Flowers and Berries in Wild

Week 36	September 1, 2014	September 7, 2014

Preamble:

There’s no doubt about it – there’s a certain smell that comes into the air near August’s end. The sun begins to fade earlier over the sunset.  The light at twilight has bluish/orange tones instead of reds and pinks (see following pictures taken at sunset on September 2 at our farmhouse in Taxila). The crickets chirp louder. The ants make a continuously moving bee of a line, taking loads of food stock to their wintering holes hidden underground. Birds collect twigs for nesting and bringing up their young ones.We call that September. 

Though in the south of Pakistan (lower Punjab and Sind) the month of September is the hottest, It is a transition month in the north of Pakistan (upper Punjab and KPK) a bridge from summer to fall. There are however little or few signs of the transition and we actually cross over to winter without seeing much of the fall. During this month The region sees its first relief from the heat and humidity of summer since May - August. Daytime temperatures range from 25 to 30°C (77 to 86°F) and there is less rain. Although it can be quite warm during the day, nights can be noticeably cool. 

Although I expected September will have only a few of the left over showers. The monsoon doesn't seems ready to leave yet. It actually struck us lately with a lot if vengeance suggesting it will stay with us for a while yet. It rained and rained uninterrupted during the last couple of days not only here in KPK but all over the upper Punjab. The outlook for the month suggests intermittent rains but pleasant weather also throughout! Today on 5th September it will rain again the whole day. The Hi and Lo are expected to be 71and 68 oF respectively, which seems to be not too uncomfortable around 20 Celsius all though the day with 100% humidity (Dewpoint: 20 Celsius).

At the advent of September, large deciduous trees, hedges and creepers/vines having grown excessively and gone hay wired during and after the the monsoon season need to be sheared and cut to size to allow the sun to filter through for the growth of fruiting trees and soon to be sown winter season vegetables. Additionally, to cut the over growth of grass following the rainy season, restoration, remedy and conservation of the degraded land, a rotary cutting mechanism called 'Cutter' is used. The 'Cutter' is a soil-gashing and root-cutting device. The use of a cutter leads to enhancing of the soil organic matter and significantly increase the total nitrogen. Besides, the soil pH reduction to a suitable level, the soil bulk density is lowered too, while soil porosity is enhanced.

Following the use of cutter the soil is ploughed, which  is a form of cultivation of the land that helps prepare the soil to create a seedbed. Ploughing typically takes place in the autumn or early spring 

months and involves turning over the top nine inches of soil, which buries surface debris and loosens the soil so that seeds can be sown.

Immediately after ploughing of the soil, annual sowing of garlic, broad beans and winter vegetables will commence and this is just about to commence after the last of monsoon rains.

3.     Wild Cranberies:
3.1.   Karaunda (Carissa Congesta):

We have quite a few wild cranberry bushes in the open common ground on top of the main fountain roundabout. They produce red and pinkish white berry like fruit that starts to ripen in September. Both Anjum and myself gather these vitamin C and antioxidant rich berries when we go out for our evening walks during this season. This year hasn’t been quite so wonderful for these foragers around here. Pickings were rather slim but still quite sufficient for Anjum to make few bottles of delicious cranberry jelly.

The wild cranberry is known locally as Karaunda. It is not found beyond the Indian Subcontinent, so in english too it is called Karaunda. It is white-pink, very tart small bird egg size berry. It is used in Indian cuisine & pickles. It's scientific name is Carissa Congesta. It looks similar to Cranberry, which is also tart but grown in cold countries. Cranberry is totally red but Karaunda is dual colour (red and white). Another variety of Karaunda (Carissa Caranda) is called Conkerberry in English. 

The Karaunda bush is an evergreen deciduous medium size shrub about 2 m tall . The stem is rich in white latex and the branches contain sharp spines. The flowers are white in colour. The Flowering starts in the month of January-February and fruits mature in August-September. The berries are formed in clusters of 3-10 fruits. They are globose to broad ovoid in shape and contain many seeds.

Read more at:

http://www.sadgurupublications.com/ContentPaper/2010/8_8(1)2010.pdf

4.     Wild Sunflowers:

There are patches of wild sunflower plants around our farm. These plants grow on tall, erect, supple green stems, which support their showy golden flowers. The sun flowers consist of a corona of petals surrounding a gold, brown or black center full of seeds. In the wild, when the plant dies with the year's first frost, its seeds fall to the ground. Here they germinate the following spring, producing the next generation of sunflowers. This process allows a greater number of sunflower plants to proliferate each year.

Read more at:

http://www.ehow.com/info_8626697_wild-sunflowers.html

5.     Baby's Breath (Gypsophila Paniculata):

The Baby's Breath (Gypsophila Paniculata) too grows wild around our farm. It blooms in late spring and continues through the summer. 

The Gypsophila is a species of flowering plant in the Caryophyllaceae family.  It is an herbaceous perennial growing to 1.2 m (4 ft) tall and wide, with mounds of branching stems covered in clouds of tiny white flowers in summer (hence the common name "baby's breath"). G. paniculata is much-used in the floristry trade (where it is often simply called "gyp") providing an effective backdrop for larger or more structured blooms. It is commercially cultivated in Peru, forming a major portion of that country's flower exports.

The genus name is from the Greek gypsos ("gypsum") and philios ("loving"), a reference to the gypsum-rich substrates on which some species grow.  ornamental species Gypsophila paniculata.

I'm surprised to learn that a few strands of Gypsophila are sold at the florists in Karachi for as much as Rs 100. Here, where our farm is located, it grows wild and is available in abundance. It is not even eaten by the animals, for the plant as well as the flowers are poisonous. It will die down at the start of winter and reemerge next summer just before the rainy season.

Read more at:

http://www.ehow.com/how_12068539_grow-gypsophila-flowers.html