Going Green

The last month before the GMIL’s demise was a very busy one, both at work and at home. So much so that our meager collection of plants suffered from drought because we forgot to water them, out-door plants wilted under the harsh sun and flowering plants burned down to a cinder. Post granny’s funeral, when we looked at our terrace, it shocked us to see that barring the aloe-vera, almost all our plants were near extinction. The realization hurt bad because I had taken the responsibility of tending to them since the GMIL was bed-ridden. I thought I was doing fine….until I saw those brown stumps 😐

The GMIL herself lacks a green thumb and it is not surprising that the thought of watering them plants never occurred to her. In fact, why blame her alone? None of the other members gave them a second look. We were all collectively guilty 😦

So I’ve been struggling with going green again. I replanted some of  those plants which had a little life left in them. Moved the indoor ones indoors and the ones that required sunshine were set in places where they got all the sun that they needed, yet, had plenty of shade for the rest of the day. Regular watering, a little digging up and some natural manure later, the plants are beginning to revive. The brown stumps have started sprouting new leaves and though it may sound silly, I’m filled with with a happiness that I had last reserved while birthing the twins 😀

I’m waiting for the leaves to grow a little more before I can take snaps and proudly display them here. Other than tending to the almost-dead plants, I also planted a few veggies, just to try out if I have it in me to grow my own produce. So I bought these troughs, mud, manure and seeds. I planted ridge-gourd, gawar and methi (fenugreek). These are the starter vegetables because I was assured by the man selling seeds that ridge-gourd and gawar are low-maintenance plants. We just have to provide supports for the ridge-gourd and it would do all the climbing and growing by itself.

The plants have come up well (MashaAllah) and though they have not produced any fruits yet, I’m glad to see that they are growing real fast (at least the ridge-gourd is). Here are a few pics of the sprouts as they sprung out of the soil . Needless to say, I was a mass of giggles and happiness just to see those teeny-tiny green leaves in my pots 🙂

Here is the ridge-gourd. As the seed-seller said, this one took a while to sprout, but once out, it grew at an exponential rate compared to the others. There is one lonely onion that was dug in by the nanny. Truth is, the ridge-gourd has taken over the onion. RIP onion 😐

Turai sprouts

The easiest to plant were the methi seeds. I just sprinkled some in the trough and they came up promptly in a couple of day’s time. Looking forward to a good harvest 🙂

Methi sprouts

The ‘gawar’ took a long time to sprout and it is the one which is growing at the slowest pace. I have no idea what a grown gawar plant looks like and waiting for the ones to grow in my pots is like watching milk boil. Only difference being that milk boils quicker 😐

These pics were clicked a couple of weeks back. The plants are much bigger now 🙂 . I will post those snaps along with the other plants that have been reborn :D.

I know I’m not too inclined towards gardening, but somehow, tending to these plants and watering them brings with it a sense of peace. The twins love watering them too and often fight over whose chance it is.  The sight of a new tender leaf or a bud sprouting in the mogra or hibiscus is enough to send Lui into a trance. She looks on incredulously and I wonder what thoughts go on in her mind as she gazes at them. Shobby is happy to do the watering and then back to other important businesses like breaking the head of one of Lui’s dolls 🙄

Slowly, but surely, we are getting back to normal, I guess 🙂