Senwes Scenario December 2018 / January 2019 | Page 38

COLUMN
GARDENING
Food for thought
Only one string
O
Milanie Vosloo
p my ou ramkietjie met nog net een snaar / speel
ek in die maanskyn, deurmekaar. / As die maan my
antwoord en die sterre knik / dan speel ek kordaat
voort / in my skik. Wat gee ek om mense wat sê
ek’s mal as die varings my aanhoor by die wal? / Wat om my
vrinne wat nooit nie verstaan / as die sterre my toeknik en die
maan? / Op my ou ramkietjie met nog net een snaar / speel ek
in die maanskyn deurmekaar. (C. Louis Leipoldt)
We sometimes experience low moments: Times when hope
dwindles. When a solution seems impossible to find. The things
that we cannot control, make us lose hope. When the music of
life stops playing for us...
At such times we should remember that, despite all the "broken"
life strings, there is always something which you can control:
Your thoughts! It is a fact that many things and people cannot
be changed. However, you can control the way in which you
think. You can choose to look at things with a different attitude,
to stand back and look at the bigger picture; to look further than
the now and to remember where you are heading. You should
look up again and see Him. Hear how He created hope, life and
eternity from a one-string world.
Only one brave and faithful person is necessary - you - to make
a whole group or community think differently. I would like to
challenge you today:
• Dare to hope; to believe that things will be better tomorrow,
because it will.
• Dare to think differently, because you can.
• Dare to be the difference that you want to see.
Barack Obama said in his book entitled “The Audacity of
Hope”, that people who say that things cannot be done, should
stop interrupting people who are busy doing something. Be the
one who makes other people hear the one-string music.
Pray with Habakuk: Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor
fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and
the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the
fold, and there be no herd in the stalls - yet I will rejoice in the
LORD! Habakuk 3:17a-18.
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36
SENWES SCENARIO | TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION 2018
Summer tips
By Carl Kirstein
Gardening expert
S
ummer is here and by this time you have made all the
changes to your garden. However, we can still plant
seedlings here and there for a bit of colour.
Lawns need fertiliser and a lot of water to ensure
an emerald green lawn. Water in the early morning hours or
after sunset to limit evaporation.
Start to prepare your garden for the December/January hol-
idays at home or away from home. Weed properly, fertilise and
cover with mulch and water properly. Hydrangeas, gardenias
and fuchsias are flowering now. Feed with an acidulous leaf
nutrient and cover their feet with tree bark.
Be prepared for the lily borer, which is black and yellow and
bores right to the heart of the clivias, agapanthus and arum
lilies. Spray early with a registered insecticide which contains
cypermetrin. It is also the right time to spray for fruit flies.
Cut back old flowers and fertilise with 6:1:5 to encourage fur-
ther flowering. Lavender must be cut back for an autumn flush.
The white fly is active in warmer weather - make sure you spray
under the leaves.
Yellow, green and red peppers can be planted for the kitchen,
as well as hot chillies. Cherry tomatoes and a large variety of
other tomatoes, spinach, beetroot, carrots and brinjals can be
planted now. White fly loves all types of cabbage - it is actually
cheaper to buy cabbage. Watermelon, spanspek, etcetera can
also be planted for natural protection against pests. Plant garlic
and Afrikaners amongst your vegetables. It is also time for lettuce
- plant it and make sure you have fresh salad on your table.
Make a herb garden in a sunny part of your garden. Thyme,
oregano, mint and basil are easy to grown and look very attrac-
tive. There is nothing like fresh herbs for the chef of the home.
Plant a variety of berries. They will provide fruit throughout
the summer and are very healthy. Nothing is better than earth-
worm compost. Come visit me at Verdant Nursery - I have been
using it for years and my garden is full of earthworms.
Don't dig in your garden now, since it will encourage eva­
poration.
Enjoy the festive season!