Greetings!
I’m writing this drinking a cup of naturally processed small lot of Coffea arabica beans from Costa Rica as I sit among my forest of Banisteriopsis, Mitragyna, Anadenanthera, Musa, Catha, Trichocereus, among others so I apologize in advance if I am a bit long winded on account of the caffeine.
I haven't been gardening for that many years. Sure I remember my grandmother having me dig holes and layer her Rhododendrons when I was a wee child and her magnificent Schlumbergera spp. showing me their fireworks at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. But with adolescence any interest I had in plants faded away in favor of other more worldly things.
Later I found myself pursuing a PhD in medicinal chemistry with particular interest in natural products. Hoping to broaden my horizons and fulfill an elective requirement I stumbled into a graduate-level ethnobotany course which introduced me to the serious study of anthropology and ethnobotany. That led to an interest in foraging and gardening both plants and mushrooms. After lots of hard work, some travels, and a couple of twists and turns later and now I find myself pursuing a medical degree. I hope eventually to incorporate my interest in ethnobotany and ethnomycology into my career, but haven’t quite figured out the niche yet.
I've been gardening in earnest since 2010. I don't have much room or time to work with, but I make do. My climate which is pretty unforgiving and presents a lot of challenges for any plant so I only grow things that don't need much attention. My climate is probably best described as subtropical. Winter lows can be as low as 21 deg F; summer highs are routinely as high as 105+ F; humidity is nearly always 100%; flood, hurricanes, drought, torrential rain, and hail are all relatively frequent.
Modern.shaman turned me on to this forum, and I see many familiar faces. For many reasons, I'm going by a different name here.
The kindness and generosity of people around the world has allowed me to collect a large number of less common plants or cultivars I hope to use in breeding or other experiments. To date, I haven't found a place to share back as much as I would like to mainly due to a lack of capable hands, but I hope this is the place. Looks like there is a lot to learn as well.
Nice to meet all of you and to see some familiar faces in another venue.
Sincerely,
Nick
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Topic: Greetings! (Read 5756 times)
