Sandbox Success!

Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are investing & buying land in Sudan, Nigeria, and Ethiopia and other poverty stricken African nations, to fertilize farmland for sustained agriculture. Because they can't grow any significant vegetables in their own sandy countries, everything has to be imported (expensive). If they plant significant crops in Africa, on land owned by the Saudis and Emiratis, they can set their own pricing as well as help sustain the crops for the Africans. It makes sense, but it dowsn't help us get tomatoes from Sudan at the moment. So, determined to fight the hostile and very dusty environment here, and with a spirit as fierce as the old Pioneers who tamed the Wild West; I’ve started an herb garden in the sandbox (literally!) The owners of our house built a sandbox for their toddlers and rather than look at that desert in the back yard, I took some action.

Eight bags of the finest imported German and Dutch black potting soil, mixed with the finest red Arabian sand for proper drainage, and Voila! Cherry tomatoes, radishes, egg plant, green and chilli peppers, bok choy, basil, mint, onions and sun flowers now peek through the dirt. It’s amazing – growing veggies in the desert!

Hunter has become inspired by my work. He told me, he is going to get a double degree in biology and psychology, so he can start his own herbology firm, specializing in using herbs to cure mental health diseases. This sounds very noble! To start his field research, he plans to grow herbs in my sandbox (this was after I shot down his Japanese rock and waterfall garden idea) – but I fear that this could potentially involve the kind of herbs, the local law enforcement authorities might not consider healing. My advice to Hunter was that either he plants legal herbs, or he moves to Oregon, joins a commune and above all, doesn’t drink his own Kool-Aid.

I certainly applaud his entrepreneur spirit, but I must say, he tends to walk the edge of ethics sometime. We don't knock ingenuity however, we'd like to stay here a few more years!

My gardener, Ashram, helps me keep the Herb Box watered and free of weeds while I travel. He also cuts our grass, with the community lawn mower. This is a great and green concept. Rather than each family owning a lawn mower, all the gardeners share one machine and haul it around the neigborhood behind their bicycles. It saves on noise and exhaust as well as capital expenditure of home appliances.

Stay tuned to see the progress of our home grown produce!