Oh…life’s ups and downs !

My latest visit to Aanandi was on 31st July. Ashish, Smita, Amu and I were in the garden that day.

First we planted the two trees Smita had brought. One was kadamb. It grows to be a tall tree and so we planted it in the long patch which we intend to convert into a wooded patch. As a part of her work with the Ecological Society, Smita is studying forest foods and their viability in urban farming. As a part of that experiment, she had brought a forest vegetable called khuDa which we planted. Its flowers are used to make a vegetable preparation and Smita reports that it tastes nice. Apart from this we did not have much to do besides survey the plots where we have planted vegetables, remove the Ashok seeds, wander around to check in there were any guavas, pomegranates and lemons. So, the methi in one plot has totally died due to incessant rains in that week and so has the coriander. Some coriander and methi continue to fight back in two other plots. The palak seems to be plodding along better than the other two. The shepu too is shyly coming up. The sturdiest of the lot is the ambadi. It is growing back and will perhaps be ready to be plucked this Saturday. The pomegranates need to be picked and thrown away and the tree needs to be pruned heavily. We shall do it once the rains let up a little. The guavas and lemons are small yet and it will be a couple of weeks before we can pick them.

As we completed this whole survey, Mama came from Mumbai with Mami and Manavendra as planned. Then we showed him around and explained our future plans for the garden to him. As we were going around, when we were at the sitaphal (custard-apple) plant (can’t call it a tree yet…its only 5.5 feet in height!) when Smita said, “Just have look…maybe the plant has some fruit”. Excitedly I looked and sure enough, there were at least 10-15 tiny sitaphal fruits on the plant ! We were all so thrilled :)

On Sunday I decided to sleep in after ages. The next weekend i.e. 7th and 8th August I couldn’t go since I had a theatre workshop. On Sunday afternoon Mami called to report that on Saturday the kadunimba tree right in the entrance collapsed on its own. It blocked the entrance. Luckily Yuvraj, the head of the painters currently working inside the house upstairs, was present there at the time. He first took photographs (that will serve to prove that the tree fell on its own) and then coordinated with the PMC people to come and take it away and clear up the tree-debris. It took the whole of that day and considerable ‘chai-paani’ for the PMC people, but it was all done. I was so saddened to hear about all this :( I reported it to the Aanandi team and the overall morale quickly plummeted. As I reported it to Pradeep, he explained that in the rains, due to the water, the weight of the tree increases three-fold. Since the kadunimba tree was heavily leaning on one side, the accumulated weight caused the tree to fall. As it is the garden has suffered from neglect for so long that some such mishaps are expected. The explanation satisfies my intellect but not the heart. Oh well !

Yet, there is one good thing that might come out of this. Yuvraj spoke to the PMC people about trimming the Ashok trees and pruning other trees that have grown in all odd directions and they have assured that as soon as we give them a letter, they will immediately get the job done. We have drafted a letter and I shall hand it to Yuvraj to follow it through.

In other plant related news, my petit jardin in my balcony (all of 3 by 5 feet !) celebrated the rains with lovely flowers. There were (and still are) four to five blossoms of blue and purple coloured blooms on the Hydrangea plant and some Lilies. The best of all is the Brahmakamal flower. A friend in office looked at the photographs and said that this is the Parnakamal and the Brahmakamal blooms only in the Himalayas at heights greater than 15000 feet. Nevertheless, “a rose by any other name…”… So, this flower is special because it blooms only in the monsoon. It starts blooming by 11:00 p.m. It is in full bloom at midnight and withers away till sunrise. The petals are so delicate and translucent and it has a very mild and sweet, heady fragrance. In my garden the Brahamakal plant is in a really small pot but it has grown so well ! Some of its long leaves are hanging out of the balcony. It had eight buds and four flowers bloomed on one night and the remaining four on the next night. Even today it has three more buds :)

I leave you with flowers from my garden :)

Lilies

Hydrangea

Brahmakamal

And the one hanging out of the balcony !

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 !

