(This picture has not been photoshoped or anything. These are its natural colors.)
On my resume, gardening is not listed as a hobby. If any one asks me a question in any job or business related interview about my hobbies, I would never mention gardening.
I don't know the exact reason, but perhaps this is because I see it as much more than gardening for me. I would like to call farming, as a way of life that we should all adopt and live for.
People tell me, we don't have the time or resources to plant vegetables or trees or shrubs. We all have written long essays in out kid days, on what the hell is happening to our planet with environment concerns and pollution. A new term that has come out as a cool one is called global warming. In our increasingly goal oriented, ambitious, career oriented lives, nature comes down the list.
Hence, I don't wish to rant on about nature problems or list advices to people. It is your planet, give a damn or not, I don't care. But for my planet, I have always wanted to do something and obviously, I too like several million citizens of Earth, feel helpless, lack resources of time or land or money or all and am unable to do anything.
So while I did my own bit here and there at home, I waited for the right time to come and it came few weeks ago. Strolling across, my father's work place, I found the perfect idea to start my mission of planting trees. Yes, trees are my favorite of the plant family. They are tall, majestic and have the personality, to which I can relate. At the work place, I found a small tract land, filled with weeds, stones, sands, bricks, iron scrap, machinery parts etc etc. A small portion of this tract was water logged, hence there was a wide collection of insects, rodents, worms etc. I was just walking about the place and I decided that this was it. I don't have any land to plant trees, so I can always carve out a place for my self. That would involve a lot of labor work, but I decided to do it all by myself. Time was problem two, and I made a decision to visit the place for 15-40 minutes a day, depending on my schedule. This will be a slow process, but nevertheless, it will be a start. Slow, it may be. Problem no. 3 was the last and here I felt that God blessed me with full heart.
I wanted mango trees, at that place, and I longed for them, but the nursery that I visit, has a policy not to stock any fruit tree. No worries, if not mango, something else would cross my mind. Plus, I was already preparing saplings of Jamun trees from seeds by myself. And cleaning the place and preparing the dirty sandy soil, which is full of polythene bags and machinery waste, would take me a long time. God intervened, perhaps as I found to my utter shock, mango saplings in between the weeds and tall grass that I was uprooting. I inquired, and checked and it was known that in summers, labors at that place, would consume mangoes and throw seeds in the waste heaps. A total of six such very small mango plants were identified. ( They are still to be re-arranged and re- located). Than God intervened yet again, as when I went to the nursery to buy some flower trees, as a friend had died and I wanted to plant a tree in his memory. I was in a deep shock once again, to find that the nursery people had accumulated a huge variety of fruit trees, from mangoes to oranges, jamuns, guavas, amla, lime, mausami, chikoo, kinnows etc. Never before had they stocked these trees, and now they say, they might keep bringing in the fruit trees.
A journey has started for me. So what, if no human is ready to support my endeavor. Perhaps, God in his own way, has given me a push. I still lack an important resource, that is money. But then, rest of the hurdles are being taken care of, so something would happen to this also. Till then, I have apart from the six mango trees that I started with, two trees of Jamun, one tree of santra, one hibiscus, one amaltas, one amrood, one mango dusheri,one lemon and a bougainvillea, firmly planted in the soil. This apart from small plants like sadabahar, three rose bushes, a vine plant that grows like the money plant and another pair of ornamental plants, whose name I forgot. Vegetables like chilly and coriander did not grow. Even the seasonal pansy flower seeds, failed to germinate. But I am sure that the way mint, spinach and cauliflower is growing, they will show good success.
In the meantime, my cleanliness drive in the coming days, would enable me to plant two mussamis, two lal amrood trees, one mango chausa and a tree of sitaphal (Custard Apple). This, if soil is prepared before frost begins in November. Lets see, what happens.
And whatever happens, I feel, a small tiny foundation for my own green planet has been placed. A planet full of life
A planet full of fruits
A planet full of flowers
