You’ve probably noticed that it’s been a bit quiet on here lately and that’s because I’ve been away in sunny Barbados. Gardening and allotmenting can be fun, rewarding and good for your health – but if there’s any advice I’d like to give you in this post, it’s to have a holiday or a break, otherwise you run the risk of shinning bright and burning out fast.
Barbados is a fantastic country for nature, vegetation, wildlife, landscape and climate. People often refer to Barbados as paradise, and they’re not wrong. In spite of the 30 degree heat and the dry season, Barbados is a brilliantly green part of the world.
Barbados, of the most part is an island made up of limestone, meaning that combined with the lack of rainfall, the soil is very rich in calcium. The calcium in the soil naturally binds with other organic matter to form a good level of drainage – it will also naturally encourage plants to establish strong root stocks, and thus providing such green and healthy foliage.
If you ever do a soil test (which I’m due to do at the end of the season at some point), and your soil is lacking in calcium, then you would be advised to add calcium into the ground in the form of fertilisers.
Overall, if you ever get the chance to go to Barbados – then do it!
The Landscape
Wildlife
I visited Barbados Wildlife Reserve in St Peters, which really is a sight to behold. The place was full of tortoises, green monkeys and deer to name but a few animals. The place is a jungle and as a result you really do feel like Indiana Jones exploring areas unknown (almost).
The Wildlife reserve is part of a mahogany tropical rainforest, and was home to all kinds of medicinal plants that were discovered during the times of Darwin. A truly fascinating place nestled in the corner of the island.
The plants
A big hello to Geri and Steve from Gemini House for being such wonderful and fantastic hosts during our stay – they also let me take these wonderful pictures of their vibrant garden.
Luckily, they have a great patch of aloe vera, which is a plant you definitely need if you’re prone to getting sun burnt very easily. Needless to say, as a redhead, I needed a lot of aloe towards the end of the trip.
Travelling through Barbados, you’ll notice there’s palm trees and all kinds of plants, fruits and vegetables growing wild – and I think this is what makes the island’s environment so unique, in contrast to other parts of the world.
