Grow vegetables for the flowers

When was the last time that you looked at a vegetable plant and sighed in delight over its blooms?
er ... did you ever notice the blooms?
If you didn't, don't worry, you're not alone. Not many people ever bother to really look at a vegetable plant, except when they are hunting for a veggie that they can harvest (or looking for a pest that has got to the prize before they could). But, next time, take a good long look and you will discover that quite a few of these blooms could get the plant into the ornamentals category, if not the edibles one.
For instance, this okra bloom. The way the okra (ladies fingers / bhendi) blooms pale golden and so prolifically, especially in the tropics, could easily make it a favourite.

And this bright yellow bloom of the cucumber is just as pretty. Dotted along long rambling vines, it makes a very pretty picture, doesn't it?



Here's a closer look. Now do you see what I mean?

This one is so very eye-catching, isn't it?! The bloom of the Ash gourd is just as bright golden as its fruit is pale silvery grey-green. Such a contrast, right? And compared to the other gourds, this bloom is really big. 

Did you know that like the blossoms of the pumpkin, gourd flowers are edible too? Imagine having hot batter-fried gourd blossom pakoras on a rainy, stormy evening!

(Do make sure that you select the male flowers for this and leave the female flowers to carry on with what they do best ... create little baby gourds, of course!)

And there's no doubt about it that the best part of the bitter-gourd is its flower. Seriously!
Okay, quite a few of you many not agree with me (my husband included. He loves this knobbly bitter vegetable with a passion! ) but just look at it. Now picture a canopy of these golden yellow little blooms scrambling over a trellis or screening an ugly view. Very ornamental, isn't it?

 Bok choy! You didn't think it would have such pretty flowers did you? Well, neither did I! In fact, my daughter was so taken in by these blooms that she insisted that I save them and dump the green leaves.

If you think that there is an overdose of yellow blooms in this post (there is!), it's time for a change.  Have you ever seen the flower of the Red Amaranth? Take a look at this up-close-and-personal view!
I know that one is expected to keep pinching off the flowers to prolong the harvest period but when I see this I'm forced to think twice about pinching it off.

But the veggie bloom that takes the cake and the cake-stand for sheer uniqueness has to be that of the snake-gourd (padval)! Have you ever seen anything else quite like it???
This one I most definitely would grow! What about you?

Growing food for my table

I'm a happy gardener these days. All the hard work in the vegetable garden has paid off and my table is loaded with the fruits and vegetables we grew. Which is a real relief when I read in the papers about the spiraling prices.

We usually grow a lot of veggies during the monsoon season but this year was a strange one. The Monsoons hit us before time and continued battering the city and elsewhere almost non-stop for close to 2 months. And, I don't think we saw bright sunshine until August. So unusual! I've never seen anything like it in all the years that I've been farming.
Now, I love the monsoon season with a passion. But such a strange season got us a bit worried because all the vegetable seeds we had sown at the start of the monsoons either got washed away or the little seedlings just rotted away. Only the really tough local varieties survived (just about. And that's a great reason to grow local, heirloom varieties if you can find them)

The beans were the first to yield and they did so abundantly. With a whole-hearted largesse that makes you glad for such simple, easy-to-grow vegetables.
I don't know why more people don't grow them in the city. What you see here is the yield on a single day from just 2 plants! And that too, at the start of the harvest before the plants came into their full yielding potential.

And the peppers were full of green berries too. Don't you love the way those pepper berries are packed tight? It looks even prettier when they ripen.

If you have a banana plant in your garden, then you're set for several meals. In fact, almost the entire plant is edible one way or the other. It's not just the ripe fruit which you can enjoy as a fruit or dessert. The unripe fruit , the inflorescence and the pith of the pseudostem, all make great ingredients and feature in several of our regional cuisines.
Oh, and you can use the large leaves as a plate and compost it after your meal. No washing up! How much better can it get?

This is another plant from which we got a surprisingly good harvest this season. I'm not too fond of bitter-gourd as a vegetable but I have to admit that it does look pretty. I love the leaves and the simple but eye-catching bright yellow flowers.
Heck! I think we're doing it an injustice by confining it to the kitchen garden!

