The Vegetable Garden!

I just had a disaster in the kitchen. Have you ever gone to do something, and somehow been distracted and forgotten all about what it was you originally planned to do?? Well, that's what happened to me this afternoon. It had been a tiring day at work. When I got home, the first thing I did was put my soaked beans in a pot and set them on the stove to boil. I wanted to quickly bring them to the boil so I could then turn them right down and slowly simmer them until cooked… so I threw the gas up to max and put the lid on to quickly bring them to the boil. (You know what's going to happen already, don't you…?)… anyway, for whatever reason (and I truly forget why) I nipped into the lounge with the full intention to hurry back to the kitchen to check on the beans and turn them right down to simmer… but I managed to get distracted by something… next thing I know (some 30-40 minutes later) I start to smell this nasty smell. Immediately I knew I'd screwed up. I leapt out of my comfortable chair spitting out words to the effect of "oh bother" (but not exactly those words) and raced to the kitchen. The hallway was smokey; the kitchen was THICK with smoke, and the stench, oh the stench!! Long story short, the house now reeks of burnt beans, and my favourite pot had to be thrown out. Silly me. 

Anyway, my kitchen crisis aside, I wanted to show you a few pics of my new vegetable garden. I created my vege patch a few weeks ago now, and went to the plant market to get some young vege seedlings. I got strawberries, tomatoes, aubergines (egg plants), capsicums (bell peppers) and chills. The market guy threw in two courgettes and a cucumber (plants) as freebees.  CRIKEY! I only had small patch prepared!! haha. 

I later dug up an extension to my vege patch, in which I planted some pumpkin seeds (saved from my Halloween pumpkins - USA white, Indian red, South African gem squashes and mini ornamentals) and some forgotten potatoes that had started sprouting in the kitchen. Exciting stuff!!

So, here are some pictures of things now, after a few weeks of enthusiastic growth:

The first of my American white pumpkins sprouting. These pumpkins are called "white" because their skin is white. They are imported here from the USA and cost an arm and a leg!! Seriously, we're talking over 100dh for a decent size pumpkin, so I'm really hoping that I can get a few out of these vines FOR FREE!!! Suffice it to say, I bought a very very small one for Halloween! haha

My forgotten potatoes have shot out of the ground and are growing so quickly. I haven't grown potatoes in over ten years!! LOVE IT! These potatoes originally came from Lebanon. That's all I know about them. We don't get variety names in the supermarkets here, just the country of origin. They seem to be a fairly good all-round type of potato. Good for roasting, good for mashing, good for boiling… and good for growing! haha

The helpful chap at the marketplace assured me that these tomatoes were "big one", so I hope Liz likes them. They sure are growing quickly, and fruiting heavily. All still green at the moment, and only 1-2 inches in diameter at the moment, but they are looking good.The spindly little plants I bought are now turning into a forest of green. Some of the leaves are massive!! 

Sometimes communication can be tricky at the garden souq (marketplace). The stall owners are generally Indians, Bangladeshis, Afghanis, etc, and with very limited English… but they do try hard to communicate, and most of the time there is no problem. However, if you look at this picture (above) you will see my "bell pepper". haha. I was so excited when it flowered and started growing a little pepper… but as time went by (and it is growing at sonic speeds, so we're not talking much time at all really), it became apparent that my bell pepper was not at all bell-shaped! It's a large chilli!! I don't know how large it's supposed to get, so I'm not sure when to pick it. The good news is that there are dozens more coming along now, so if i get it wrong with this first one, I can get it right with the many others that will follow.

Liz will be back here soon, so hopefully the tomatoes (which I absolutely cannot eat… I can't even look at them once sliced open) will be fruiting heavily for her, since I know she likes them, and we'll be well stocked with all the others too. 

Ocean of Sand

Last weekend I headed over to Dubai to get a couple of things. On the way home, I decided to go off the beaten track and take a wander in the desert a little just on the outer edge of Al Ain. I didn't stray far from the isolated little road I was on. I drove a short way into the desert along the road, pulled over, got out and went for a walk in the dunes. It was lots of fun. Here are some pics from my cellphone (since I didn't have a proper camera with me):

Along the way into the desert, I passed through a small farming community. Here are the roadside shops.

 

Lonely mosque

I took this picture after climbing up to the ridge of a sand dune. You know, it's much harder than it sounds climbing up a sand dune. It depends which side you're on. Generally speaking, one side has more compact sand and the other has softer sand. It's as if you take three steps forward and slide two steps back. But when you get to the top and can look out over the desert like this, it's worth it. It's like an ocean of sand stretching as far as the eye can see.

It astonishes me how plants manage to grow in such an arid environment. 

I always think of the lines in the sand as looking like thousands of snakes. The question is, are they slithering up the hill or down? Or perhaps it's more like a giant fingerprint on each dune?

In one of the valleys (or basins?) between dunes, I came across these tracks. I have no idea what creature would have caused them. lizard? snake? scorpion? desert hedgehog? Surely it doesn't look like a bird's tracks. There's a big one and a smaller one intersecting it. Any ideas?

And as with every adventure into the sand here, by the time I got back to the car, my shoes were filled with sand! haha. I have to say, for such a seemingly boring and monotone place, the desert is fantastic and strangely beautiful. I think I'll have to take more trips into the desert from now on. I say "trips" but I just mean driving a few minutes out of town. I don't fancy going on dune bashing trips or desert safaris or anything enthusiastic like that, just driving down a road, parking the car and going for a stroll like on this occasion. It was fun.

Visitors

Bryn's brother Owen and his fiancee, Melissa came to visit us in Al Ain for Christmas.  We (mostly Bryn) gave them the grand tour of all the must see/do things in and around Al Ain.  Here are some of the pictures! (Some are stolen from Owen and Melissa's camera!)