Webfundi - Fundi
is a Swahili word meaning "craftsman", or "expert" I thought it would make a
change from "webmaster". Anglian Gardener was nearly called "Ojwangas Garden"
after some-one called Alfie Ojwanga who I came across while living in Kenya.
Cambs Gardener / Anglian Gardener / English
Gardening - This website started life as CambsGardener (Cambridgeshire Gardener)
intended for the county of Cambridgeshire England only, this being where I live.
It was first published on the net in November 2000.
By April 2001 I realized that many of the site
visitors were from outside of Cambridgeshire, so I took the step of making the
site regional rather than county. This makes more sense in that it now addresses
an area of the country with a fairly even climate.
By April 2003 I realized that my audience was
truly international and despite looking the other way and pretending they all
came from England, a flurry of emails and suggestions from my webby-friends
persuaded me to produce a US version of the site. Having gotten my head around
calling cylinder mowers "reel mowers" and learning to live with the frustration
that Latin names for plants don't seem to always be used in the US, I'm getting
there. Any feedback at all from US surfers is gratefully
received, whether positive or not.
About me - Paul Ward
Some time in the late 1960's my granddad decided
that I should earn my sweetie money (living in Nottingham these were called
"tuffees") by watering his tomato plants for him.
This was an introduction to the nitty gritty
of gardening as he swore by the practice of steeping horse manure in the water
that was used.
Thus, the seed for CambsGardener / Anglian Gardener
/ English Gardening was sown. As well as my lack of fear of germs from the earth
- "Aren't you going to wash your hands before you eat those sandwiches?" - "No
I don't need to, I've already wiped them on my trousers". Still I get less stomach
upsets than anyone I know. Over the next 10 years I took over ever greater areas
of my parents garden until I left for university.
Ten years later by the early 1990's I stopped
wandering around, and stayed in one place long enough to begin to garden again.
Working as teacher of "Environmental Science" I started a nursery in the school
I worked in, run by pupils growing and selling hanging baskets / bedding of
all kinds / bulbs / trees etc. all profits went partly to charity and partly
to develop resources.
I then spent a year sweating in Mombasa, Kenya
which being at sea-level on the equator allowed me to grow wonderful plants
with 4 foot + long leaves from seedling to 6ft high in a few months. I trained
a Bougainvillea up to the top floor of the house until my neighbor
told me how a poisonous snake had taken up residence in the Bougainvillea
that grew over his balcony. Mimosa pudica, the sensitive plant provided
entertainment as it grew in great quantity outside the front door (it's a roadside
weed on the equator) until I became bored with throwing soil on it and watching
it "wilt".
Back again to UK and forwards to the late 90's,
(much voluntary gardening and raising of plants in the meantime) when I began
to arrange garden "make-overs" professionally. This was when I made contacts
and built up my muscles in an attempt to look like a Kenyan gardener (imagine
what you'd look like if you had to cut 1/4 acre of grass without a lawn-mower).
And so eventually CambsGardener bloomed after
about 30 years. I now teach again and spend much of the time not doing so involved
in staring at my computer screen or travelling the county and thinking "gardening
thoughts" and what to do next on the site.
Julien
- eldest son. Very good at appropriate flattery when I've just written
a new bit for the site.