New to Forum

Greetings....

I have found tons of great info on this site and after a few weeks I've decided to join.

A little about myself. I'm a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, West Africa. I am in the Casamance (which is south of the Gambia.) I'm sure not many people know where it is... I had to look it up on the map was I was given this assignment.

I work with agriculture and urban gardening in few different sites and gardens.

I have a variety of things in the gardens. Piment hot peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, bissap, okra, hydroponic mint, green beans, jaxatu (sour tomato), cucumbers, manioc, bell peppers, lettuce onions and various herbs- basil, parsley, thyme and etc. Also growing bananas, mangoes, citrus and papayas.

I have very few resources but some very motivated gardeners that I'm working with- all the more reason to give them good info.

I look forward to this forum and site as well as the contributing to it.

I'll be posting photos soon.

Best,

Nathan

(I'm the only guy in the picture on the left)

Hi Nathan!! Welcome to Tropical Gardening!!

You have a great variety of veggies and fruit growing down there.

Yes, please show some photos!

E komo mai; Welcome!

Aloha, Dave

Welcome Nathan! Good luck with your very valuable work there!

Mary

Welcome Nathan; be sure to post lots of pictures.

Hi, Nathan!

What are sour tomatoes like? That' a new one to me.

Mm

Aloha Nathan, how very nice to have you join us and I look forward to hearing all about your work and life in Senegal. As you have gathered we have some real experts on this forum - I always learn so much from them, and I am sure you will too - they are also the nicest people in the world!!

Nice to see a picture of you too - and if you will excuse an old Granny telling you, you are as cute as a button!

You have already stumped me with "manioc", I have no idea what that is - do tell.

Welcome,

Jenn

And don't forget sour tomatoes. Oh, fooey, I'll go google.

Melissa

LOL Jenn, you will find manioc is a VERY familiar item in the islands....

I ditto the cute as a button. Wonderful the things you can say to young men when you get older haha.

Hey Jen, manioc is tapioca, Manihot esculenta. As Dutchlady1 says, it is "very familiar" in the Islands. You will find it in many older gardens. It is very common out towards Hana. It is an easy to grow carbohydrate source. You just stick a length of the stem in the ground and give it a little care. In about six months you can dig tubers which can be steamed, then grated and made into great hash-browns!

Still can't find anything on jaxatu (sour tomatoes) maybe Nathan will clue us in soon.

Dave's Garden needs a "hot button" or something. To quickly reply to first posts of new folk.

We lose very interesting people! Such as this guy!

I joined years ago, but didn't really start posting until I was too stable and stuck a few month ago. At first

owell.

Hello, Nathan! And welcome to this beautiful and friendly forum!

Please don't be shy, come and tell us more, and show us pics of your gardens!

Alexandra

Found it! The "Jaxatu" is the African Eggplant, Solanum aethiopicum.

There is a picture of it in the Plant Files under the name "Jaxatu Soxna", Solanum aethiopicum; it looks just like a big green tomato!

The Jaxatu is the subject of much agricultural study in Africa, for developing sustainable gardening programs in rural communities.

Oh, tapioca! When I looked it up it just said Yucca root and I didn't put two and two together! Yep, they put tapioca in everything here - I was asked if I wanted tapioca in a milk shake I had at the mall, never heard of that before, my only experience is tapioca pudding although I do make a mango pudding for Frank that has tapioca in it...

Gosh Dave, I knew you would find it! Will have to wait for Nathan to tune in to tell us what it tastes like, and if it is cooked like an eggplant....

Goodness, tons of responses!

Metro is right- it is the African eggplant. It is frankly sour, bitter and tangy to say the least. Usually it is boiled until you can easily cut it with a spoon. It is definitely an acquired taste. Most westerns don't like it. Myself, I gladly eat any veggies I can get a hold of.

Braveheart is right- it is also called yucca or cassava. There are roughly two types that are eaten here. There is the 'commerical' variety that is grown through cuttings and a wild variety that is collected in the forest.

I left my camera in the village... gotta bike out to get it.

Here is one dated picture of a garden that I do a little work in. More pictures are on the way.

Another site I work in. In the initial stages.... you can see many onion nursery beds. Cashew trees surrounding the area plus a river in the background. It is in the very beginning stages.

For watering the nursery bed, women get water from the river.

