Laden and Bowing Low in Gratitude

Just a day after the floating of previous edition of this blog, came first of the heavy monsoon rains, early in the morning and it rained for good two hours. After the rains had stopped, It was so good to go out and feel the freshness of the air and smell of the washed out trees. The Lychee trees laden with fruit, the Pink Shower Tree loaded with pink and white flowers, and the ever enchanting Bougainvillaes all were prostrated low in immense gratitude of Allah SWT for bringing the life back to them. 

The heat of summer in the month of June is so intense that it would not have mattered much however plentiful watering you did to your plants. We saw drying up of grapes, while still not fully ripe and vegetables such as bitter gourd totally stunted in situ. The rains have dramatically increased humidity in air. Most of fruits and vegetables suck moisture from air more than they take from the roots underground. The bitter gourd is one such example. The humid air of the later part of June and the entire month of July and possibly also August would bring a miracle change in the growth behaviour of this particular vegetable.

Flowering Trees and Bushes of Season:

The flowering plant of this week is none other than the redoubtable Lagerstroemia (Crape Myrtles). The Lagerstroemia flowers are of several different colours. Among the colours at our farm are:

(1) Violet (2) White (3) Lavender and (4) Delta Blush. 

Presently, only double Violet colour Lagerstroemia is in bloom. Other colours will soon appear and will be put on display in this blog.

Fruit (s) of Season:

Lemon

With the advent of Ramadan Kareem, the thought first and foremost that comes to mind is of Lemon, for it makes a refreshing drink, which is particularly gratifying at Iftar time.

There are three varieties of Lemon in our farm. Among them: (1) Eureka Lemon (2) Bush Lemon and (3) Meyer Lemon. The Meyer lemon fruit is yellow and rounder than a true lemon. The skin is fragrant and thin, coloured a deep yellow. Locally it is known as Chinese Lemon, which is not wrong, as the Meyer lemon originated in China. It is believed to be a cross between a standard lemon and Mandarin orange. The Eureka lemon originated in California. The Eureka lemon trees produce fruit mainly in the spring and summer, as opposed to other varieties e.g., Meyer Lemon that bear lemons in the summer, fall and winter. Unlike other hybrid cultivars, Eurekas are considered "true" lemon trees. Eureka lemon trees produce small to medium-sized fruit that is yellow at maturity. Eureka lemons are much more acidic than most other varieties. At this time all the three different varieties are at different stages of fruit formation. The fruits of Bush and Meyer are still very small, while the Eureka  fruit is larger in size, still however green but growing in size just before it is fully mature.

The three Lemon types vis., Eureka, Bush and Meyer could respectively be identified by their leaves :

One could see that the Ureka Lemon tree has larger dark green thick leaves, while the Bush a Lemon tree has smaller light green leaves, with long thorns on branches and twigs. The leaves on Meyer Lemon tree are longish and light green in colour.

Vegetables of Season:

Torai/Tori

Both the Kali Tori and Ghia Tori are being cultivated on our farm. They, both of them are grown with the help of trellis. Although sown quite a while back, with consistently continuing heat and rains, the  Torai climbers have now started thriving. The Kali Tori is variously called: Chinese Okra / Moongi Tori / Angled Luffa / Luffa acutangula. Similarly Ghia Tori is identified by several names too e.g., Ridge Gourd /Luffa aegyptiaca / Sponge Gourd. On account of the fact that rains came late, both the Torai forms have not yet come to the stage of fruiting but are still climbing up fast and quick on trellis. Another  vegetable, which is overdue for fruit action is bitter gourd. It has started bearing glowers that are yet to be transformed into bitter gourd.

Our Pet Birds:

The Java Sparrows:

In this edition of the blog, we will introduce another inmate of our aviary. It is the Java Sparrow. The Java sparrow has been a popular cage bird in Asia for centuries, first in Ming Dynasty China and then in Japan from the 17th century. It is the  resident bird of Java (Indonesia). We have two pairs of Java Sparrows, often also called Java Finches or Ricebirds/Paddybird. 

Several mutations of Java Finches. exist, including White, Pied, Fawn, Cream, and Silver (dark and light). One of the pairs,  we have is white and the other  Grey with pearl grey wings and chest. The cheeks are white and the belly pink is grey. The beak of male is dark pink and that of the female is light pink. 

Only the cock birds perform a song and dance routine. The male may begin his song by clicking his bill, then will begin to slowly rattle notes, increasing in speed and ending in a drawn out whine. Songs vary among individuals. 

It's fun to have them in our aviary. Their movement, singing and bathing routine is so attractive and lively to watch.

The Javabirds breed just after the rainy season and we are expecting them to just that in the near future as we are currently midst of monsoon rainy season.

