ONE EXPAT FAMILY'S EXPERIENCE IN SAUDI ARABIA
Looking online for some information about Middle East wild crop relatives, I ran across this article published in 20 Dec. 2017 in natureasia.com, (nature middle east section). It's entitled, Shaking up salt-friendly agriculture, written by Sedeer El-Showk. High salt-tolerant crops grown in the Middle East are a new focus for scientific study and genome sequencing …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6Kz_OcOgvE Just found a great youtube video on much of what my "Agroforestry in Arid Environments" review paper is about. It is done really well and describes desertification, greening projects in Africa, China, Mongolia, and Saudi Arabia, sand drift, agriculture, etc. North America is not represented here, but this video gives a nice view on …
This past semester as a graduate student was challenging, but I learned so much from the professor and class, besides the readings and lectures. I wanted to bring some of what I had learned while living in Saudi Arabia to the class, as well as learn about what other areas of the world are doing …
Tonight is a special night in the garden. I was out late around 9:30pm to water the plants. It had been a hot sunny day, and I decided to give the garden some attention. Especially now that it is becoming summer here in Saudi, I go out at night to water the thirsty plants. While …
Every Earth Day doesn't necessarily mean you need to plant a tree. It means look at the world around you and see where you can make a difference in nature. And make sure to nurture and take care of the tree you planted last year. Well I am a day late in posting for Earth …
I forgot to post this from February! Pardon the out-of-order Garden posts. Here is number 3's installation. You can check out the other garden posts by clicking the links at the end of this post. Go Garden! Let's get growing! In step 1 and 2 we talked about soil health, and that it is how …
Today we just noticed that we are getting some corn cobs to develop! From the smallest start, to ears almost 3 inches tall, (5 inches in total measuring down into the stalk), this is exciting! We originally planted the seeds in February and they have been growing nicely. We will see how the plants fare …
Continue reading "#5) Growing Corn in Containers–Developing Ears, Saudi Arabia"
I've got a little video to start off this blog. It was taken on our compound with a very chirpy sparrow in the background, during the daytime. You can see the basil that just roots itself around our place naturally, and growing in pots are 5 corn stalks (looking a bit wilted), and tomatoes. This …
Continue reading "#4) A Garden Experiment, Corn and Radishes in Containers"
The Al Baydha Project is amazing! The video and story are narrated very well by Neal Spackman, who co-founded and directed some of the project . If you are into learning about conservation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, permaculture, rural poverty and climate change, then check out the Al Baydha project in Saudi Arabia. This project …
Continue reading "Regenerative Agriculture potential in Saudi Arabia"
Well I have not heard about the "City of Roses" until now. Apparently according to this article in abouther.com, Taif, KSA is this city! Here is an excerpt from the article, "Take In The Sights And Scents Of Saudi Arabia's City of Roses", in abouther.com. The link to full article is below. "Thanks to its …
Continue reading "Travelling to Taif–City of Roses in Saudi Arabia"
Date Palms & Camels 