Wandering – again

I had intended to write about the garden and, in particular, the raised beds. There’s enough work to be done, and a number of points – interesting, baffling, despair-inducing to write about. But, as you see, I got diverted…. again!

Definitely not my garden…. The nomad spirit took over once more yesterday, and I abandoned veg. beds, borders and even the fascination of the compost bins in order to wander off to Fayyum, most lovely of agricultural regions close to Cairo and truly worth the agony of an hour or two on the Ring Road.

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Palm Tree Antics

All of a sudden the date palms are bursting into flower all around us.

You may have to crane your neck (and/or enlarge this image!) to spot the flower stalks as they emerge from among the fronds. But the signs are unmistakeable; in any case, the bees and the birds are leading us to them.

The date palm (Phoenic dactylifera) is truly a miracle of nature, its fruit so varied and filled with health benefits that one hardly knows where to start. And as a ratio of 50 female:1 male tree in cultivation works well, it seems the business of fertilising the female strands can be done pretty economically, from the trees’ point of view.

The Wonder of Trees

I wonder: does anything in nature surpass the astonishing variety and beauty of her trees?

At this time of year in Egypt, as elsewhere, many of them are putting on a stunning display. I’m astonished: Trees habitually take my breath away.