Go away

Saw quite a few birds in the last few days in Botswana, but the most amusing one was the Grey Go away bird. It is pretty big and not shy of humans but his amusing call is what catches the attention. (don't miss the moon)

The bird is named for its alarm call "Kuh-we" which sounds like "go-away" and is thought to alarm other species of approaching predators or other dangers such as hunters. You can hear the call at the start of the video.
I found these mouse birds eating (or rather destroying) the flowers of the Moringa tree (drumstick) Their activity was more of destructive nature as they were not eating them but just plucking it and spitting it

The sunbirds too come in flocks looking for the Moringa flowers

This Little Bee eater was sitting pretty, well protected by those thorny branches and pretty flowers

Talking of thorns, I was standing under a thorny tree when I saw this masked weaver bird flying in and out with green leaves busy weaving his nest. I got some bottom view of his activity where he was modelling his entrance door and spitting out the excess leaves.

While I was shooting the weaver, the Groundscrapper Thrush was eyeing me with some concern from the sidewalk.

The Crowned Plover got himself well camouflaged in the dry grass. His movements too were such that he used to stand still for a long time.

Towards the end of the video I managed to get a long shot of two Red-billed Buffalo Weavers up in the tree

These blue birds were pretty. I am assuming it is the blue waxbill finch

The next morning I was off again hoping to catch some early birds. I started off with the sunrise

Considering the array and variety of birds in Africa, there is a possibility of part 2 for this blog.

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.

feel of the vegetables

During the pandemic lockdown, what I missed the most was the forays into the vegetable market. 

Not only is it a welcome sight to "feel" the vegetables, you are sure you are picking up the real fresh ones. You don't get the same reassurance when ordering online. The above picture was clicked at the famous Mandai market in Pune when I had been there during my last visit. We bought some mangoes and kept ourselves busy by making mango pickles. Here is one batch ready to be bottled. 

Last week the yield from our kitchen garden was only two drumsticks, some tomatoes and lots of red chillies, so we bought some more drumsticks from the market and made sambhar out of it. Drumstick is one of those rare plant species whose seeds, flowers, leaves, and stems are edible and extremely nutritious. Moringa commonly referred to as drumstick is treated as a 'super plant' for its unique yet powerful properties that combat different ailments in our system.

Talking of the kitchen garden, the Aloe Vera is growing wild and we have been steadily trimming it down. (in other words throwing it away)

I know it is supposed to be medicinal and used for beauty treatments, but I don't have the faintest idea how it is to be consumed. At times I rub the fleshy part of the cut pieces on the elbows and I did notice that the black spots on the elbow have reduced. Another thing that we grow in our kitchen garden is wheat grass. 

Wheat Grass juice is good for health. It increases the Hb level in the blood and can be taken on a daily basis. The procedure to take the juice is simple. Sow some wheat in a shallow pot (approx 1 square feet) On the seventh day cut the grass and squeeze out the juice which can be consumed immediately. You must have noticed a different type of watermark on the above pictures.It is because of a site known as Dreamstime, where I upload some of my pictures.     It is a picture stock site where potential customers go through your pictures and if they like it they buy it. For example the wheat grass picture has been sold nine times, so I would say it is a win win situation.

Nisarga and Pune

Looks like cyclone Nisarga spared Mumbai but Pune did get some powerful wind by which some 60 trees fell in the city. It even uprooted our Kappa (tapioca) which was planted in a grow bag. 

The usual yield of Kappa is better than this but I salvaged all that I could get from the uprooted plants. 

Wifey made the traditional dish with it, and it went well with the fish curry. 

With all that rain lashing around, I was happy to see the drumstick flowers holding on well. 

Talking of grow bags, I just tossed some watermelon seeds (and a mango seed) in one of the spare grow bags in our garden. I was happy to see that they took root within no time. 

Won't it be a good idea if we planted all the seeds that we discard from our kitchen? If there are no pots at home, just toss them where there is some mud, maybe on the road side when you go for your drive.

Within three weeks tiny watermelons have appeared and very soon I will have to give them some support when the weight increases 

As for the mango tree, I don't see much future for it in the grow bag. But let us see how far it will grow.  The  mango season is coming to an end and it is the right time to make some Uppumanga (mango in brine) 

On a lean day, (if the lockdown is reimposed) this will go well with the rice. 

Nedumudy and Fish curry

When wifey saw the drumstick in our garden she said "let us make some fish curry"

So it was my duty to pluck one and the instructions were very clear  "make sure you cut the fat one as the other one is still tender"

It was washed and peeled and cut into equal pieces (I have always wondered how she manages to cut them exactly into the same length without using a measuring tape) 

I kept hovering around in the kitchen as I wanted to click the finished product. I saw that she was following the recipe "Meen Muringakka curry" 

The aroma and the taste when fish is cooked in a chutty (earthen pot) is very appetising 

As she was cooking I glanced through the recipe book and found that this Meen curry happens to be a delicacy of Nedumudy, one of the larger villages of Kuttanad (Kerala)

This village takes you to a picturesque hidden nature known as Munnattumukham, where three rivers mingles each other and flows. This is the spot where the river  Manimala joins the river Pampa 

So now there is only one drumstick remaining, and my guess is that this will go into the Sambhar next week. 

  

Drumstick flower

Liked the way this single stalk of Orchid stood out, braving the rain and the strong breeze.

Had been for a short visit to Kerala and the heavy rains kept us indoor most of the time but from the window one can see some interesting things, like this irumban puli (Averrhoa bilimbi)

They are good as a substitute for tamarind or tomato in an emergency. They are easy to pluck as they grow low – on the trunk of the tree.

Another view from the window is this big bunch of banana.

We may have to wait for another month to cut it down, but there is no harm in cutting its flower (some call it Banana hearts)  We did just that and made it into a lovely curry. (the flavour resembles that of the artichoke) 

A close look at this rope showed some busy ants. When I followed their trail, I found that they were building their home in one of the low slung trees. We humans can learn a few things by observing their team work. 

I spied these flowers on the drumstick tree.

Always liked the side dish that was prepared from the drumstick flower. So I collected as much as I could, and carefully removed the flowers and segregated them.

These were properly washed and soaked.

After draining the water they were sauted on slow fire. Added some grated coconut and further sauted them.

The end result was really sumptuous.

Drumstick flowers prevent frequent infection of the throat, chest and the skin.

(all pics clicked in and around the house)

Next post - some more on the Kerala trip.