And I love how tenacious it is. The bittergourd vines can latch on and climb and smother any surface in a cloud of green almost overnight.

Interesting texture, don't you think? And they're very good for you. There are all kinds of reports of it helping to regulate blood-sugar levels.

Every once in a while, a few escape our eyes (well, it's a green veggie on a green plant, after all) . And this is what we find. A glorious warm sunset-orange rind and blood-red arils that rival the pomegranate in glossy, brilliant red-ness.
Definitely prettier than tastier ... to my eyes, at least!

This one I like, though! The Red Amaranth is grown in my garden round the year.The tender leaves and stem are rich in iron and its grain is increasingly being recommended too for its nutritional value.
This season, however I didn't get around to sowing its seeds. But guess what, some of them volunteered to show up anyway. In the stoniest, weediest part of the vegetable garden!
hmmmm.... I wonder if my garden is sending me a message here? "Don't bother weeding and cleaning"?
But here's my story, all those weeds are left undisturbed on purpose. Some of them are butterfly and pollinator food, you know. That tiny blue flower to the left? The Red Pierrot butterflies love them. So, now you know.

And how could I leave out the Carambola? This tree is just beginning to mature but I love how profusely it is bearing fruit on almost  every inch of bare space! This is definitely my kind of tree! Low on maintenance but high on yield.

Wait, there's more. But I think I'll keep those for another post. Maybe by then I'll have more pics to share. Of the tomatoes and other veggies which are growing and soon to yield any day now. Can you see me smiling?

In the meantime, here's a pic of cherry tomatoes from another harvest. Get growing your own food, everyone. It's not so tough. And it's definitely fulfilling. Also, tastier and healthier than the fruits and veggies you'll buy in the market.

And, if each one grows some, we'll all have a table-ful.
Smile, everyone!

finding Happiness in the garden

I had no idea my garden was so trendy! The colour of the year is blooming itself silly in my garden.
Oh yes, feast your eyes on the most cheerful, vivacious colour ever. Tangerine Tango is what Pantone calls it. I call it Sheer Pep!
Doesn't it just put a zing in your soul and a swing in your step? They definitely got the Tango part right. Electrifying!

I think if Happiness had a colour, this would be it. Not the insipid pale-pink kind of happy.
No way! this is the in-your-face, ecstatic to the core, bursting-with-happiness, beaming-from-ear-to-ear, hopping and skipping and dancing, vibrantly giddy kind of happy!

And I'm finding all kinds of variations on the theme all over. Don't you just love this pop of colour? Ornamental Musas have a way of being eye-catching even in a garden crammed with colour. But put them in the midst of green foliage and wham! it just pulls eyes to them instantly.

Any plant which is a butterfly and bird-magnet as well as being low-maintenace, ranks very high on my list of must-haves in the garden. With the lantana you get all this plus cheerful colours too.
I have a wild lantana bush growing in the middle of my vegetable patch . It's grown and grown, like the legendary porridge in the magic pot, till it's spilling all over the place. It takes up a good 10' x 20' (or more ... definitely more) of the space but I'm a bit indulgent with it. After all, it's the perfect spot to lurk near in hopes of clicking butterflies. So I let it grow wider but not taller. I keep it pruned (or rather, hacked) to a controllable 6' height or I would have a lantana tree blocking out afternoon sunshine from my orchids.
The one in the photo above, however, is more well-behaved and is bred to stay humbly close to the ground. And I lovvve that colour!

The Pagoda Flower (or Clerodendrum paniculatum) is another burst of colour for the garden. I love mixing it up with shorter plants and then again, it looks great in masses of its own kind too. Like wave upon wave of orange-red fireworks.
Now picture that against a grey stone wall. Or even a stark white-washed wall. Or with a green grass backdrop ... so dramatic!

Oh, and the butterflies love them too. Do you really need any more reasons?

