contact

I have a lot of contacts around the world but it would be intresting to have moore.I have too little contacts in africa and asia please contact me and from other parts of the world are also welcome.

Roger Dahlstrom

Ok Roger, I am beginning to feel sorry for you ;-), send me a mail. I am mainly into succulents and a little bit into bulbs, mainly indigenous. Nothing in the line of vegetables or other such weird stuff. What are you looking for?
maddy

Hi Maddy

You dont have to feel sorry for me I have a lot of contacts I always look for vegs especially peppers and weird stuff but its good to hear from you,please tell me a little about how you have it in south africa I dont know so much about your country and how to grow there.

Your friend Roger from a cold Sweden

Hi Maddy

You dont have to feel sorry for me I have a lot of contacts I always look for vegs especially peppers and weird stuff but its good to hear from you,please tell me a little about how you have it in south africa I dont know so much about your country and how to grow there.

Your friend Roger from a cold Sweden

Roger, jag vill inte vara brysk, men jag har märtke att du ofta skriver ordet "more" felt, moore.. FYI ;)

BTW, har du ha många kontakten från utlanden? Jag har inte skickat många brevet för många veckor, bara någon för min Finsk vänner.

Din vän, Evert från kallt Finland :]

This message was edited Tuesday, Mar 12th 3:15 PM

??????????????? :~/

Yes Evert
I have contacts everywhere some day when I have time I will sit down and wright them down and put addresses on a map.
Well friends I must tell you about our grand opening of our bakery,its a bakery for people with gluten intolerans and we had our county governor here to bake the first muffins a lot of newspaper was here and tv was also here it has been a great day.We do it to help people with this problem and we use our vegs in the bread as bread with parsley,squash,peppers and even hot peppers.Our specialtys will be muffins and pies for food and coffie.I have been thinking to make a bread in (unused) flowerpots perhaps with garlic or hot peppers.

Roger Dahlstrom

:)

Philomel, it was Swedish...

Do you really have a coeliac-bakery Roger? That's cool :) I remember when we were in Bibione, Italy on 1996 and we bought with my brother every morning bread and very good salty olive pastries from the bakery =) Anyway, it was just a normal bakery.

-----

När vi var i Bibione, Italien i året 1996, jag och min bror köpte varje morgon bröd och verkligt god & salta "olivbakelsen" från ett lokalt bakeriet...

Roger, hur är min Svenska? Jag vet inte, jag har läste den 3 år, och jag skriver den mycket mindre. :/

Sänd mig en foto av invigning ceremonien ;) heheh

Don't worry, philomel, Evert just gave Roger an english lesson, then he asked something about his contacts, then he gave a weather report... now he wants a picture of the opening - right? How is that for a foreigner, Evert? (No, I don't speak swedish at all, but if you keep it up we might learn!) ;-)

Roger, sorry I can't help with the veggies - I can of course always look at the commercial seed for you, but I have found in the past that they develop vegetable strains to do well in a specific climate. I gave up my veggie patch long ago because I grew tired of the snails and the sparrows harvesting before I got around to. Too much hassle, and very labour intensive. Also summers are generally too hot and winters too dry (here, I am in the Johannesburg area). Of course other parts of the country like the Cape are better suited for vegetable growing. I still grow some Spinach beet for my birds, but this just stands among the ornamentals, wherever there is a spare spot. But now I am slowly running out of spare spots altogether! I still do have the odd cherry tomato coming up which I let do what it wants to most of the time. The darn squash and other cucurbits always get powdery mildew, so I have given up on these, too.
I'd rather stick to my succulents, these don't mind if I don't water them regularly. They pretty much look after themselves (I am a very lazy gardener!), and furthermore they always look good, and there is always something in flower all year round!
It's getting cooler now, the European Swallows have left (yes, they actually do travel all the way to Europe from here), and I just discovered the first buds on the earlier Christmas cacti. Plectranthus and some Aloes are flowering, and some of the early Kalanchoe... Mesembs to follow, and the winter growing Pelargonium, Othonna and Tylecodon... Oh, and the banana is flowering and producing fruit, too. They always come late, I am not sure if they'll make it to maturity this time. Not quite the right climate here for that one either, they never get very big, and the plans get hammered by the frost every winter.
I love this climate, we never have that shut-down for winter as you have in the northern regions. What's even better: all the plants grow outside all year round!
I'm so lucky, huh?
maddy :-)

Thanks Maddy
So the swallows are coming - look forward to that.
Must be great being able to grow everything outside year round, but i think i'd miss the veg.
Bet you've got a massive succulent collection. i used to collect sempervivums which probably prefer it cooler to your climate. Have just got some echeverias, they're such a diverse family. I find them fascinating.
Which are your favourite succulents? and do you grow proteas? - saw them in Madeira and got hooked, but too difficult here i think

Just found this site Maddy. Will have to read up on all these jewels
http://www.theafricangarden.co.uk/

That was pretty good Maddy =) Such a pity here is no other Finns.. I could write much easier and fater, hahaha.

Maddy

I was in SA during your winter and it definitely doesnt get cold. It gets as cold as a British summer gets hot. if you know what I mean.

just having fun.

Mark

Thanks for the link philomel - I can't get into it at the moment, but it's Dave's, right? I know that one, it's wonderful! Oh and you have to look at this site as well: http://www.plantzafrica.com/ , and then go from there to the NBI and to our Botanical gardens, this will give you a nice overview of what it is like here!
Of course veggies can be grown here, it's just that I am too lazy (or busy) to grow stuff that needs constant looking after. (I am not on the veggie forum, am I?) ;-)
Yes, sempervivums do not do well here for me - not cold enough. Our winter daytime temps rise to about 18 degC - but it can easily be -2 C at night.
Mark, when I was in London in 1976 they had a heatwave!! Everyone was sitting in the fountains during lunchtime! So I am not really sure what I should think of the British summer... ;-) It sure was hotter than I am used to here, because we do not have the high humidity you get in Europe.
My favourites? Aloes, Kalanchoe and Adros - actually all Crassulaceae, anything with a caudex, Euphorbia... crazy about Madagascans all kinds. Did I mention I am also into bulbs, mainly indigenous, and Broms. Have a fence full of Tillandsia. Some Rhipsalis and epi's. Succulent Orchids. No, you should have asked what I don't like, that would have been easier! Opuntia is a genus I can't stand, mainly because it is such a terrible invader of the bushveld.
Apart from that, love them all! The weirder, the better.

Evert, don't start with finnish, this is a language I can not even imagine that it can be understood! Like the african languages - totally illogical to me, certainly not as 'easy' as Swedish!
maddy

Roger

Are you still looking for mints? I have a very few seeds of Mentha longifolia - Horsemint if you want them? They don't have much culinary use but are good for the bees.

Maddy

I worked with a South African gentleman a couple of years ago and he wore a woolly hat here during the summer LOL