Homecoming

I'm back. Exhausted with rejuvenation. Travel in India can do that to you. Among other things, I was fortunate to visit the Sundarbans. Though the Royal Bengal Tiger eluded, the mangrove trees didn't disappoint...as didn't the waterways and the tiger reserve watch towers and the long jungle canopy walk (an elevated concrete path through jungle) and the boat & its crew and surprise surprise!!! Airtel connectivity. Consequently the GPS on the phone constantly showed us as a languid red dot on a blue streak connected through a myriad of numerous other azure waterways right up-til the sea into the Bay of Bengal. That, and the uplifting experience at Karar Ashram, near the sea beach at Puri. 

But, I get carried away and this post is not about any of what I've mentioned. This one is about the magic of overwhelming nature and its welcoming shades of red, green, crimson, pink, white et al. All of them in unison and concentrated in a 9 x 6 sq ft of hard standing, canopied by poly-film and flanked by shade net. So in my absence Shankar has done well, the plants have cooperated happily and that unseen blessed presence continues to grace. I present to you Tomato Suhyana...in its' different stages of colour and prime.

The cherry tomatoes are also beginning to blush...also, they are  beginning to surprise me with their abundance. I never knew so many grew on one plant. But as I said, this place is blessed.

And on the subject of tomatoes...the three additional tomato plants (two Suhyana and one Cherry) have suddenly decided to shoot up. Not only are they already touching the ceiling, they are also giving the little space inside the greenhouse a jungle like quality. And I don't quite know how to deal with this sort of a phenomenal growth!

In the picture above, the right-most plant is a chilly. Surprisingly, it's already almost as tall as the tomatoes; it hasn't flowered as yet; it's healthy and green and it just continues to grow. And on the subject of chillies and sweet peppers, I'm happy to announce that I have finally found a very effective solution in the Neem oil/ washing liquid soap concoction to get rid of the aphids completely.Thanks geekgardener.in!!! So, all the affected peppers are now thriving and showing healthy green leaves again. The following picture shows a stark comparison of an aphid struck leaf on the red bell pepper, with the fresh green leaves that are now showing signs of flourish, on the same plant.

Here are the others. Some among them blossoming white. I hope that's a sign of chillies to be. Which reminds me, that I need to read a lot about how chillies/ peppers develop and what they need through this magical process.

And then the cucumber. It's caught on!!! Already a tall plant, with healthy leaves and the characteristic spiral- curl ended vines clutching to grab on to any support they find...egging on the plant skywards.

Even the asparagus has grown both in the number of fern like stems and in height. The oldest fern for instance is almost a foot and a half tall now.

The basil plants continue to grow, exude that subtle seductive scent and while they do that, they've also got clusters of leaves the colour of dark chocolate...and daintily placed on these are petite pink flowers.

The lush of the greens (spinach, swiss chard and radish leaves in that pictorial order) then, as if completes the ensemble of this beautiful, humbling, warm homecoming.