Yaaaaaaaaaaay ! Our first harvest !

I was out of town on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th July. So I was very eager to visit Aanandi on Saturday 24th. As it happened, nobody else could make it to Aanandi that day. However Maami was coming over from Mumbai to tidy up the house a bit after the painting etc. So I decided that I would go anyway. Also, Prajakta, Smita and Amruta had informed me that the ambadi might need to be picked. So I was excited on that count as well.

Come Saturday morning, it was raining so heavily that I was up and ready to go but couldn’t leave the house till 9:30 a.m. Then, as the rain subsided a little, I went to Aanandi.

As I entered the garden, I was pleased to see that more bhendi plants had sprouted and the ghevda (beans) had sprouted well. Also there was some growth where the tomato, waanga and gawar are supposed to be. Then I progressed to the leafy-vegetables patch and saw the methi and palak plants resting on the ground due to the heavy rain. But I was not too worried about it since I know that with a little bit of sunshine they will be up again.

Then I saw the ambadi… knee-high plants with gloriously thick growth. I saw that it needed to be picked. I so missed everybody ! They should have been there for the first harvest ! I started to pick the ambadi. You just have to pluck off the tops of the ambadi or even palak. The plant grows more leaves that you can pick again. We had planted seven 2-feet long rows of ambadi. After I was done picking in one and a half rows, I realised that there was going to be much more than I anticipated. I was wearing the poncho-raincoat and raincoat trousers and helmet. I lifted up the poncho-raincoat and started collecting the ambadi in it ! I must have looked quite funny, I’m sure :) Ultimately as I finished picking all seven rows, there was so much of the leafy vegetable that I was delirious with joy. And we shall enjoy more such ambadi every fifteen-twenty days ! :)

Then I went upstairs showed it all to Maami who quickly gave me one large plate and one big tray to keep it in. I clicked a photograph…its not too nice as far as photograph-quality goes, but I’m glad that to see the two mounds of ambadi seen in it :) Here it is:

Later I made seven (market-sized) bunches of it and distributed them among Maami, Aai and the Aanandi team. Yesterday Amruta gave me the report that her mother had made the bhaaji and it was delicious :)

What an incredible motivation this ambadi has been. I can now patiently wait for the bhendi, wanga, tomato, gawar and ghevda :)

The feeling of being involved in the process of ‘making’ your own food from seed-to-plate is incredible !