FIRST ITS ARRIVAL IN THE EMIRATES I REMEMBER, WORD IT WAS YESTERDAY. I PUSHED ME TO VISIT THAT FROM FRIENDS I HEARED ABOUT THE PARADISE COUNTRY WHERE A VERY CHEAP ELECTRONICS IS FOR SALE. I was interested in everything that they told, and I decided to visit this land, which is unknown to me. THE EARTH, THE SOUNDS OF PRAYERS WHICH I CHILDREN HAVE ATTENTION CAPTED TO A SMALL TRANSISTOR RECEIVER, TRAVELING NIGHT THROUGH RADIO-AIR. THERE WERE FAR Seventy YEARS, WHEN ONLY THIS WAS BORN THIS UNKNOWN AND FAR STATE. Gathered, and flew away. SO GREAT was ANTICIPATION OF SOMETHING UNKNOWN.
The year 1993 was striding with might and main. These were the years when there was neither the Internet, nor a huge number of publications and guidebooks in the Emirates, and the Great Soviet Encyclopedia remained the only source of information. As a result of reading it, I flew to a desert country with a population of several hundred thousand people living in mud houses and engaged in fishing and animal husbandry. I flew on a plane and wondered where they were selling all this variety of electronics and household appliances, and imagined tiny benches with low ceilings, stuffed with sand-covered goods.
The first shock when leaving the plane on the emirate’s land was air temperature. The second was the bus that came to pick us up from the landing strip. I had not yet seen such modern and air-conditioned vehicles. And the third was the airport itself. I was expecting to see something like a lone shed by a gravelly landing strip. And then I just never ceased to be amazed at everything that my eye had time to notice. Greenery around the airport, trees, flowers. The city is simply surrounded by greenery! All this really seemed like a paradise! There were green lawns, streets, areas in front of hotels. And only later I considered that a small black pipe was brought to each tree, to each bush, which gave life to this whole green kingdom drop by drop.
And even later, when the Emirates became my second homeland, I already knew very well that this is still a desert. And every bush, every flower is the result of everyday care of someone's caring hands. Even then, I "fell ill" with the idea of creating my garden. I then lived not in a villa, but in a high-rise building, but even there I tried to garden. The first experiment was ordinary tomatoes on the balcony. Friends came to admire them, and the children simply delighted. Surprisingly, the harvest gained as much as 3 kilograms! Then I moved to live in a villa. And there, about happiness, was 120 square meters of land! More precisely sand. Perfectly ordinary sand. Not suitable for farming, horticulture or even for planting grass. But for me it was a "garden plot"!
And then I became a keen gardener, gardener and just a man in love with this occupation. Several dozen bags of garden soil, a couple of weeks of work with pleasure and friendly participation in the project of the whole family turned barren sand into a real garden. For those who are also interested in gardening in the Emirates, I want to remind you that the end of August and the beginning of September is the time to start the sowing campaign. At this time of the year, the sale of seedlings and seedlings of various plants adapted to the local climate begins.
So. First you need to decide which garden you want to get in the end. It can be a garden on the windowsill, on the balcony, on the site near the villa. It can be a decorative flower bed, a vegetable bed or a fruit and berry garden. All of these types of gardening are available in the Emirates. Gardening in the UAE is not only a variety of vegetables and fruits on your table, and the opportunity to grow something unusual for this country, it is also a pleasure for you and your children. Observation of the plant from the moment of the hatching seed gives children joy and helps to expand their horizons. Whatever type of garden you choose, you will definitely need tools, soil, fertilizers, seedlings and seeds. All this can be found in ACE Hardware stores, as well as in various green markets. The most famous of them is located near the Al Garhud bridge. If you plant tomatoes from seeds now, then from January to the end of April you will harvest daily such beautiful and fragrant fruits that you will not find in local stores.
In addition, you can plant seeds of various herbs for your table - green onions, garlic, dill, mint, basil, parsley and coriander, various types of salads that are not found here. And all this will be the freshest, beautiful and fragrant. But most importantly, it will be grown with your hands. If you show patience and love for the garden, then he will reward you with the fruits of various fruits and berries. In the emirates, figs are well accepted, which bears fruit already in the year of planting, various citrus species, mulberry (mulberry tree), not to mention date palm trees and banana trees cultivated in the UAE. Papaya, known for its healing properties, quickly begins to bear fruit.
In addition to fruit gardening, you can delight yourself and your loved ones with various flowers. In the Emirates, winter is simply a haven for growing a variety of bulb flowers. Hyacinths, gladioli, tulips, irises - these flowers will decorate any garden. And such familiar to our fellow countrymen "snapdragon", "pansies", "gentlemen", roses and petunias will make your garden a real European flower garden. A little effort and your villa will be surrounded by greenery, and the garden will become a favorite venue for evenings with family and friends.
The garden is like another member of the family. Every day he requires attention and care, like a child from the first day of his birth. But every day he gives joy with a new flower, a shadow over the garden table or the noise of foliage in the evening wind. And when the first, not store, melon or watermelon ripens in your garden, then this is a great joy for children than any new electronic toys. The garden is a place for a small fountain or pond, a place for barbecue and barefoot walking on the grass. This is the place where your soul rests. After all, your garden becomes your personal oasis in the middle of a vast desert. The garden becomes an integral part of your home and your life.
But not everything is so cloudless. On the way to create your own garden you can expect various difficulties. Such as pests or plant diseases. But in local stores you can find solutions to garden problems for all occasions. And if you gain experience, you can try to grow here such plants that grow in your homeland and usually do not survive in local conditions. Try your hand, and perhaps such berry bushes as currants, raspberries, gooseberries, grapes, will begin to delight you with their crops. Last spring, we planted sunflowers. It was an unforgettable sensation when the three-meter “solar” giants raised their heads on the site. As if moving in space, we were transported to endless sunflower fields somewhere far away where childhood had passed. And this winter we also collected peas, strawberries and watermelons from the garden (in the Emirates!).
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Now it's time for valuable advice. To begin with - buy seeds and seedlings adapted only for the local climate, this is very important. Second - carefully read the instructions on the packaging for the seeds, if you are a beginner gardener. And most importantly, treat this process as cooking kebabs - thoughtfully and carefully. Plants need special attention.
Currently, ACE Hardware stores have launched a new season for the sale of seeds and seedlings. They now have an incredibly large selection. There you will be offered tools and a variety of gardening equipment, garden furniture and decor elements for your garden. In shops, barbecue equipment is widely represented, both stationary and mobile. If you decide to do gardening, then the new season is beginning right now. Buy seeds, seedlings and don't be afraid to experiment. Your plants will become your friends.
At www.garden.aeblogger.com you can find a diary of my garden with photos and job descriptions. Perhaps there you will find something useful for your garden.
/ DeFour /
