Growing
tomatoes is a childhood memory, a memory that will last a lifetime for me,
because, even if I want to forget, some of my older relatives remind me the
tale often. Recently, when I harvested my first ripened tomato and tasted it
raw, it released the memory again. But before
that, I must write down and share the “Tomato tale” of my first balcony grown tomato with almost
zero investment supporting my sustainability and organic mantra.
I don't want to miss any point and so with a long post alert i begin......
It
all started when one of my store brought tomatoes had somewhat rotten,(not
fully) and I did’nt think it was good
for cooking, Instead of adding it to my compost bin, I scooped out the seeds
and along with the peel sprinkled it across an old existing pot.
Like the previous time, almost all the seeds germinated but unlike last time
where overwatering killed them, I was cautious not to overwater them this time.
They slowly grew up into many saplings jostling for space in the 5 inch
pot. One fine morning, I transplanted
the 8 strong ones into nearby pots. I
was short of space in pots and so even transplanted one into a 1 litre kinley
bottle. In a week’s time, 6 of them recovered from the transplantation shocks and
started inching up and the one in the kinley bottle too was doing extremely well. Almost, every day I would go into my little garden patch , admire them and oversee their growth. One of the two
saplings growing in the parent pot was doing well, ahead of the others. I had no stakes or sticks around me to
support them so, I had tied them to the small window grill in the patio.
One
fine day, around Diwali time, our maintenance staff while cleaning for Diwali,
totally unaware of the sapling tied to the grill for support pulled the pot and
when I came back from my outing, my heart almost jumped out on seeing the
displacement. I immediately went near and adjusted the support and placement
and to my surprise I found a beautiful bouquet of yellow blossoms. “I was excited” will be an understatement,
nobody can measure the happiness that I felt that day, especially, I strictly
believe and follow “Winnie the Poohisms” and one of his philosophical quote is “
Sometimes, the smallest things take most room in your heart”. The blossoms were totally hidden from my direct line of vision as they
were behind the grill and so it was unexpected joy.
Not wanting to put them them to anymore
stress/ trouble, I brought them to my balcony and almost every day I would
begin my winter morning by watching the blossom through the misty French Windows of my balcony. I was
totally excited when they dried up and almost woke up daily with the expectation to see them form little
tomatoes. Three days passed, there was no sign of the tomato forming, instead
they had shriveled, dried and dropped along with the stalk. The day
they fell, My whole day was dull and the loss weighed on my sensitive mind. No amount of consolation from
my family helped and that day I realized “ Gardening like life is not all about
happiness”.
Meanwhile
the rest of the plants too started blossoming and they too dropped. I almost
became an expert on “Blossom drop” subject after reading the reasons and
remedies on internet. I experimented with each remedy week after week to avoid blossom drop like mulching, adding nutrients, micro
nutrients( like hing, epsom salt , compost, sour curd) etc., nothing worked.
I
stopped expecting anymore from my plants, I attributed the “blossom drop” to poor quality of seeds, lack
of sunlight, etc. I decided I will accept them as flowering plants and nurture them
and……. I nurtured them religiously by adding home made compost and watering
them adequately.
One
fine day, the tomato plant that grew in
my patio without adequate sunlight had
formed a beautiful tiny green fruit and
the joy that day…..no …..I did’nt jump with joy….. it was measured. I felt happy but not overjoyed
but the joy, happiness or pride was underlined with the fact that when we fight
a few challenges, there is a sense of achievement especially when you fight
against limitations and convert them into possibilities. Also, these are the
natural instances that teach that we have to enjoy the present and the future
will go on without worry. This part of
my green journey also taught me patience and with patience we can alter every
failure into a success story. This was a
huge learning lesson for me especially since I cared to slowdown, pause and
learn.
Coming to my tomato plant, At this stage, I did’nt want our maintenance
staff to tamper with my sapling in my patio and so I transferred the big pot to
my balcony. And then on, I almost witnessed, admired and clicked the little transformation from a
small green round ball to dirty green ( a mix of light green and red) to a bigger
red beauty without any expectation at any step.
It took almost two months for it grew to this stage. And as for
the rest of the blossoms, they have
overcome the “ blossom drop”
puzzle and I see plenty of small green
tomatoes carrying the tail of the dried
flowers.
There is so much of beauty
in my little balcony garden, especially I love the wintry sun glistening on my
tomato and through sunset I would watch them through my balcony doors. Sowing, transplanting, taking care with
watering , organic nutritive and keeping a pest check…..all these are part of
my green journey but the additional advantage is the beautiful little sights
that it throws at every transformation , this tells me beauty does not lie in
the faraway Swiss or Venice but right
here back in my balcony at my little gardening patch. Sometimes, I sit on the moda sipping tea and enjoy the little ajwains, the green lettuce, my strawberry throwing new leaves,thai basil, the little micro green leaves of the just germinated raddish, the mustard micro greens etc.,
I
harvested the red one yesterday and each
of us shared a quadrant which was filled with tangy sweetness and enjoyed the
fruits of labour and like I said in the beginning the taste of the homegrown organic tomato and the smell
of the plants released the memory again of my childhood.
A
memory which is famous in my family circles especially with my mom’s maternal
aunt’s family.It
was in the 70’s when we lived in NR colony area in South Bangalore, We had some
unexpected guests from my mom’s side and there were no vegetables at home. My mom had to fix a quick meal and I who was around 5 or 6 ventured into the garden
, plucked the raw tomatoes and my mom quickly fixed the meal with roti and
thakkali kai kootu( a tasty dal made with unripened tomatoes). So, I helped overcome the mini crisis at home
at such an young age is a popular
anecdote in the family. This is a memory that I don’t remember but it is kept alive by my mom’s aunt’s family who often narrates this in weddings and other occasions
when we gather. Other than this, I do remember growing tomatoes in my
Vijayanagar home and the unique
fragrance of the leaves of the tomato
plants do open many memories of my “Tomato experiences” of my childhood. Some
of them remain unchallenged and holds a treasured place in my heart.
some pics which i enjoyed clicking at every step.
The parent pot from which most seeds germinated
On the ledge for sunning
transplanted to a kinley bottle
and an atta bag ( this did'nt survive the transplant shock)
the first blossom which dropped and thereafter many blossoms dropped
The first tomato formed in my patio without proper direct sunlight. I shifted it to my balcony. I love the way the dried flower is tailing out of the baby tomato.
The next stage and i missed clicking the dirty green tomato the intermediate stage between the above and below( it happened in just 3-4 days)
and this stage reached two months from the baby tomato stage.
Hoping for more.........
