I’ve gotten increasingly unreliable about updating my blog.
It’s not that I forget about it, oh no. But with the surge of autumnal activity
(the desperate bustle that heralds the end of summer and dread for the hiemal
chill engendering, in funeral-soft voice, the uttered “Winter is coming.”),
I’ve been swept up in the tide of projects, classes, and meetings.
Still, I take this bit of time to write about whatever
became of my garden.
I planted my garden in May and fostered the seeds into
seedlings, then left for six weeks to Darkhan. This is where the story left
off, I believe (a gripping cliff-hanger, to be sure).
The chill came swiftly, but I was able to harvest some
things before the frost.I harvest one giant zucchini from my garden that was
baked into a delicious loaf of zucchini and walnut bread (enjoyed by the PCVs
and two of our JICA volunteer friends during a group pizza lunch).
The growing season in Mongolia is short, but the success of
my summer gardening experiment will, I hope, have long-term benefits. Ulzii,
manager World Vision and interested observer to my acitivites, is interested in
introducing a greater variety of crops to Uliastai farmers, and we will attempt
a project next spring to conduct trainings and supply seeds to potential
growers. The additional variety will, we hope, not only create another revenue
stream for these growers, but also increase the variety of produce available
here, and help improve nutrition.
I returned to Uliastai to a jungle! The sweet peas came up
in a tangled thicket of vining tendrils, the zucchini with dark leaves as large
as my hand, and cilantro plants that sprouted here and there, without regard
from the carefully furrowed rows Tsogoo had made for me. Lettuce sprouted in
clumps of bright-green leaves.
The chill came swiftly, but I was able to harvest some
things before the frost.I harvest one giant zucchini from my garden that was
baked into a delicious loaf of zucchini and walnut bread (enjoyed by the PCVs
and two of our JICA volunteer friends during a group pizza lunch).
The sweet peas were harvested and have been tossed into
pasta sauces and soups (and gormandized with relish by yours truly). Some of
the tendrils of the sweet pea plant were used in a dish made lovingly by my
wonderful godmother Purobi. The
lettuce went into the Uliastai Peace Corps Volunteer’s taco night, for which
some of the cilantro made a delicious salsa. I was able to salvage many of the
cilantro plants from my garden by potting them and bringing them indoors.
The growing season in Mongolia is short, but the success of
my summer gardening experiment will, I hope, have long-term benefits. Ulzii,
manager World Vision and interested observer to my acitivites, is interested in
introducing a greater variety of crops to Uliastai farmers, and we will attempt
a project next spring to conduct trainings and supply seeds to potential
growers. The additional variety will, we hope, not only create another revenue
stream for these growers, but also increase the variety of produce available
here, and help improve nutrition.
Closer to my heart is the hope that many families will begin
keeping their own gardens, providing healthy vegetables for family members and
giving families a chance to work together. But I suppose there is time enough
for gardening to catch on, and if this project has taught me nothing else, it’s
taught me that (especially in Mongolia), there is lots of space to grow.
Cheers,
Karen
Looks great!
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