Bougainvillaea Parade

The Bougainvillaea Vine or shall we say 'Shrub' is native to South America. It is named however after a French Navy Admiral and explorer by a botanist accompanying the admiral on his voyage of circumnavigation in 1789. The Bougainvillaes thrive in the tropical climate. This area of Taxila is conspicuous of Bougainvillaea of sorts. At the entrance of Taxila Museum an extraordinarily large vine, red in colour riding over and hanging from a very old tree can never go unnoticed by a visitor. Of the possible 80, there are at least 6-8 different colours/shades/varieties at our Wakefield Gardens Farm. Planted along the boundary wall on the right side of the entrance gate to our farmhouse,  it's a parade of extravagantly throbbing colours ranging from violet to red interspersed by white and combinations of them, all along our driveway particularly this time  in June at the height of summer year after year. Synonymous with the hot weather, we tell our friends about the intensely flowering Bougainvillaeas, the way we do as, "our farmhouse is on fire these days".

It's a riot of colours, as we might also like to metaphorically say. The colours, combination of colours 

and varieties that we can identify at the farm are Lilac (Easter Parade), Pink (Temple Fire), Violet (Elizabeth Angus), Purple (Twilight Delight), Red (Barbara Karst), White (Coconut Pink), Bicolour 

(Flamingo or Pink) and Variegated (Pinky White).

Fruits of Season:
Red grapes:
There are both the red and green grape vines at our farm. Although the crop especially that of the red grapes was unusually good, it did not rain at all. Dry as it was, it was very hot too. That resulted in drying up of grapes in position while they were still not ripe. The birds of which we have plenty, started plucking and picking on them too. There was therefore no alternative other than to go for a premature early harvesting. The red grapes are known for making red grape juice, jam and jelly but it is not so good as table fruit. When fully ripe, the red round grapes that we have is normally very sweet. The harvested first batch was however greenish red in colour and quite often than not, also sour in taste. The (sour) grapes and the delightfully tasty cherry colour Jelly that was prepared was still a joyful experience on their own accord..

Lychee:
As with the grapes, there are two types of Lychee trees too at our farm. The Type: 1 is locally called 'Gola' and the Type: 2 'Surai'. The Gola is harvested in the fourth week of June and the Surai in the third week of July. As the time for the harvesting of Gola is approaching, we can see its colour changing from green to red. It is also getting sweeter by the day.

Vegetables of Season:

Okra (Ladies Fingers), Brinjals and Capsicum continued to flourish with enhanced production. Often there is so much that even our Mali declines taking them home. That then is bit of a disappointment!

In addition to what is there already, we are now about to have Bitter Gourd and  Bottle Gourd which are just standing there in wait for the now overdue rains.

Our Pet Birds:
Last year at about this time we lost our two dogs, Caesar and Silky both of them Labradors, on account of very hot weather that they could not sustain. They were both of them our great companions at the farm. It was so much fun to share this life of ours with them. They always eagerly awaited us to come out of our farmhouse and take them out for long walks morning and evenings. Those of our relatives and friends know what they meant to us. Now when they are there any more, we have birds as pets. Among them we have Budgrigars, Love Birds (Lutinos), Java Sparrows, Diamond Doves and Black Cheek Finches. Here we will briefly talk only about the Black Cheek Finches. They are very lively and chirpy. Three pairs of these Finches were acquired some 3 months ago and have not started breeding yet. Both the male and female have a black patch on each side of their cheeks. The male has in addition a crescent like black feathery patch on his chest.

It's always so much fun to feed them and to see them bathing in a dish full of clean and cold water in these hot months of summer. We'll introduce other birds too as we continue to talk in this blog about our life at the farm.

Time to Shower in Gold

We talked about the profusely blossoming Pink Shower Tree (Cassia Nodosa) the previous week but it is now the time to switch over to the Golden Shower Tree (Cassia Fistula). This tree is known as Amaltas in the Indian Subcontinent.  It ranges from Southern Pakistan eastward throughout India to Myanmar and Thailand and south to Sri Lanka. It is the national tree of Thailand, and its flower is Thailand's national flower. We have one large specimen of this tree at our farm. The golden yellow lantern like flowers have started to bloom presently and will continue blooming through the summer. Another bloom at this time of the year at the farm is that of Orange Hummingbird Trumpet Creeper (Campsis Radicans Vine). Not only the creeper itself, there is a  large population of the hummingbird too at the farm. The singing of these little and very delicate birds early in the morning is an unforgettable and delightful experience on its own. In spite of an abundance of these birds at the farm, I did not succeed in capturing even one of them in my camera especially drinking the nectar of the orange trumpet flowers, even though a couple of them kept jumping from one branch to other. To show this actually is the case in point, an appropriately relevant picture (borrowed from http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/imagecache/photo_940/pictures/rthu_trumpet_vine_6866.jpg
has been included and depicted hereunder along with  other pictures taken at the farm

Fruits of Season

Plums:

A lot of plum blossoms perished because of untimely rains in February this year. Very few plum fruit therefore could materialise. The fruit that ultimately formed  is now acquiring the size and is about to change colour from the presently greenish yellow to maroon red. The fruit ripening is anxiously awaited by the ever vigilant birds as well as not so vigilant ourselves.