The grass/hay on see on the bottom right of the photo is what the women use to cover the newly seeded beds. It creates a greenhouse effect that speeds up germination.

In smaller beds, often people use old cotton clothing to achieve the same effect.

This is all being funded by a spanish NGO. My job more or less is to give technical advice and introduce new techniques and crops.

The first thing that strikes me in that last picture if the beautiful clothes the women wear - did they dress up for the picture or is that what they use to working in the fields? Amazing.
Nathan, please keep posting, we enjoy reading about your work in such a remote corner of the earth (for us westerners, that is).

Roselle or known as Bissap in Senegal- otherwise similar to hibiscus.

The leafs are harvested to make a spicy leaf sauce. One of my favorite side dishes here.

This one has been attacked somewhat. Very typical to see large plantings of these. I will try to get one in full bloom with flowers.

Roselle makes a nice plant with lovely blooms. I have grown it before. Could you share the recipe on the spicy leaf sauce possibly?

dutchlady,

The clothing that the women is pretty typical everyday wear. I think they were wearing somewhat nicer clothes because the NGO works and I were there doing a site visit.

Clothing here is a big deal. Not as casual as the US in some regards. What you wear determines how respected you are or if you are respectable I guess.

That is one of the things that has been hard for me. Working in fields, orchards and gardens in subtropical (hot hot hot humid) conditions in respectable pants and shirts isn't fun. Linen and cotton are appreciated. Thank goodness it is the cool dry season at the moment. Only high 80s, low 90s at midday. hahaha

We here in Southwest Florida know all about those temperatures. But we wear shorts!! I feel for you.
Thanks for clarifying that for me.
I too am intrigued with the spicy leaf sauce.

I like their clothes too. Lots of color. The gardens look good too. :~)

Those high temps can be horrible at times. It can boil here in the summer. I've worn jeans in those temps before. Not fun. lol. So I also feel for you Nathan. lol

That spicy leaf sauce sounds good.

Nathan, I was just wondering if you know what Permaculture is and if you use any Permaculture principles in your gardening? If you like I can send you a bunch of links. I think you may find them useful.
Peace, love and happiness for your new year. I admire what you are doing.
Ann
ps growing any Ibika?

Americans dress much more casually, and exposedly, than many cultures that I've visited.

Someone commented to me here, (Caribbean), "Look at those people! The Islanders are all dressed nicely, and the Americans are slobs!" It was true. We were in the bank, and in the long line, most of the Americans were wearing baggy Tshirts and shorts, and everyone else was dressed nicely, or prettily. Owell! And I hadn't even noticed.

Now, wait, this comment does not mean YOU. It's an observation of where I am. Tourists, visitors dress nicely, but very drab, gray, khaki, mouldy blue...

Very true Molamola. I live in a remote village where many people can't afford to buy shoes. Yet people are dressed neatly and their hair is brushed combed and trimmed.
We have students here for our Spanish language schools from the USA and Europe. Almost without exception they are scruffily dressed and their hair is unkempt. Apart from their deathly white faces they stand out like a sore thumb.
I don't undertand the reason for this.

Welcome Nathan! It is wonerful that you are there to help! I'm sure that most of us here can learn from your experience as well! It is very interesting. I will definately follow this thread! God bless you!

Ditto on the "cute as a button"! What a doll! (I'm a NaNa, also.)

Can't wait to see all of your pictures!

Jeanne

Just found this thread. Can hardly wait for your posts. I love the traveling by proxy and the opportunity to learn, learn, learn. Welcome.

Christi

Johnpeten, just for fun, why don't you point this out to the scruffy ones? Not in a critical way, but with curosity. See what they say.

And, Nathan, you get no buttons from me! lol. Your pockets overflow.

LOL. I never thought I'd ever come to the aid of American Tourists abroad. But Moloamola and Johnpeten please remember that people on holiday tend to dress differently as they are living out of a suitcase and maybe using the outfit for shopping in town but also hiking, traveling,etc.
I haven't lived in the Virgin Islands for years but at that time modesty was more an issue than drab colors. Many of the older ladies considered it lewd to walk thru town in a sarong and bikini. I've also done heaps of backpacking in Central and South America. One big bag that you'll be carrying for months tends to pare down your fashion aspirations :) I also had the odd expierence of being robbed twice in the same shirt (Once in Panama City and once in Lima) It was a pretty lacy white shirt I got at 50% at a resort I worked at in Key West. I thought it was pretty but apparently it shrieked I've got money, rob me.Went back to tshirts and jeans.
I think it's wonderful that people take so much pride in the way they dress in Latin America. It would be ethnocentric of me to make value judgments on other cultures but I'm just not so worried about appearances. As a woman I try to make myself less noticeable while traveling than more. And when you are traveling thru several countries at a go it's more important to be inoffensive than drab.

