How to Grow Pineapples
I got this excellent pineapple specimen with baby pineapples attached! This is from Shishir at the @farmersmarket.co.in in Bandra this Sunday. If you haven't visited the market, you must go check it out, for all their yummy, seasonal goodies! Shishir is such a wealth of knowledge, you must go meet him and exchange notes if like me, you are a plant nerd🤓
Have you seen pineapples growing at a farm? Here's a little bit about how they grow and the slips and suckers and the tops. This particular variety is called a Queen pineapple - identified by its very spiky leaves but it is extremely sweet to taste!🤤
I've grown them mainly from tops and they take much much longer to grow. So I'm excited to get my hands on a few slips to grow them quicker :) Have you grown pineapples at home in containers? Or at your farm?
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#growingpineapples #containergardening #ediblegardens
Lemon Flowers Dancing in the Rain
I've been so worried about the lemon blossoms in the garden this season, the last few days rains and crazy winds being so brutal on my green babies!
But looks like they are strong and enjoying the season's adventures! Silly me, worried about nothing 😅
How are your plants doing in this crazy Mumbai weather lately? Tell me if you need any help/ suggestions. I'm here :)
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#lemonblossoms #ediblegardens #gardeningtips #mumbaimonsoon
How to Grow Peanuts in Your Garden in the Monsoons
Update on the peanuts sown last month: these babies are ready to be transplanted to bigger containers today! Look how beautifully they've grown, still at the stage at which you can see them sprouting from the shell but big enough to now be moved to bigger pots to increase their yield.
If you are looking for something easy to grow in your container garden this monsoon season, let it be peanuts! Just soak some store-bought peanuts (not roasted, they must be raw but don't have to be in their shell) Just 45 days is their life cycle from seed to harvest. So for me, it's time to rush them to a bigger container so that three weeks from now, I get a fabulous harvest of peanuts!
I'll show you how to grow these and many many more edibles at the upcoming workshop (16th July, Saturday from 11-12.30pm) do sign up if you haven't already, and see you soon!
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#containergardening #ediblegarden #growyourownfood
Moringa and Mushroom Chilla Recipe
Now that the fallen trees have been chopped and cleared, there is a renewed hope all round, with new plans for plantation drives a d planting more indigenous species around the city.
Do make sure you are part of these drives in whatever way you can. I sure will.
It makes me sad that so many of the city's edibles neem, mango, jamun, love apple, banana and so on that were in full bloom fell due to the storm. I can only hope that people did justice to their fruit and did not just throw them all in the junk yard..
But thankfully, trees in our compound did not fall, some got withered like the banana and papaya but I've given them a nice haircut yesterday, so they will all grow their leaves back happily.
Here I've made a chilla using leaves from our Moringa tree that did not break (thanks to our good old Wild Fig tree that you can see has given it support in its arms🥰)
This Greens and Mushroom chilla I thought is a nice way to honour the leaves that were drooping and I know couldn't make it.
Here's the recipe:
- A handful of Moringa leaves. No need to chop them as they are so small and tender
- A handful of sliced mushrooms
- Fermented rice and urad dal batter (I soak both in a 2:1 ratio and blend the next day)
- 1 cup of sooji
- 500ml of water
- salt and khandsari sugar to taste
- 1 spoon of thecha (garlic and chilli paste)
Simply mix it all together, spread out a couple of spoons on the pan, cover with a lid for the steam to cook it nicely, flip and serve hot.
Now that the skies are clear again and there is some sign of normalcy, we'll get back to our regular programming here :)
I'll be harvesting compost from my compost bin this evening, hopefully I'll do a live session on that as well.
Lots of love and green to you all!
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#growandeat #letsgrow #moringa #growyourownfood #ediblegardens #humanswhogrowfood
Looper in my Garden and What I do with it
Loopers are one of the many herbivore insects that thoroughly enjoys munching on the leaves of edible plants. They have a great way to camouflage as they look just like a twig when they are still.
So be a little vigilant around your garden, avoid crowding too many plants together and when you spot them, pluck out the eaten leaves and the looper and carry it away from your garden.
Please remember that even though they may be pests for us, they are sentient living beings and need to eat, just like is. They are also a vital part of the food chain. So please don't kill them, just gently send them someplace else. I just remove them from my potted plants and go kept them in the compound garden below. Simple.
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#identifypests #looper #gardeningtips #ediblegarden #ediblegardens #growyourownherbs🌱
A Walk around the Veggie Garden
Just a morning walk around the garden can shower so many blessings. Almost don't miss being on a farm, what with so many veggies and fruits and edible flowers growing all around us.
