Vanilla Pods

It is a good sight to see the vanilla pods hanging in the garden where fifty percent of the flowers were successfully pollinated. Now we wait for them to dry so that we can use them to extract the vanilla.

Here is another picture, clicked more than a month ago where you can see the flowers blooming, ready to be pollinated. The dry flowers still clinging on, shows that they have been successfully pollinated.

The bottle you see is from nuttie artzz. It looks better at night when the lights come up inside the bottle.  This season the yield of drumstick was pretty good. One of the regular visitors is the purple sunbird who goes in for the nectar from the Moringa (drumstick) flower.

The Ashy Prinia prefers to hang around or maybe even hang on the Moringa. No threat to my Moringas as the bird weighs only about 7 to 10 gms.  (Google facts)

Instead of throwing away the Mosami (sweet lime) seeds, I tried germinating them.  Most of the seeds sprouted which I planted in this pot.

As they grew I saw some designer leaves and found out who was responsible for it.

Clicking flowers against the sunlight makes the picture pop up.

I think the sunflowers also wait for the sun to rise.

As I was clicking the Begonia, this bee wanted to make a guest appearance.

The tomatoes came at the right time considering the upward trend of the price.

Nothing like some homegrown spices. Uprooted this lot from the 1ft x 2ft rectangular pot and got 1.4 kg turmeric. Now to dry and grind them for some organic turmeric powder.

The bulbs (roots) are saved for replanting in the next season.

The chiilies are just growing and hope to get a good yield after repotting.

The brinjals (aubergine) that came up this time is of a different variety.

Garden after rains

 Keeping a watch on the passion fruit. Waiting for them to turn yellow so that I can pluck them before they fall off 

These vines last for about seven years. They require strong trellis as the fruit tends to be slightly heavy. Plucked these tomatoes which went into the tomato soup. These are not the regular variety and they have that extra tanginess. No wonder the soup tasted yummy.  

The unusual rains kept most of the plants green and the mint leaves look good enough to go into a curry. Maybe we may make pudina chutney (mint chutney) one of these days.  

The sun does shine bright when there is a respite from the rains, and the butterfly thinks it is better to bask on the turmeric plant.  (I wonder if that yellow guy is a butterfly or a moth)

Got a good crop of Tendli (Ivy Gourd) and it was enough for one curry. 

It is said that Tendli has been used by Ayurveda to treat diabetes due to its ability to increase glucose tolerance and lower blood sugar levels. 

For my photography gear, I had made a light stand with 3/4" PVC pipe which was lightweight and portable. Later I realised that it was not sturdy enough to hold the weight of the light especially when I increased the height to six feet and above. So I decided to make a new one with 1" pipe (which I hope should be sturdy)

Instead of throwing away the old stand, I redesigned it to make it into a stand to hold our orchid baskets. 

Talking of flowers, last month these Brahmakamal (Star of Bethlehem) decided to bloom at midnight as they stay bloomed for only one night. 

What a sight. There were four of them 

The fruit market

While in the fruit market, I saw this lady, almost lost in the heap of newspaper that was used to wrap up these papaya.  I think her job was to unwrap them.  It is said that that by covering the fruit in paper the ethylene gas emitted is trapped inside which helps the fruit to ripen faster.  I would be more worried by the printer’s ink that gets rubbed on to the fruit when a newspaper is used (especially if it is not soy ink)

Once unwrapped and segregated, these ripe ones make a pretty picture, with a dash of yellow and green.  

The variety of fruit that one gets to see in a fruit market is something that I look forward to.

For example this Dragon Fruit caught my eye. One of those fruits that I have yet to taste.

The Pitaya (Dragon Fruit) is being hailed as having remarkable health giving properties including the ability to regulate the blood sugar level in diabetics as well as providing a dose of anti-oxidants.  

For those who want to know, they were sold at Rs 200/- per kg. (may be, next time I will buy a few)

Haggling and selecting the fruit is one of the things that I enjoy watching in a market.

The heap of watermelon says that it is still in good supply even though it is well past summer time.

Saw these fresh dates and bought some. (I never knew fresh dates were red in colour) 

All these fruits reminded me of the water apple (syzygium samarangense) that I clicked at my sister's place last month. They make excellent wine. 

Talking of fruits, we usually club tomatoes under vegetables even though they are fruits.

The same goes for coconuts. We never consume them as fruits, but is used mainly for cooking in “coconut based curries”

And talking about coconuts, these pictures shows how coconut trunks are used as goal posts in “God’s own country”

Considering the world cup fever, I think this is the right picture to sign off with. 

May the best team win.

The main market

Had been to the fish market this morning. Got some prawns, Squid and Halwa (black pomfret) For a change the new market place was looking cleaner and a bit organised.

On the way back we decided to visit the main vegetable market (at Gultekdi)

Even though it was just seven in the morning, the hustle and bustle of the  of the main market was not lost on us.

The small retailers were checking out the freshness of product so that they could buy it in bulk.

Crates were being unloaded and reloaded. Green peas was in plenty. The common sparrow (which is a rare sight now a days) was perched on the heap surveying the surroundings.

Liked the colour contrast that was made by these carrots, radish, cabbage, cauliflower and lime.

By the time I clicked these, the radish was already sold out.

Talking of lime, I liked how the sunlight reflected on a heap of them.

And same was the case with the tomatoes (my favourite)

The retailers were waiting for the morning customers

While some of them were already doing brisk business

The lady with the green leaf. My favourite over here was the Lemon Grass which can be seen in the foreground. Its known as Gavati chai (in Marathi)  Just add some fresh leaves to your boiling tea and experience the  special aroma. Some use it in soups and curries too.

Got to see goose berries (Awla) after a long time. Wifey made it a point to buy half a kilo to make chutney. "The best way to make every one eat goose berries" she said.

The best deal that we got was this lot of Custard Apple. All of this for Rs 150/- After coming home I just counted them and a rough calculation told me that each custard apple works out to be less than Rs 4/-  !

Some call this the Aristocrat of fruits.

All in all it was a colourful (and fruitful) experience.

Writing this after having Squid and Goose berry chutney for lunch.

I think I should make more forays into the main market.