tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4109157903763444447.post1063985355375760030..comments2023-10-18T12:55:50.552+00:00Comments on At Flores in the Azores: Weather (again)Neil Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567487892239196569noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4109157903763444447.post-56629748775137865072007-04-15T02:17:00.000+00:002007-04-15T02:17:00.000+00:00Hi, Neil & Carol!I've noticed, on all my visits to...Hi, Neil & Carol!<BR/><BR/>I've noticed, on all my visits to the Azores (including 4 days on Flores in June 2002), that most people raise potatoes, onions and Portuguese cabbage [kale] throughout the archipelago with ease -- basically caldo verde fixin's in a garden patch! I've also seen green peas and green beans grown up poles, tomatoes, peppers, squashes (zucchini and marrows), cucumbers, lettuce, corn -- albeit not in as many varieties of these veggies as in the US. (Some also have fruit trees and purple grapes). I imagine this time of year you might be able to forage for wild watercress up above the waterfalls along the riffles (near Fajãzinha, I'm told).<BR/><BR/>I vividly recall an outstanding vegetable garden in Santa Cruz das Flores that I was trying to photograph by leaning over its white stucco wall in order to get a good angle. I laid my camera lens cap down on the top of the wall, then klutzily proceeded to knock it off into the garden soil. So I had to scramble over the wall into the garden and back, hoping its owners wouldn't catch me and that no one would walk past, because I wasn't exactly fluent in Portuguese yet (not that I'll ever attain genuine bilinguality, but that's for another time). Actually, I suspect they would've figured out that I was an American tourist who had no intention of poaching their crops, but I just felt so-o-o humiliated! I did manage to snap my pictures and retrieve the lens cap, but it wasn't pretty. If I can dig out those photos I could email you the best sometime, which might give you some way of figuring out where it's located in Santa Cruz. I suggest just going up to townspeople on the street, showing them the image and asking, "Onde fica?" -- and before too long you'd probably find someone who could point you in the right direction (or even walk you there)!<BR/><BR/>As a native Californian, I get such a kick out of seeing California Poppies in so many Azorean flower gardens, as they're California's official state flower, and in their natural state (as it were) grow wild by field-fuls in Spring. Obviously either emigrant relatives have sent back seed packets as gifts, or else the locals have visited the Golden State and brought them back as souvenirs themselves!<BR/><BR/>If you'd like me to send you any garden photos, or if you want to ask any other questions, please feel free to email me at:<BR/>cartao-postal@inolongerlikechocolates.com<BR/><BR/>Have you met Gabriela F. Silva yet? She blogs at:<BR/>http://sol.sapo.pt/blogs/luana<BR/>Gabriela's a poet of a certain age(!) who lives on Flores, and we have several mutual friends, including the Terceiran poet Álamo Oliveira and Tulare educator/translator/journalist (and President of the North American "conselho das comunidades") Diniz Borges. She's asked me if I'd be interested in translating some of her poems. I think I might -- once I finish up a play of Álamo's that I'm in the midst of translating, and a book of poetry by Vasco Pereira da Costa (who's also in Angra).<BR/><BR/>Abraços da sua amiga açoriana-americana, Kathie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4109157903763444447.post-90152721526615250642007-04-15T00:43:00.000+00:002007-04-15T00:43:00.000+00:00Neil & Carol,We have forever, but you have to eat!...Neil & Carol,<BR/><BR/>We have forever, but you have to eat! I ask because the term "supermercado" has a different meaning when compared to the same term on one of the larger islands. <BR/><BR/>Are you raising the traditional pig? Please don't tell us he got sick and died!!<BR/><BR/>As potential immigrants we ask in all seriousness.(LoL with increasing concern.)<BR/><BR/>Well, at least the fish there are always fresh.<BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/><BR/>Bob & LynnEpicyclichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05930391715948135273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4109157903763444447.post-34802056566283114432007-04-15T00:09:00.000+00:002007-04-15T00:09:00.000+00:00Bob"4 seasons in one day" should be the national a...Bob<BR/><BR/>"4 seasons in one day" should be the national anthem of Flores!<BR/><BR/>No gardening success stories. Failure stories - how long have you got?!<BR/><BR/>NKNeil Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15567487892239196569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4109157903763444447.post-55031535584492500272007-04-14T23:54:00.000+00:002007-04-14T23:54:00.000+00:00Neil & Carol,The cliche "four seasons in a day" ce...Neil & Carol,<BR/><BR/>The cliche "four seasons in a day" certainly applied during our two visits. The climate was just one of the many appealing attributes of the Azores. <BR/><BR/>Have any interesting success/failure stories re: vegetable gardening in the Azores?<BR/><BR/>Regards<BR/><BR/>BobEpicyclichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05930391715948135273noreply@blogger.com