The next generation of gardeners / Photos by the writer

Gardening has — it appears — finally come of age here in Pakistan where people of all ages, all income levels and in all our wonderfully diverse regions, are gardening away like never before. At the same time, I am pleased to say that the vast majority of new gardeners are opting to grow organically rather than depend on the once predominant chemical inputs and interventions which are responsible, especially on a commercial agricultural level, for a sizable percentage of the environmental issues causing problems today.

This about turn — our ancestors practised organic gardening / farming as a matter of course as commercial chemical companies were not part of the scene — is largely due to raised levels of awareness about chemical contamination of the food chain and the associated trend towards ‘pure’ food; and the only way to be 100 per cent sure that food is chemical free is, naturally, to grow it yourself. This awareness boom is continually gaining ‘followers’ who gain knowledge and insight via the internet, television and even by watching certain movies and by reading books — these are sometimes novels — in which ‘organic’ is promoted over chemical.

This learning curve has — and this is really wonderful — reached some of our schools now and, as a result, our next generation of gardeners are already, from the age of five years, eager to get out there and get to practical grips with sowing and growing. ‘And what’, I hear you ask, ‘does this have to do with us?’

Well ... lots actually!

If you aren’t blessed with children or grandchildren of your own, there are still bound to be children somewhere around in your life or even simply on its verges and, as a gardener, it is your duty to share whatever gardening knowledge you have with the generations to come. How better to do this — especially with the long summer holidays coming up — than to find yourself a part-time ‘apprentice’ or two.

With a long hot summer in the offing, plant a lot of watermelons in your garden along with vegetables and flowers

The lucky child / children will enjoy the experience and will never forget the basic lessons; and you, the gardener / teacher, will find ample reward in the sheer pleasure of a child’s personal reaction to the natural world of gardening and, as always, there is much to be done in the garden during this hot, sultry, pre-monsoon month.

An excellent ‘project’, if begun right now and certainly before the middle of the month, is to create a special watermelon mound, directly in the garden if you are lucky enough to have one, or in a large container / stacked up old tires in your courtyard or other usable space which allows the plant(s) enough room to ramble away unrestricted.

Watermelons are not as fussy as other types of melons about soil conditions but do prefer soil on the sandy side and this must be well drained. Though, being fast growers, they need lots of feeding and lots of water to swell the fruit: the vines must never be allowed to dry out. A soil depth of 18 inches is quite sufficient and, again unlike other types of melon, the vines can be allowed to grow as they please although if extra large watermelons are the goal, each vine should be allowed to carry no more than two to three fruit. The fruit should be kept out of direct contact with the soil to prevent it rotting and this is easily done by sliding something like a tile, a flat piece of wood or simply a few handfuls of compacted straw underneath each one.

Balsam / Rudbeckia

Watermelons love being grown on top of mounded up soil with, for example, each mound having a diameter of roughly three to four feet at its base. The mound base should be at soil level with the mound itself raised to the height of 18-24 inches above this. Sow the seed, just one seed per mound, about an inch deep in the top of the mound, water gently so as not to wash everything away and germination should, in current temperatures, be fairly rapid. Then it’s a matter of daily evening water and a healthy drink of liquid, organic fertiliser a couple of times a week and standing back in sheer amazement as the vine, quite literally, races away until its delicious fruit begins to form at which point, it will slow down to concentrate on ripening its sugar-sweet ambition.

On the flower front this month, be sure to find room for even more of those brightly coloured zinnias without which no summer would be complete, ‘wafts’ of gently waving cosmos, dazzling tithonia, magnificent marigolds, balsam, gaillardia, rudbeckia, gompherena, matricaria, kochia, coleus and pay regular visits to your local nurseries where — hopefully — you will find some very tempting surprises in store.

Climbing cucumbers / Photos by the writer

Vegetables to start off from seed this month include the following: even more of those ‘cannot live without’ chillies in as many different sizes, colours and with as many different heat ratings as you can find; more capsicums and do look out for orange and yellow ones as these are much sweeter than the unripe green ones that flood the market, plus, they are gorgeous to look at too.

Aubergines can still be started off, as can okra, cucumbers, tomatoes of course, lettuce in the shade, seasonally suitable varieties of cabbages and cauliflower, that increasingly popular leaf beet / Swiss chard which is far more versatile, more productive and more weather tolerant than spinach which, having mentioned it, can also be sown now. Then there are red, orange, pink, purple and black radishes, snow-white mooli and top up what should be a never ending supply of green onions and yes, they can, despite claims to the contrary, be grown all year round.

The herb garden will benefit from additional sowings of coriander, dill, basil, borage, chives, garlic chives, aniseed and lemon grass — if you can get the seed — or young lemon grass plants, if you can find them.

Other tasks in the garden this month include:

• Prepare planting holes for pot grown trees, shrubs, climbers and ramblers to be put in when the monsoon arrives.

• Start off seeds for indigenous species of the aforementioned if, that is, you harvested seed when it was ripe.

• Check / clean / repair guttering and other drainage systems before the rains arrive: this is especially relevant if you happen to be one of those dedicated people who has created a roof garden.

• Enjoy the fruits of your labour and share the joy around.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer will not respond directly by email. Emails with attachments will not be opened.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 7th, 2015

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