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Have you tried growing edible plants around your home, your building/ society compound? I can't begin to tell you the joy of harvesting a few stems of curry leaves, some karelas, beans and more from our little edible garden around our compound.
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If you have the bandwidth to take on this project, to take charge of composting veggie waste and then growing food around your home, all you have to do is ping me and I'll show you how.
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The benefits of growing your own food, of being in touch with soil, of processing wet waste and converting it into rich compost instead of it going waste in landfills - all of it is such an important part of our life as humans.
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Yes it is a fun pass time, yes it is a great hobby to have but I feel more and more that growing your own food is a vital skill that atleast one person in the family or friend circle must have.
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Don't you agree?
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#humanswhogrowfood #ediblegarden #urbankitchengarden #urbanfarm #veggiepatch #growyourownherbs🌱 #growyourownveg #edibleplants #ediblegardening
Roses in My South facing Balcony Garden
Roses have been such a joy to behold this year! Here's a snippet of them in full bloom in my little south-facing part of the balcony garden :)
Have you tried in vain to grow roses and failed? Trust me I feel you! Because they have been a struggle for me too. But over the years, I've learnt a few things about these much loved flowers and I'd like to share a few of those learnings with you:
- Roses hate over watering, so remember to water only once every alternate day
- Just like cats, they like to be left alone 😄 Don't fuss around them too much, just leave them alone.
- they like sun but not too much. I've tried all the directs around my house and I find that this south facing section has been the most successful - say about 4 hours of sunlight, but not too intense.
- they need a lot of food so just nitrogen-rich compost is not enough. You need to feed the soil a spoonful of wood ash or a good source of calcium, magnesium regularly - say about once every fortnight. This could be powdered egg shells or banana peel puree too.
- Avoid mulching too much around the soil as mulch tends to keep the soil moist and roses prefer dry or well drained soil
After so many years of studying and experimenting, I find that these pointers have really worked in my favour and the result is 5-6 varieties of roses happily blooming even in the peak of our hot and humid summer! It makes me very happy to share this with you :)
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#rosegarden #edibleflowers #ediblegarden #humanswhogrowfood #garden #roses #summergarden #urbanfarm
Observe the Ant, the Web and the Tape
I wanted to wait for an evening shot to show you'll this. Observe the sticky two sided tape, the ants and the spider web around this tree stem.
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Now what's happening is, when trees start blossoming, the flowers release a sweet sap/nectar and that attracts ant. This typically is the classic pollination tactic by Nature. But sometimes, the arrival of this sticky sap and pollinators walking up and down also attracts a black fungus on the leaves and flowers which causes the flowers to fall - which means you'll get much less harvest.
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So instead of any toxic sprays, I've simply stuck a two-sided sticky tape and put some glue on it so that more ants can't cross through. And then the spiders will also help control the ant population, so this is a good combination of human intervention and the natural food web - the predator-prey system.
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Do note that ants are not always pests, infact I don't do this often and let ants be - both black and red and those really tiny ones roam around freely in the garden simply because they, like everyone of us are sentient beings, are a vital part of Nature's biodiversity and are also brilliant pollinators for my karela plants!
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So with this loong post about ants and spiders and us humans and their relation with each other and all other life forms that are out and about while we all tuck in for the day, I wish you a peaceful and safe good night :)
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#creaturesofthenight #pestmanagement #antsinthegarden #observe #learn #nature #ediblegarden #humanswhogrowfood #biodiversity #urbanfarm #containergardening
The Regenerative Powers of Nature
It's sad that we have had to step back yet again in this second wave of the Covid crisis. It's painful to see the loss of life around.. but at the same time, it is so heartening to see the action that fellow citizens have taken on twitter and Instagram to help share and amplify relevant information!
While we are all trying to just stay afloat through this second wave, I wanted to share with you the resilience of Nature and how we can possibly take inspiration from it's ways. From discarded, drying waste like veggie waste, brown leaves, life regenerates anew. And the life that is reborn is that much more stronger, richer, resilient, like you can see in this soil so full of life!
You may not have the energy to start composting now, you may not have the bandwidth to do that extra bit for Mama earth while you are already dealing with so much, but I wanted to send you some calming and healing vibes through this video of rich black soil brewing with magical life. I hope seeing this gives you renewed energy for a new day ahead, with the hope of a peaceful future that we can all co-exist in together just like all this gorgeous soil life living in harmony with Nature🙏🏼
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#letshealtogether #letsgrowtogether #gardensheal #ediblegardens
Tomato Saplings Ready for the Season!
Tomato season is here guys! And I have lots of baby tomato saplings and seeds for you to start off with!
I'm taking orders for tomato saplings this week. Deliveries next week onwards. Around Bombay only.
Do send me a DM to place your order soon!
Guess this Edible Flower!
