new seasons

Here in Zambia we are located in central-south Africa.  It’s the end of the dry season now in October.  The temps are really warming up by day into the 80’s and 90’s and it won’t be  long now until the rains begin.  As I grew up with 4 seasons in the northern midwest of the USA  it has been interesting to learn  about the rainy season vs the dry season  and opposite climates flipping winter and summer.   The seasons now looks like this for us:

Dry Season:  April – November – winter months being coolest May – July

Rainy Season:  November – March – hottest month is usually October.  The rains are refreshing but more humid.

I find it all quite fascinating.  Especially as someone who loves to garden.  I’ve just spent the past 3 years in the USA and now what?  What zone am I in?  What are my growing seasons?  And how will I grow anything in this  sandy/clay soil? 

Jet lag had me pondering all these things during the  many wee hours the past few nights.   We also learned that the property we will move onto in a month or so has a limited water supply.  Thankfully, my husband and I are quite determined.  The beauty of a sub tropical climate is that you can really experiment all year .  We have options whether it be  container gardening or raised beds and conserving rain water and grey water.  (See this article)  We’ll find a way to grow something.  I do recall that when the rains come the whole world turns green within days and weeks.  Plants and flowers seem to flourish into a whole new tropical jungle.  As it is I find it wondrous that with no moisture for months on end one still finds hibiscus, frangi pani and bougainvillea to be in abundance. 

So we went for a walk over on our Seminary compound.  We met a few new friends along the way.       

There the students and their families reside and as we walked towards their housing  I saw a great green patch ahead of me – my heart filled with hope at what I saw.  Gardens of plenty growing in that dry, red earth. A borehole (well)  allows them a source of plentiful water. 

 

There is hope.  I will  try not to wish for setting up my entire homestead all in one go –  that’s a dream not a possibility.  Step by step we’ll move ourselves out of this time of transition and settle in again.  New home, new way of doing things, renewed hope for things to come.  We all have a lot to learn again –

Hubby has his work to sort out, kids have their schooling to do and a life to create in a new place as do I.  Armed with God’s promises, we jump into our new life.