Nursery Work

A week of potting up plants, weeding and fixing new irrigation. Not particularly what most folk would consider part of any holiday, but thoroughly enjoyable from where i stand.
Rossmount Nursery grows tropical fruit trees, most of which i have never heard of before. They have a vast orchard for collecting cuttings, grafting material and seeds on the side of a very steep hill above a large dam, so no water problems here. It has affected them in the past when the country was banned from any garden watering, but the restrictions are reducing all the time as water use is becoming more sustainable.
The owners, David and Jeanette have travelled extensively, mainly through asia, venturing up into eastern europe and the old soviet union. Some fascinating stories and amazing recollections of places they visited and folk they met. Always a guide book available to check details and share their experiences. I have a great list of Hawaiian places to visit and more importantly to avoid, though i guess it depends on the sort of holiday experience that is required.....
They are nearing retirement and have employed a nursery manager to take over the day to day running of the place, it is all very exciting and hopefully about to take on a whhole new lease of life. I bet he has an interesting time with a constantly changing workforce, often with limited vocabulary and knowlege from all around the world. I was quizzed about retailing and marketing and hopefully have left them with a few good options to consider from a garden centre point of view.


After weeks of hunting i finally found a sugar cane processing factory that was open for tours. A technical insight into how sugar makes its way from cane to refinery. Noisy, hot and very smelly most of the time and with my ears plugged with 'Safety in the Workplace' regulation ear plugs, quite difficult to hear everything that was going on. Thankfully an explanatory video rectified that at the end of the tour and the group even received a complimentary cup of tea with pre refinery sugar as required!!!!