Our (almost) Garden

Sister Gubler, Sister Cook and Elder Gubler attending to the garden.

If any of you know Elder Gubler, you know that one of the things he enjoys most in life is planting a garden. The other thing that he really loves is giving his produce away. He has had remarkable gardens in Santa Clara and the neighbors love the bounty. OK, maybe not so much the zucchini but the tomatoes, cucumbers and watermelon are legend. The Taylors went home several months ago, but not before Elder Taylor figured out a way to hook up a hose. Hose bibs are not a common sight in Botswana and especially not in our complex. Elder Gubler decided to maximize the use of the hose and in addition to using it to wash our car, he decided to plant a garden in the area available next to the Taylors flat. He planted tomatoes, radishes, carrots, green onions, squash, watermelon, peppers and cucumbers.

The garden started coming up and of course was looking beautiful so he decided to expand. The search was on for "stuff" to incorporate a hose bib at our house. Under our stairs, in the closet that contains our washer, drier and freezer, he drilled a hole through the outside wall. With a hose attachment that has a splitter so that allows two water connections, he hooked up the outside hose and the hose to the washing machine. (Don't be alarmed that he drilled a hole through the apartment wall, it's OK here to do those kinds of things) Anyway, after several trips to the Home Builders Warehouse for attachments and hoses, it was time to plant the garden. Last night, Elder Gubler, put the finishing touches on our beautiful garden.

Now the sad part. An Indian couple Elder Gubler has made friends with came over to give him some news. A few months ago Botswana proclaimed that anyone using a hose to water outside would be given a P5,000 ($600US) fine if caught. ARGH!! Botswana is in the midst of a horrible drought so growing things outside isn't allowed unless bore-hole water is used. Checked into how much bore-hole water would be and it's 5,000 liters for P650 ($80US) By the time we paid for the water the vegetables would be some of the most expensive ever eaten! So now we are praying for rain. :-)

Elder Gubler made a phone call to one of our High Councilors to find out exactly what the water situation etc is. Well, it gets even more interesting! Swimming pools, grass but most of all, our Baptismal Fonts have to be filled with bore-hole water or face the possibility of a fine. In Lobatse, there are 3 baptisms schedules for next Sunday. Hopefully we can figure something out by then.

In the meantime, please pray that Botswana's reservoirs will fill.