Veggie update :)

This weekend there was some work and much enjoyment at the garden.

On our way to Aanandi, we saw these huge Vitthal-Rakhumai idols on the road. I liked the expressions on their faces and stopped to click a couple of photographs.

On Saturday we removed the weeds, that, incidentally grow so well and so fast that it seems as if we planted them, and not the leafy vegetables ! We also demarcated all the sub-plots with bricks. We watered the plants a bit. Its a little tricky watering the plants right now. It isn't raining consistently in Pune but when it does it pours. So we use a little judgement according to that day's weather, predictions, and some Indian lunar calendar indicators and give the plants, what we think is, just enough water. Can't have them dry up or drown !

I was so feeling like a true-blue farmer while removing the weeds, discussing and speculating about the weather and worrying for the tiny plants :)

The leafy vegetables are growing well and in about three weeks time we might be able to harvest the ambadi ! The other veggies that we planted last weekend, on the other hand, gave us mixed results. The chawli is up and bright. Looking at the mirchi and waanga plots you'd wonder if we'd actually planted anything. After planting nine rows of bhendi seeds last weekend, I had remarked to Amruta that we would see a record production of bhendi. Spoken too soon ! There are just six to seven bhendi plants in the entire plot of nine rows :( I expressed my disappointment to somebody and they assured me that bhendi and waanga are sturdy plants and also take their time to sprout. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed ! (I'm wondering about the mirchi, though).

On Sunday we did some more cleaning work, removed some Ashok branches laden with seeds, that would have, no doubt claimed all plots and registered their presence in a couple of weeks. So, we literally nipped it in the bud :)

The Ashok trees have grown to about 40 feet tall and now, lean into the terrace. Some branches hang in the terrace, but others hang way outside the terrace. We would have to go to the terrace, pull them in and chop them off. So Ashish and I went up to the terrace with the famous machete, a huge pair of scissors and a long bamboo with a hook affixed to one end. The terrace has a boundary wall that is only one foot tall. There was this huge pile of dried leaves, full of cockroaches by the way, in the corner from where we had to pull in and chop off the Ashok branches. Initially I simply refused to enter that area. Ashish had to work alone at pulling the branches in and chopping them off. However, about three easy branches later, we realised that I would have to enter that cocroach infested pile of leaves and help Ashish. Mercifully, these cockroaches weren't the house-cockroach variety and I discovered that they would scamper off, and not climb up my legs, when I entered the pile of leaves. So I was able to help Ashish without much stress. I would use the long bamboo with the hook to pull in a branch that would be far off. Then Ashish would catch hold of it and hand it to me. Then I would keep it pulled while Ashish chopped it off. All was going well in the beginning. However a few branches later, my arms started aching with all the pulling. So Ashish and I decided to switch places. The next time I pulled in this really huge branch and Ashish caught hold of it. The branch was pulling out so much that Ashish had to sit on the cockroachy-leaf-pile and firmly push the boundary wall with his legs to be able to hold on to it. As I started chopping the branch off, the vibrations were such that at one point Ashish's grip got loose and he got up to adjust his grip and footing. In that very instant, unknown to what he was doing, I struck the machete powerfully at the branch. Ashish swayed and actually yelped. That made me turn around and I saw him nearly go over the terrace wall, hanging to the Ashok branch. I started laughing and so did he...and to top this nonsense, between fits of laughter, I started shouting, "Help" "Help" :) And just 30 feet below, blissfully unaware to this whole drama were Smita and Amruta peacefully lining the plots with bricks. Under a minute Ashish got his grip and footing back but, oh, we laughed so hard !

We also planted tomato seeds in one small corner of the behndi plot and four small corners of the mirchi plot. Tomato plants, apparently, grow quickly. Let's see.

In the rest-of-the-garden news, the pomegranate tree has a big burst of blossoms. The orange flowers look so pretty ! There are many butterflies flying about and its great to watch their different colours. Also, there is this huge jungle of gulbakshi plants with ... er... gulbakshi coloured flowers ! When you crush a gulbakshi flower on your palm, it leaves a rich magenta colour. Prajakta reminded me and I too remembered that as children we used to play 'mehendi-mehendi' with these flowers :)

I leave you with some photographs.

