Sunlight and vegetables

Nothing like seeing the morning sunlight filtering in through the green foliage when you are having your morning cup of tea. 

This is the first time that we are trying the Red Cabbage in our garden.  They are blooming well along with the normal cabbage.  We may have to wait another 3 months to pluck them.  

We found that these Grow Bags are better than normal conventional pots and it is cost effective too.

The Radish too are coming up well and it is about time to pluck them for our next salad. I wonder why they are always peeping out of the soil. 

It may take another day or two for the lettuce leaves to join the radish in the salad 

Daily morning I see one or two of these yellow flowers fully bloomed waiting for the bees. They fall off by evening. These flowers are from the sponge gourd creeper.. 

The decorative flowers are managing to hold on in one corner.

Looks like the green chillies are going to be surplus this year too. Last year there was continuous growth for six months. 

But what has got me really excited is the sight of these bunch of flowers that has come up on our Vanilla creeper. Its flowered after a gap of 2 years. 

Five years ago I had written in detail about the flowering cycle and the artificial pollination that one has to do for the Vanilla.

In a bunch, one or two flowers bloom in a day. They have to be artificially pollinated before noon. The ideal time is 9 to 10 am (they slowly close up as the sun gets hotter) If the flowers are successfully pollinated, they dry up but hold on to the stem. These stem (stalk) behind the flower grow thicker and ultimately becomes the Vanilla pods. In my attempt to pollinate, I see about 30% success this year. It requires patience and practice.  

The regular tomatoes are coming up well with the perfect round shape, but the cherry tomatoes are a peculiar variety. Never seen these oval shaped ones before. 

The mint leaves have got its perfect green sheen. I always put in a mint leaf along with a blade of lemon grass (cut into small pieces) in my morning tea.  Apart from its medicinal benefits, the aroma is very pleasing.  

A twig of the mint went into the decoration of the flan that we had yesterday. 

  

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.