Just when I thought I was making progress with my jet lag, I woke this morning at 4:14 AM. Actually, I was up before that, but made a serious attempt at falling asleep before accepting that my need for caffeine was greater than my need for rest. I brewed a cup of chai and resisted the urge to begin gardening. Thankfully my latest obsession is a constructive one.
I've never really loved plants. My mother has an extremely green thumb and can not only grow just about anything, but can resuscitate plants previously thought dead. I've always been good at getting them to the dead phase. However, just over a year ago, Pranav and I decided to get a couple terrace plants and we've been trying ever since to keep them alive. Overall they're in good shape, though only two of our original three are still with us. When my parents came to visit last spring, my father surprised me by adding a couple more plants to our garden (seven pots holding 11 plants to be exact.) Needless to say, they didn't all make it.
Without going into too much detail or the history of how we got to this point, here's what we have left:
- Four Bougainvilleas (2 bright pink, 2 that can't seem to decide what colour they are and bloom alternately in white and peach)
- One small Curry Tree
- Three Crown of Thorns cacti
- One Red Moon Cactus
- One Celery Root
- One Palm
- One Fern
- Two dissimilar unidentifiable specimens (one, a little tree with curly white and green leaves, the other a plant with double shaded round green leaves)
I'll be attempting to germinate an Habanero pepper plant in the coming week, and I received a packet of "dhanta sag" seeds when I purchased some fertilizer 3 months ago. Nope, I have no clue what "dhanta sag" is, but I'm just dying to find out. Please let it be edible. That's all I have to say in this blurb. When I get back on Bangalore time, I'll resume a more consistent blogging schedule. Ciao for now!
Hé, somebody gave me a few years ago exactly the same package of Dhanta Sag seeds. Cannot find anything on the internet about it. Did the seeds germinate? What did it produce? Did the seeds needed a lot of water, and what about the climate? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHello Erik, I have to admit sadly that I never did germinate the Dhanta Sag. I can only assume that it was a leafy legume of some sort. I believe that such plants require generous watering in warmer climates, but do not like to be sodden. Since writing the above entry, I too have found little information concerning Dhanta Sag online. I hope this helps, and thanks for reading!
DeleteHello Aneela. Thanks for answering. So considering your answers, I think I will feed the seeds to the chickens... No water here (spain) and lots of other seeds to plant. Probably the seeds are too old anyway. Dhata Sag should have another name no? As so little information can be found online...
DeleteFrom what I've learnt, sag or saag means "leaf," any kind of leaf. In North India we make a dish known as Sarson ka Saag and the leaves used are from the mustard plant. So... that still leaves me clueless as to what Dhanta Sag is. But I'm sure the chickens will in enjoy it :)
Deletedhanta sag occurs in two varieties - green one and red. Both the leaves can be cooked just as spinach leaves (palak in hindi). These seeds can be grown in well drained sandy loam soil and require a fair amount of water and sun but are not tolerant to water logging. These leaves are rich in iron and are good for health and go well with chapati (indian bread) or rice.
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