Vitthal-Rakhumai

Brown butterfly...the colour could fool you into thinking it is a stone !

Pretty pomegranate blossom

Rich magenta (gulbakshi) coloured Gulbakshi flowers

Neatly demarcated plots

Chawli

Methi

Ambadi

The garden is growing…

Severe illness that began last Saturday night prevented me from visiting Aanandi garden on last Sunday. In fact I was on leave from office for the entire week. On Friday evening we had a performance and thus on Saturday I was not inclined to wake up early and do any work at all !

So finally, come Sunday, Amruta and I went to Aanandi and were so happy to see teeny-tiny sprouts of coriander, dill, spinach and fenugreek and neat rows of very good-looking ambadi plants in the long patch :)

This is how it looks:

The Z is marked for the part of the plot where the branches of the zaadu plant are covering the ground. In sub-plots 7 and 8 we have planted kothimbir. In 6 and 4 there is paalak. In 3 and 5 there is methi. In 2 there is shepu and in 1 there is ambadi.

Seeing those plants growing gave us an even bigger boost for that day’s work. First we cleaned up the square plot next to the banana plot. There were a lot of weeds there. Ashish and Niranjan had plowed it last Saturday but due to the rains it was all set in an uneven pattern. So we flattened it out. Then we demarcated smaller plots in it for different vegetables. We lined the smaller plots by bricks so that till the plants grow, we can make out which are the paths and which are the plots :) Then we dug shallow - about 6 inch deep – rows and planted different seeds in different plots.

Here is how we have planted:

The pie-shaped areas which have lines marked across them are A) the part of the plot where the branches of the zaadu plant are covering the ground and B) the jaswand (hibiscus) plant.

So, in the remaining portion, we planted in sub-plot numbers:

1) Just a single row of gavar (cluster beans) seeds

2) A couple of rows of mirchi (chilli) seeds where there are already four mirchi plants.

3) Two vertical rows of gavar (cluster beans) seeds

4) Two vertical rows of waanga (brinjal) seeds

5) Several horizontal rows of chawli beans seeds

6) Many horizontal rows on bhendi (okra/ladyfinger) seeds

Actually, even after planting gavar in 1 and 3 we still had some seeds left over and after planting waanga in 4 there were some seeds left over too. So in 5 after using up all the chawli seeds, we could make two more rows, one of waanga and one of gavar ! In 6 we planted bhendi (okra)…and there is going to be so much of it ! The first two rows near the jaswanda plant are seeds given by Dhadphale kaku and the remaining are store-bought and what a difference in the appearance !! The ones given by Dhadphale kaku were dark green and natural looking and the store-bought ones were looking like tiny plastic balls painted with a silver-tinted blue-green smooth colour. Those seeds were really eerie…Amruta and I felt that these must be fake. Amruta even suggested we plant them a little more closely to ensure that something would grow ! After three solid hours of physical labour, finally it was all done.

Now we are eagerly waiting for next Saturday when we will see new saplings in this plot and taller saplings in the previous one. The good news is that after the planting on Sunday, on Monday it didn’t rain too heavily and yesterday it rained a bit more. So, cheers rain ! Here’s to growth ! :)

Back after exactly one month !

There has been a prolonged silence...exactly one month...but, there has been much work done.

Its much too late to give a detailed feedback of the cleaning work. So suffice it to say that the contractor had a very meticulous way of working but a very poor judgement of the volume of work. So what was going to be a quick week of intensive work extended to about eight days. Another cause for extension was that the labourers would work only when the contractor was around. Also, TU (=tenant uncle) displayed his nuisance value on two days and Pradeep had to be brought in to talk to him severely after which he mellowed.