Veggies of Season:

Like various fruits, we also grow vegetables of season not so much for our own use but to send to our friends and relatives and to distribute among the gardeners working in and around our own farm in 

the Wakefield Gardens but above all to find a reason to thank Allah SWT the most compassionate and most merciful and without the mercy of Whom we couldn't possibly have the bounties that He so
graciously bestowed upon us. Some of the vegetables of season that could be found presentlygrowing at our farm are:

Bell Pepper:

Bell Pepper is known as Sweet Pepper or simply 'Pepper' (in the UK) and Capsicum (in India). In Pakistan, it is called 'Shimla Mirch'. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange, green, chocolate/brown, vanilla/white, and purple. Bell Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. We have the common green variety growing in our yard. It is large in size and dark green in colour.

Brinjal:

Based on colour, shape and size, there are at least 30 different varieties of Brinjal, which is also called Eggplant and/or Aubergine. During the on going season, we have two of different kinds growing.The variety of the first kind is small and round, having red purple colour.  It is known for its tenderness and sweet flavor. The second variety is long dark purple in colour and is also very tender and sweet. 

Both of these, the Bell Peppers and Brinjals together are used in the preparation of Bagharay Baigan, a Hyderabadi recipe and on that count are especially favoured in our family.

Our Farm Poultry:

No farm is an accomplished farm without having its own chicken coop. Among the chickens we raise and keep at the farm, there are two types of Desi origin. The type one is called 'Misry' and the other 'Golden' . Both of the two are well known for laying eggs largely uninterrupted. Currently we have nine hens and two roosters. Keeping the layer hens allows us to have ample supply of eggs for ourselves and plenty more to share. 

Among the additional benefits are the home baked cakes, which Anjum is so fond of preparing. The freshly baked cake with its delicate aroma is a luxury we have come to enjoy and relish a lot.

Note: For the benefit of our relatives and friends living far and wide, this blog includes the relevant perspective as well as bit of experience that continually gets accumulated in growing fruits and vegetables of the seasons. Included occasionally on purpose are also some details of the preparations that we relish consuming. After all, a purpose of this blog is to share the pleasures of living at the farm and that includes not only growing  fruits and vegetables but also preparing dishes ( jams, chutneys, pickles and dishes of sorts) typical of our household.

Weather this Week at the Farm:

Dry and very hot

Daytime Temp (outside) : in excess of 40C, Inside the Farmhouse: 30C

Night time (outside): 35C, Inside the Farmhouse: 35C

Our Return from Hunza

After a mild and quite often a pleasant month of May, we are currently going through a hot and belligerent June. This month, which overlaps the Hindu month of Jeth (Taxila used to be a Hindu dominated agricultural area before the partition of subcontinent and the local population still uses Hindu calendar especially in relation to agriculture) is synonymous with dust storms and howling winds, which cause a lot of small size lychee fruit and ripe Apricot to fall to the ground but this is part of life at the farm. Falling of unhealthy Lychee may not be altogether unwanted as it leads subsequently to a healthier harvest. The dawn breaks these days just after 4 AM and it's extremely pleasant to step out in the open at that time. The wind is cool in the face and one can listen to many a singing birds. The colours generated by the profusely blossoming Casia Nodosa, Panoramio Vine and BeautyVine are quite enchanting and awe inspiring at this time of the year.

         Casia Nodosa Tree                          Casia Nodosa Flowers                           Panoramio Vine

            Beauty Vine

Just as the Apricot season is coming to end, Plum is getting ready. Even though the fruit is still green on most of the trees, it is maturing and changing colour from green to maroonish red. Birds especially the one with long tail (Jungle Crow / Greater Coucal / Common Crow Pheasant) are having a feast time on ripened fruit. This is all very much acceptable as the birds too must have a share in the bounty. A large number of many a kind live at our farm and make our life exceedingly pleasant. Without them it could indeed be stale and boring. we notice the size of Lychee Fruit is enlarging day after day. Even though it is still green, it is quite visible to the naked eye from a distance.

            Green Lychee                               A Bunch of Lychees

The month of June brings a variety of vegetables too!. We began having the first of Peppers (green chillies and pomento) and Okra. Aubergine (Brinjal or Egg Plant) and Tomatoes too are not far behind either.There will be more on them in the next edition of this blog.  

            Green Chillies                                   Okra (Ladies Fingers)                                Pomento