Happy Holidays!!!! Ann

This message was edited Dec 30, 2008 6:39 PM

We're not talking about holiday. Students in Spanish class? Folks that I recognize in the banks and other places? slobs. Me too! I'm occasionally guilty also, but I'm a died-in-the-wool old slob. I try to not be too awful looking in public.

Haha, we used to have a small Aquarium here. One of the helper people stopped by the aquarium to drop off something, and the TV news people were there! They interviewed her and a day later, there she was on TV!! Baggy white Tshirt, crumpled hair, she looked awful. I laughed and laughed. Next time I saw her, she was all dolled up. Said she hadn't been so embarrassed in her life when she saw herself on TV.

No, tourists dress up, compared to us, they're doing the "Barefoot Elegance" thing.

In the Cook Islands there is a tiny atoll called Suvarof..a World Heritage Park! There they boil up the Casava leaves for 'Suvarof Spinach'....

HA, Dave...I think that anything can be made palatable by chopping it up and frying it!!!

The dried caylx of the roselle is boiled to make 'Hibiscus Tea' or Agua de Jamaica in Mexico...also makes good jam and syrup!

I would love the recipe for the Spicey Sauce too!!!

Welcome to Daves...want to know more about your projects and the food you eat....

Carol

Just got back from a little new years traveling to the beach 7 hours away. =)

Whenever I travel here I am always looking for gardening and agriculture resources. This time I picked up some Solo papaya seed, some 'french' orange tree bud sticks and some type of flower that used to grow semi-wild in California (my home state).

Thanks again for all the welcoming notes.

I often do eat cassava leafs boiled. A little vinegar and salt makes some great southern greens. You do have to boil them for about 45 minutes or longer.

The recipe for leaf sauce is very simple. You mash the roselle leafs up, add salt and/or a spice cube. Then cook for a while. You can get fancy and add onion, garlic, pepper and oil.

What is a "spice cube" composed of?

Is that like chicken bouillon......or different spices?

Nathan, belatedly welcome, welcome, welcome! I adore the Peace Corps, worked for them for a while myownself, back in the days of my youth...you know, around the time the dinosaurs were roaming the earth. We have quite a few Peace Corps volunteers in and around many of our smaller islands out here. They do wonderful work, and whenever they get a day or so to come to Kwaj - we sort of fight over giving them dinner - entertainment - whatever.

Ann, how I agree with you on the modesty bit. Having traveled a lot...and still doing so whenever possible, I am always astonished at what some people consider "clothed"! And not just in other countries! Just this past spring I was in Honolulu - which is tourisism incarnate I admit but still! - We went to a very nice restaurant for dinner - it was dark...nearly everyone in the restaurant was dressed nicely, yet this woman came in wearing a bikini top and lava lava wrapped around her rather ample hips...she was wet...PLUH - EEESE!!!

I once had some boiled "greens" that a "hippie" friend did up for us. Have no idea what they were, but the taste was awful, and so was the affect on my innards. Since then I tend to shy away from that sort of thing, but will try just about anything else. Aren't our various eating habits interesting???

Yokwe all,
Shari

Yipes Shari!!! What was she thinking. Although I'm not sure if Mola Mola would mind :). LOL. Ann

One side of me wants to admire somepeoples great self confidence and good self image while the other side is shocked, horrified and gagging! lol

Same here!!!

My dear mother would remark,"don't they have a mirror?".

Ahhh, I am so gratified to see that my sense of decorum is not as prudish as I was beginning to feel! I know what you mean Carol...I want to admire those same qualities, but sheer common sense should prevail, ya know?

Anyone else doing football parties today...(Christi - sorry about Dallas hon. I know you aren't a big football fan, but did want to pass along my sympathy).

Yokwe,
Shari