Need more of the 'shake-awake' factor?
If anything shouts "Drama!", it just has to the Anthurium. This one doesn't exactly fall into the Colour Trend of the Year category, but really ... does it need to?!
I love the glossy, brilliantly-hued spathes that sizzle their way to centre-stage each time. Every time.
And know what I love even more? That they're low-maintenance! At least in tropical gardens, they are. And their blooms last and last and last. Perfect for the busy gardener who juggles a hundred chores every day, don't you think? Happiness!

If bright colours are the trend this year, this must be in the Top 10! I love the uber-bright, soft as a powder-puff bloom of the Wax Jambu. I love the fruit too (naturally!) but the flowers are a great taste of yumminess in store.
Did I say taste? The flower is edible too, as any little kid in tropical lands will tell you. It has a slight sour tang which makes it too tempting to leave alone. I remember raiding the Wax Jambu trees in my childhood garden and nibbling on the blooms. My mom never objected because she loved it too. In fact, I think she's the one who introduced me to this tangy flavour.
The squirrels did protest, though. Long and loud!

It's not just colours that make me happy. Growing my own food puts me firmly on that path too. But it's a bursting-with-pride kind of happy.
Leafy greens are some of the easiest edibles to grow. So are the leafy reds. Doesn't the red amaranth growing among the green palak look festive? Especially in Mumbai with the mellow winter sun gleaming on them? Perfect holiday colour!

This Common Sailor butterfly doesn't have the brilliant colouring which seems to be favoured this year.
Or does he? Once he folds his wings you just might be surprised. Take a look here .
Hmmm.... maybe he's a pirate?

A bit drab, did you say? But then, butterflies embody the Happiness factor in any garden (or anywhere else for that matter). Even a sober Grey Pansy butterfly basking in the winter sunlight is enough to make my click-happy fingers tremble with excitement. Love those colours against the vibrant green of the lantana and banana leaves!

And I love those fake eyes on his wing-tips, goggling at the world. Brilliant! Any attacking bird would be misled into going for those 'eyes', giving the butterfly enough time to break free and escape. I love it when the underdog outwits the bigger, tougher adversary!

But if you want to find pure unadulterated happiness, take a tip from this Psyche. She stuck her whole head (not just her proboscis) deep ... way deep ... into this Vinca, immersing herself wholeheartedly into the moment. Until ...

..... aaaahhhh! BLISS !!!

Fruits of labour

Spring is here in Mumbai (feels like Summer, though!) and I'm busy harvesting vegetables from my winter crop. So satisfying to see the fruits of one's labour!

In Mumbai, one of the easiest winter veggies that grow to harvest within a month of sowing are these red radishes. I much prefer these quick-to-harvest veggies... mainly because I'm too impatient for my own good.
Gardening is supposed to teach one patience, right? Well, it hasn't happened to me yet!

Cr-r-r-isp!!!
These have to be some of the most flavourful radishes I've ever tasted. Just bursting with goodness, like the ad-guys say. And they look so pretty too(er... I meant the radishes, of course)!

I was never too fond of radishes and their slightly pungent flavour. Till I tasted the home-grown, just-out-of-the-garden variety. You have no idea what a difference that makes. Especially since I didn't wait for it to get too big and woody but harvested it early.
But what made it extra-special was that this was planted by my daughter. Aaah! I knew you'd understand.

She had accompanied me to the vegetable patch and was fascinated to see the tomatoes grow.

The flowers of the bok choy are so pretty aren't they? My daughter was a bit annoyed that I had to remove them and other emerging buds. But she's right, they're good enough to go into my flower vases!

They're much tastier when the leaves are tender but if you can keep the flowers away (don't tell her!), you can harvest the leaves a bit longer.

Okay, maybe a couple of flowers among all that green is great soul-food too. Especially when they're such pretty flowers!

And then there was the broccoli (Yes! We do grow broccoli in Mumbai during our so-short winter season) ... a favourite with my kids. They could never understand why broccoli has such a bad reputation among kids in story-books and cartoons.

Anyway, the broccoli was the decider. She decided she wanted her own vegetable patch too.

Broccoli would take too long to grow. By the time it is ready we would be in the middle of summer, broiling in temperatures closer to38*C. But radish? The perfect sneak-in-a quick-crop vegetable!

Love's labour ...

... WON!!!