I did my last rounds for the year in the garden today. Coincidentally, my plants were due for their bi-weekly potassium spray. This involves sprinkling wood ash generously on the plants. I talked about how Mom had discovered wood ash as a handy and efficient fertilizer for the crops. You can find where I talked about its uses and benefits in this post.
It was such a therapeutic experience for me doing these rounds on the garden because not only is this my last thorough work in the garden for the year, but for a while since I won’t be around for a few months because of school. So, it was a nice experience and as hard as I tried not to have little conversations with my plants, I still did because I guess I’m weird that way. But mostly because they are amazing listeners and they’re a beauty to look at. So, it’s a win-win.
I first went to my pineapple. Amazing things those ones are. We had to uproot our guava tree a year back to give the pineapple suckers a chance to grow. At that time it seemed like a good decision because the guava tree was growing too tall and frankly wasn’t producing as much fruit as it used to and also because we’d eaten it enough to last a lifetime.
But I’m thinking now that it wasn’t such a great decision. I’m already making plans to plant one before I go. I’ve not told any of the others yet though, so let’s see. The garden is pretty much crowded as it is. Back to my lovely pineapples, about four were harvested this month since they had ripened and since we’d ensured to plant the especially sweet species, it was a wonderful experience. This one and another at the back remains and though I won’t be able to taste it, I am more than happy to share these pictures with you.
I moved over to the orange tree. We planted this years back and frankly, I wasn’t expecting much. But it not only met but surpassed our expectations. And even better since I was gunning for the short and fruity species. The neighbours have had a field day with this one as we can’t possibly eat them all. And though the little children in the neighbourhood can’t outright pluck them, since it stretches beyond the fence, the oranges that fall on the ground are abundant. I think that the fact that the orange didn’t grow too tall is because of the big tanks that are probably hindering its height, but we’ll never know.
I went to my sassy baby girls next. This was another plant that wowed us with how awesomely well they sprouted. The Thai chillies gave me a lot of joy because of how spicy they are and the degree of flavour they added to our meals. We did have a bit of a problem with them because like I said, they fruited well, but I guess it was too much as we suddenly found ourselves with a big basket of chili that was beginning to go bad in our hands. We gave some to neighbours, and Mom had some market ladies take some to sell, and our meals became even spicier. Which didn’t bother us too much since most members of my family love spicy food.
Since there would be no rain for a long time, we’ve been watering them quite frequently. However, today was skipped since we had to apply the wood ash. They are survivors though and I know they will thrive marvellously even in this unfavourable season.
I’ll talk briefly about the coconuts. I think I’ve drunk too much coconut milk this year and I’m not nearly tired as even though I had to drink it almost every day, it was too sweet to pass by. I’m not too much of a fan of the actual fruit but I do like it when we use it to prepare coconut rice. I did that last week with the coconut milk and it was an interesting experience. Cutting them into little pieces was fun, as well as the grinding process. The food turned out more than okay. And everyone was happy.
And last but not least, my upcoming stars. Our Soursop fruit. The last time I talked about it was also when I mentioned the wood ash discovery. And at the time, we had just ventured into it after nearly four years of being without. I’d come home one day to see it uprooted for space to plant more vegetables. It’s supposed to be mildly sour. But as everyone in the family has a penchant for extra-sweet fruits, we scouted and successfully got seedlings for that species.
That was the one that had gotten uprooted. I waited till we had space for another one before I planted this one. It’s still the sweet species and thankfully short as I believe that the shorter the tree, the sweeter the fruit. The sour sop started fruiting a few weeks back and I was more than delighted. Mom wasn’t too happy that I got too close to the fruit as she thinks that pointing, touching or getting too close to fruiting plants, limits their chance of growth or healthy fruits for that matter. They may be superstitions but as I didn't want to risk it, I was quick to take pictures and leave so I wouldn’t disturb the princesses in all their greenly amazing beauty.
I may do a last post to talk about the vegetables as I didn’t want to cover them in this post. But I do hope you loved my little fruity tour. Have a juicy day.
Jhymi🖤
All images are mine.
