As we sow....

We had decided this morning that today it had to be done. For the past several days, we kept postponing the planting for some reason or the other - getting plastic sheet, weeding out bits of plastic/ polythene from the soil, getting seeds etc. As the day wore on, it seemed that we will face the same fate today as we were busy doing one chore or the other. However at 5p.m, I said, lets go to the terrace this moment and use the dusk hour to our advantage. So we both jumped up, dropped what each of us were doing and picked up the seed packets Shammi and Gloria had given us and bounded upstairs.

There again things started taking hold of us - we went from clearing the terrace to shifting one of the patches onto a wooden plank, rearranging its borders, watering the patches.....and suddenly we realised it was going to be dark soon and we still hadn't accomplished what we had come up for. Then Amma came upstairs to see if the planting was done....and that spurred us on. We finally took out our seeds and ....lo behold! we found that nature wasn't waiting for us - small green shoots had already started poking their heads out from some of the beds. Looks like our garbage is beginning to pay back.

Already feeling good, we then sowed seeds in 4 of the beds we had made. In the first bed went Methi and Mustard. In the second one went some unidentified seeds - it'll be fun to watch what comes out. In the third went a bulb of onion which had already sprouted a green shoot. The third bed also already had a pineapple head. In went some 'Mango Ginger' (also called Ambe-halad in Marathi) too to accompany the onion and pineapple. Finally the fourth bed received seeds of Safflower and Coriander.

We have now elevated one of the rectangular patches we had made earlier, onto an old wooden door that we had lying on our terrace. We want to use this bed for planting tree saplings- maybe papaya, jamun, mango, drumstick etc. So the wooden plank was to ensure that the roots don't damage the roof, as well as to give free way to the water to drain. (This bed was on the path of the drainpipes)

We are happy about what we have accomplished today. But, now the curiosity to see green shoots appear is very high. At least it will ensure we pay a visit to the terrace every day and water the patches regularly.

Another silver lining to the day was our third mushroom bag getting made, again, after many days of 'waiting in the wings'. So now we have stuff growing, that we are watching out for, both inside our home as well as on the rooftop. Has our 'Growing Journey' truly begun?