Seasons
Before coming to Mozambique, full time, we used to tell people that there were only two seasons: the rainy, summer season and the dry, winter season. After having been here an entire year, we’ve found that’s no longer the case. In face we’ve come up with a couple different ways to discuss the seasons of the year and thought we’d share them with you.
SEASONS BY PRODUCE:
January – February: these are often known as the famine months. Produce from the previous season has run out and the new crops are not yet ready to harvest. Fresh food is scarce, what does exist is extremely expensive and many Mozambicans have a terrible time eating; one usually hears of at least a few who have starved to death.
March: Pumpkins
April: Sweet Potatoes
May: Tangerines and Peanuts
June: Papaya
July/Aug.: Mangos
September: Pineapple
October/November: Cashews
Actually, we could count seasons by produce in the States as well – at least to a degree. We have seasons where strawberries come ripe and then come blackberries and peaches and then blueberries and apples and finally pumpkins. Our seasons of produce, however, don’t carry us through an entire year, and while we may look forward to a particular season (my dad loves it when strawberries come around, Dan looks forward to picking peaches and I love trying to get to my grandmother’s house in N. Indiana whenever blueberries come around), we aren’t completely dependent on that season in order to get that particular food. Here however, there isn’t the mass importing of produce, so often when the season isn’t there you can’t find that food, at least not easily.
SEASONS BY INSECT:
February: mites – those that cause mange in dogs and scabies in people!
May/June: small ants and FLEAS!
July/August: flies
November: flying ants and ticks
December: mosquitoes
This year of bugs isn’t an exact science. I’m quite certain that at any given time of the year one could find most any of these insects, however they seem to have peak times where they’re constantly underfoot. We avoided the fleas last May, when we first arrived, however we’ve had close experience and infestations of ticks, mites, small ants and currently fleas!!
SEASONS BY PRODUCE:
January – February: these are often known as the famine months. Produce from the previous season has run out and the new crops are not yet ready to harvest. Fresh food is scarce, what does exist is extremely expensive and many Mozambicans have a terrible time eating; one usually hears of at least a few who have starved to death.
March: Pumpkins
April: Sweet Potatoes
May: Tangerines and Peanuts
June: Papaya
July/Aug.: Mangos
September: Pineapple
October/November: Cashews
Actually, we could count seasons by produce in the States as well – at least to a degree. We have seasons where strawberries come ripe and then come blackberries and peaches and then blueberries and apples and finally pumpkins. Our seasons of produce, however, don’t carry us through an entire year, and while we may look forward to a particular season (my dad loves it when strawberries come around, Dan looks forward to picking peaches and I love trying to get to my grandmother’s house in N. Indiana whenever blueberries come around), we aren’t completely dependent on that season in order to get that particular food. Here however, there isn’t the mass importing of produce, so often when the season isn’t there you can’t find that food, at least not easily.
SEASONS BY INSECT:
February: mites – those that cause mange in dogs and scabies in people!
May/June: small ants and FLEAS!
July/August: flies
November: flying ants and ticks
December: mosquitoes
This year of bugs isn’t an exact science. I’m quite certain that at any given time of the year one could find most any of these insects, however they seem to have peak times where they’re constantly underfoot. We avoided the fleas last May, when we first arrived, however we’ve had close experience and infestations of ticks, mites, small ants and currently fleas!!
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