Yesterday onmy YouTube channelI received the following comment from Ari L :
“ why did you need to move to somewhere tropic ? is it well-to-do to grow more food and greater variety of nutrient in a tropical surround or do you just like tropic food for thought better ? ”
Though I reply in short over there , here I ’d wish to spread out a little and give you my three reason why garden in the tropics is great .
1. There is a MUCH wider variety of crops in the tropics!
Over 1,000 varieties of comestible fruit grow in the tropical zone compared to a few dozen in temperate zones .
And there are spices .
And marvellous ancestor .
Cocoa , vanilla , Brazil nuts , breadfruit , papaia , coffee , cinnamon , turmeric , mamey sapote , black pepper , jackfruit , yam , macadamia testis … it ’s just exciting .
Did you see my video on harvesting Ceylon cinnamon ?
You ca n’t do that in Wisconsin .
2. Seasonal allergies are a thing of the past
I used to make love the natural spring in Tennessee . At least , I loved the way it looked .
Unfortunately , I was sick as a dog thanks to all the pollen in the air . It was horrid . A calendar month or red eye , run nose , sneezing , headaches , stuffed sinuses … all while the beautiful green open was call and garden beds call for to be plant . I had the same problem in North Florida , much to my chagrin .
This was me in the spring :
No more !
Here in the tropics I do have some minor issues with dust and mould , but the pollen trouble are die .
Another thing : I ’m allergic to a lot of temperate fruit . I ca n’t actually eat raw mulberries , figs , apples , pear , peaches , nectarine or cherries . However , I have no job with most tropic fruit – they do n’t bother me . Mangifera indica , melon tree , starfruit … all fine .
No sternutation and no chilling reactions to fruit any longer .
3. Year-round gardening
This is handsome .
In the tropics the horticulture year is divide into two season : the rainy season and the wry season . unlike crops prosper in each of those season , so you necessitate to pick befittingly , but basically … you could grow almost everything 365 day a twelvemonth with no headache about frost or timing .
I was ask the question multiple times “ how much space does it take to feed yourself ? ”
So in reply I wrote inGrow or perish : The Good Guide to Survival Gardening :
“ In much of the tropical zone , feeding yourself is really prosperous . There are no seasons to mouth of , other than dry and rainy times . You ’ve drive a massive variety of nutrient crops to overstretch from – and many of them produce twelvemonth - round of golf or at least repeatedly through the class . Ever wonder why bananas are always available at around the same price in the store ? They ’re fundamentally non - seasonal . Sweet Irish potato are also a perennial in the tropics – plant them here and there when you please , then dig now and again when you feel like it . fruit , nuts , and middling much everything uprise really tight down there . When you ’re a plant … not freezing half the year , not putting on a whole set of newfangled leaves and not fighting to get all your replication done in a few warm calendar month of growing meter , and not being knocked back by icing and losing your leaves again … you may get plenty of food - qualification done . On the other extreme , if you ’re in some place like Alaska , you ’re going to have to make out with a myopic season of getting things done in the garden and bundle away as much as possible while the Sunday shines . There ’s a understanding the Inuit endure on seals , fish , giant and other secret plan , rather than on veg . ”
If you like , you could plant green beans every two weeks all through the twelvemonth and have a uninterrupted supply on your table .
It ’s insane .
It ’s wonderful .
It ’s amazing .
It ’s the tropical zone !
In conclusion…
Though some miss the seasons , I do not .
I wish the ceaseless outflow - time belief down here , sans pollen . Most gardeners spend most of the year depend forrader to the bounce – but here it ’s nice every day .
And gardening aside , there ’s also no day when it ’s too cold-blooded to go to the beach .
So that , in light , is why gardening in the tropics rock and roll !