Once that was done, there was still some work that we needed to do. So that took considerable amount of time due to our lack of judgement and experience :)

The last picture that I put up in the previous post shows a gloriously plowed plot. After that however, due to many factors such as rains, some more cleaning (to be precise, clearing off the ash piles and distributing the ash all over the garden), plucking the jackfruit (5 minutes to pluck it, 20 minutes to wash off the sticky stuff!), protecting the big trees with anti-ant and anti-harmful-insect powder etc., it took us a further three weeks to come to a point where we could actually think of planting something. By this time I was getting really impatient. I even remarked that we've spent half the year cleaning, now at least in the remaining half, lets watch this garden grow !

By this time, a lot of grass and other plants had taken over the plots...yes, the same ones that we had plowed and kept ready ! So first we removed all of them from one plot and let them lie there. One Chitale kaka had told us that it will dry up there, turn onto manure and help the plants grow.

Finally on Saturday the 19th we procured seeds from Dhadphale kaku who generously also gave tips on planting and a lot more seeds than we had requested for. She also gave us some plants. Then, on Sunday the 20th, we planted all the plants - tooti (Blackberries, I believe), Coffee, mehendi, karande (a vegetable that is found predominantly in Kokan), paan leaves, a red-flower creeper, aLoo (I think it is called Colocasia), Potatoes and some mirchi (Chilli)plants. We decided to plant the seeds the next day.

The next day was spent in clearing up the long plot off all the grass and weeds. So finally, today morning, we went and planted some seeds - palak (Spinach), methi (Fenugreek), ambadi (another leafy vegetable...I don't know the English name) and shepu (Dill)

Tomorrow we plant more seeds and the last batch on Saturday. On Sunday we'll just go to water the garden and generally feel happy about the work we have done :)

I leave you with some recent photographs...

How green is my garden ! Look at the flora...

And the fauna !

Pretty mushrooms...so soft to touch...

What plant do you think these leaves belong to ?

Yams !!! 

Photo-update

Hey :) There's so much to share...the details of the cleaning wor, what we did after that, newer problems (so what's new ?)...but I have very little time right now. So I'm going to make do with some pictures...and follow it up later with details. So, here goes:

How clean is our garden !

The 'Green' Beetles :)

New branch to suddenly, without warning, beak off and fall one night :(

 

The jackfruit...nearly ripe :)

Hey Look ! We found a snake ! It curled itslf into a tight knot and pretended to be dead. Then Ashish had it curled up around his little finger :) Then, Discovery Channel style, we released it under the Jackfruit tree, away from the patch we were digging.

 

The bright orange Exora

And the Mayflowers :)

And, we're ready to plant ! :)

  

Yippeeee !

Finally ! Finally we have found a chap to clear away all the rubble, waste, plastic etc. and clean up the entire garden !

On Saturday Smita and I went to Aanandi. I immediately noticed that the angles and wire-mesh on the wall adjoining the PMC nallah, were missing ! Also, there were small gaps created in the wall ! ‘Now what ?’ I wearily thought and called Arunkaka and got to know from him that previously his workers had affixed the angles simply by nailing them into the wall, assuming that this was the side wall and nobody would do anything (!), but somebody stole it ! So they had made those gaps in the wall to cement in the angles this time around ! Each time we go there, some new incident awaits us ! Since there was not much we could do about this issue, we just went about our work after this phone call. We called one construction supplier chap to come and survey the site and give us an estimate regarding time and cost for cleaning work. We waited and we waited and we waited and he didn’t arrive at all nor did he receive our calls ! So we just plucked as many leaves of the fallen mango tree as possible and then left, dejected. On Sunday Smita and I were joined by Ashish but none of us was motivated to work since we were worried that we weren’t getting anybody to clean up and unless that work is done, digging the lang, airing it and planting cannot begin…and monsoon will soon begin. So we simply watered the plants. We noticed that the gaps in the wall now contained the angles which were cemented in.

