Thursday, June 3, 2010

Herb Hunting

Thursday morning, I left the house early to go herb hunting with three other SITAG moms. One of the ladies had purchased some mint and basil at a festival last fall, and now we were in search of a nursery where we could find some more.

We weren't sure where we were going, but we pulled off the side of the road, found some ladies, and began asking questions. They led us to an absolutely beautiful village nearby. A swiftly flowing stream sang to us as we looked at plants. I felt like I was walking through a recreation done by Disney or some zoo. It was so beautiful it almost seemed fake!

The first nursery didn't have any herbs, but they sent us on to another nursery just down the road. This one looked a little more like a business, and the owner was very knowledgeable about her plants. Soon, we discovered that she was originally from the East Russells, and then the fun began! Of course, she wanted to speak with me in Lavukaleve, so I pulled out the few sentences and words that I knew. She excitedly introduced me to her mom who had just come in to watch the kids for school holidays in June and July. I storied a little bit with her, too, in my broken mix of Pijin and Lavukaleve.
When we got ready to leave, my new friend began to load my bag with free plants, so I came home with six in addition to the sweet little African Violet I bought. We never did find any herbs, but both nurseries said they would try to start some more basil. Now this pretty little plant will remind me to study Lavukaleve since I never know where or when God will place somebody from the Russells in my path.

2 comments:

Abi's Blog said...

Are you able to plant herb seeds? Just wondering if that might be a good thing for a care package.
I planted some herbs for the first time this year... Now - just have to figure out what to do with them. I have lots of dill - but my cucs are not ready yet. Hmmm...wonder how you get everything to get ready at the same time? :)
Blessings,
Ava

The dB family said...

What a neat story! Do you sometimes feel that even in the Solomon Islands that it's a small world? I planted six basil plants two weeks ago. They are doing wonderfully, (so far). I hope you're able to find some basil!

Blessings!
Deborah