Growing vegies in the warmth of Tuvalu

One of the things I miss from New Zealand are fresh veggies, and although my vegie garden has been a bit basic in its crop and neglected over the summer, I particularly miss the pleasure of growing my own.  There is something about the process of planting a seed and seeing the first shoot then leaves form and watching it develop (sometimes over many months).  It's therapeutic for me.

When I was looking at renting a place for my stay here, one of the things I noticed was that hardly any places have gardens.  I was very pleasantly surprised when, on my return in April, I discovered that raised beds and vegetable seedling had appeared at the hotel.  One of the staff had developed them and tended them every day.  He had 'made' the soil out of old coconut tree trunks and pig manure, and imported the seeds.

The thing that surprised me most was the speed of their growth.  As you can see from the photos below, you could almost stand there and see them physically growing.  The first photo was taken on the 11th April and the last on the 10th May, the day after the first were harvested and served in the Hotel restaurant.

I wonder if sustaining a temperature range of 26-32 deg 24/7 would result in the same growth rate.....