Then we went to the terrace. Going to the terrace is a mini-adventure. On the first floor, there is a small opening in the ceiling where there is a hatch. When you open it, there is a narrow landing (where only one person can stand at a time) with a door that is locked. You place a ladder (we have a bamboo-one) to the hatch and climb up. When your head touches the hatch, you push it open. It gets fixed to hooks in the side-walls. Then you climb on the landing and balancing yourself you open the lock and enter the terrace ! So, this is how we went to the terrace. :) We removed some kadipatta seeds (I have planted them in a pot at home…let’s see…) and generally looked around. There is a carpet of leaves and we discussed that either we should remove them and use them for compost or we could lay thick plastic sheets under them and plant vegetables in them…vegetables grow very well in a pile of dead leaves…especially chillies, tomatoes, brinjals. Let’s see.

Then as we came down and sat in the garden, I said, “It is really most frustrating not to find somebody to do the cleaning work. We are not equipped to do it and so we are searching for somebody. We will pay them. Yet nobody responds to our calls ! Why ?” Suddenly Smita and Ashish remembered that for a recent landscaping assignment they had enquired with this chap who is a little more expensive than others, but seems quite sorted. So we called him and to our surprise, he arrived within a short while. This chap means business. He looked around, we discussed in detail and then gave us an estimate of time and cost (which we found to be on the higher side). We said we would let him know by end of the day so that if we gave the green signal, he could begin work immediately on Monday. After he left, we made a cost-estimate and found that he was quoting only slightly higher.

Then I called and discussed the whole thing with Mama. He cautioned us about how these people find ways to con people and asked us to make sure that he didn’t con us. I assured Mama that this work had to be done and we would take care that all of it got done without us being conned. Also, we would negotiate the price with him.

Then we called him again, negotiated the price and settled at a figure acceptable to both. We met him in the evening to make a semi-formal document that contained a checklist of the tasks we agreed upon and the price and mode of payment.

So now there will two sets of workers working at Aanandi – one set of Arunkaka’s working for the plumbing etc. and wire mesh work and one set commissioned by us ! It is going to be one big circus !

Then Smita, Ashish and I made a time-table of people who would supervise the work. Smita, Ashish, Pradeep, Amruta, Saurabh and I will take turns at visiting the site and give feedback to others.

There is this huge miscommunication about the stolen angles and wire mesh. When Pradeep had gone to Aanandi to supervise on Wednesday morning, TU (=tenant uncle) told him that only one angle was stolen and he noticed it and made the workers remove the remaining angles and wire mesh and keep it inside and then cement them in the wall to prevent theft. But what Arunkaka had told me on Saturday was that all of it got stolen and they had to replace the entire thing. This morning when I called Yuvraj, the in-charge of Arunkaka’s workers, he had something else to report ! He said that the first time, 2-3 angles and a little wire mesh was stolen. Then the second time (when they were cemented in) somebody cut off and stole one angle !! There is too much confusion. On Saturday Pradeep and I have decided to meet Yuvraj, Arunkaka and TU all at the same time and get it sorted. I want to launch a police complaint. It is too much if angles get stolen each time we put them up !

This morning when I called Yuvraj, I also warned him to take away all the rubbish he’s throwing in the garden from his work…the other day he simply threw broken window glasses into a very well-cleaned patch. I also asked him upto where they are going to put up the wire mesh and he replied, only up to the Chikoo tree ! I said, that will not do ! The wire mesh should be put up along the entire wall adjoining the nallah and also near the triangular patch behind the tall coconut tree. I said I’ll talk to Arunkaka and he said he’ll talk with his immediate supervisor and then we can talk with Arunkaka. So there’s that issue to sort out as well.

Now, on to a more pleasant topic – the cleaning work :) - the work began on Monday and will end on Saturday. Since Monday, turn-by-turn, we are going to Aanandi and coming back very satisfied. He is working in an extremely systematic and organised manner. He is very thorough. My turn was on Monday morning and directly on Saturday morning and evening. So when I reach there on Saturday, I expect to be very pleasantly surprised :) I shall write a detailed post of the stages of work and also upload photos of each stage after the whole work is complete.

So, Yipppeeeeeeeeee :)