Nothing Beats A Harvest

Did I tell you I have a pomegranate tree in my backyard?

It’s about 5 years old – a tree that I grew from some leftover pomegranate seeds from a huge pomegranate I bought at one of the fruit stalls at Lorong Kulit.
In the initial years, it was a spindly thing.
At that time, I was still living in my old apartment. Where the balcony was the only space for plants.

But the sun never reached into the innermost corners of my balcony so the poor spindly thing was trying hard to grow.
I brought it over when I came to this new apartment, located on the ground floor.
I had a backyard. Hallelujah! (And I’m not even Christian).
So I planted the spindly thing in a larger pot, put heaps on compost on its roots, and left it in the open. With plenty of rain and sunshine.
And that thing grew and grew.
Pretty much like the beanstalk in Jack and the beanstalk fairy tale.
And the ugly duckling turned into a marvellous looking thing, with crimson flowers that eventually became pomegranates.
So there’s the story of why you should never give up on your plants.

It bore (and still bears) rose-coloured fruits about the size of a small apple.
Now I know why everyone wants to be a farmer on FarmVille. I don’t like playing the game or playing pretend farmer.
I like doing the real stuff – getting my hands dirty, get sad if my plants start wilting, getting triumphant when my plants flower and fruit.
Best of all, I love tasting and reaping the fruits of my labour.

I love it that my pomegranates (as well as my pandan, mint, curry leaves, serai, basil) are all organically grown. Safe for consumption.
I have this indescribable pleasure when I can go to my backyard and pluck a fruit off a tree and eat it!
That’s as natural as it gets.
No carbon footprint issues. No worries about fruit contaminated with chemicals. No worries about eating fake fruits (with China being such good copycats, it’s probably a matter of time when they do make fake fruits!).
No pesticide, no chemicals. Just good old soil, plenty of self-made compost, rain (or water) and sun. Nature supplies the bees, insects and butterflies to help with pollination.
I am now trying my hand at growing a few papaya trees and a tomato plant.
I think when I grow old, I shall buy a plot of land or at least get a house with a huge garden and plant all the fruit trees that I love. I often keep the seeds of fruits and vegetables that I eat, just in case one day I decide to sow the seeds.

I think we all need a connection to the food we eat. Through gardening and planting, we somehow get that gratification. When I tuck into my pomegranate arils, I give thanks because I am so amazed that from just a few components (soil, water, etc.) we are able to enjoy a magnificent array of fruits. The very same ingredients that makes a durian makes a pomegranate.
I find that amazing.
But gardening also teaches me patience and that I am not a master of the universe.
Gardening teaches me that plants grow in their own time and with the seasons. You just can’t control or rush them. They flower in good time. They are unhurried.
Unlike us humans.
We want everything fast. (Isn’t that one reason why we complain about ugly holes in our sawi and then proceed to say, oh wow, why do farmers spray pesticides on vegetables?)
So what fruit trees have you grown? Or trying to grow? Do you grow or eat pomegranates? Would love to hear your gardening escapades too!