Central Otago Wild Thyme

#220 Do - the simple pleasure of walking through wild thyme in Central Otago. There is something about the combination of the warmth and the smell of the thyme that confirms you're in Central. The woody plants cover the hills, growing out of spaces in rocks and in the driest of soils. At this time of the year, it's in pretty lilac bloom. Apparently thyme was introduced by a French goldminer in the 1860s, Jean Desire Feraud. He had a farm near Clyde where he planted thyme, along with sage and marjoram. The thyme escaped and as it was unpalatable to sheep and rabbits, it spread and now covers an estimated 2000ha around the region. This makes me chuckle thinking of our unsuccessful attempts to plant and grow thyme on our land in Central! Now it even has its own festival, since 1991 there has been an annual Thyme Festival in Alexandra, which is coming up at the end of the month.

#history #nature #festival