It happened some time last year.
I saw a tiiiiiny plant peeking from my compost pile. Now I had put all sorts of kitchen scraps in there so I had absolutely no clue what plant it was. I gently pulled it out and planted it in a pot, hoping that it was a green chilli plant. I'd been trying to grow green chillies from seeds and had proven myself to be a total failure. Or in the words of monk Jianyu, "pre-successful".
I watered it and the plant grew. And I watered it some more and it grew some more. Unlike my cherry tomato plants Tommy, Timmy, Tammy and Tom, who were sprouting flowers by the dozen, this plant, unwilling to reveal its identity, had nothing but leaves. Xena, frustrated at not being able to name it, asked me to do so and so I named it 'Wildcard'.
Weeks passed by. Nothing but leaves. So I decided to call in the expert. My dad, who has grown everything from ginger procured from an unwilling tour guide in Bali to coconuts found washed ashore at Singapore's east coast beach.
I interrupted my family WhatsApp chat group, which is mostly kept alive by mom forwarding us forwards and asking me to check if they are legit. My favourite is this one:
तुलसी के दो पत्ते मोबाइल के पीछे कवर मे रखे रहेने से मोबाइल का रेडिएशन एक दम चला जायेगा।
प्रैक्टिकल कर के दिखाया बाबा राम देव
Wow. Just... wow.
Anyway, I sent them Wildcard's photo.
Me:
I saw a tiiiiiny plant peeking from my compost pile. Now I had put all sorts of kitchen scraps in there so I had absolutely no clue what plant it was. I gently pulled it out and planted it in a pot, hoping that it was a green chilli plant. I'd been trying to grow green chillies from seeds and had proven myself to be a total failure. Or in the words of monk Jianyu, "pre-successful".
I watered it and the plant grew. And I watered it some more and it grew some more. Unlike my cherry tomato plants Tommy, Timmy, Tammy and Tom, who were sprouting flowers by the dozen, this plant, unwilling to reveal its identity, had nothing but leaves. Xena, frustrated at not being able to name it, asked me to do so and so I named it 'Wildcard'.
Weeks passed by. Nothing but leaves. So I decided to call in the expert. My dad, who has grown everything from ginger procured from an unwilling tour guide in Bali to coconuts found washed ashore at Singapore's east coast beach.
I interrupted my family WhatsApp chat group, which is mostly kept alive by mom forwarding us forwards and asking me to check if they are legit. My favourite is this one:
तुलसी के दो पत्ते मोबाइल के पीछे कवर मे रखे रहेने से मोबाइल का रेडिएशन एक दम चला जायेगा।
प्रैक्टिकल कर के दिखाया बाबा राम देव
Wow. Just... wow.
Anyway, I sent them Wildcard's photo.
Me: Dad, what plant is this? It grew from my compost pile. I can’t identify it. Hoping for it to be chilli.
Dad: Wait for some time; if chillies appear, it is so!
Me: This advice is not useful at all!
Mom: I don't think it's chilli. Maybe capsicum.
Sister: Send for dna testing????
Anyway, fast-forward several months. I was out on the balcony plucking Tommy's latest offerings to make veggie uttapams, when I spotted something on Wildcard that made me do a double take.
HOLY. MOLY.
Ladies and gentlemen, Wildcard finally has a name! Please say 'hello' to 'CAPtain'.
(And yes, mom, you're a genius. Please just stop forwarding the forwards.)
4 comments:
Sayesha, I like your sense of humour. I lovvveee your family's sense of humour. They are super cool! Hope the family banter continues!
I use this app for recognising plants on my walk. It's quite good. Might be handy next time you grow something out of compost.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.plantnet
Hi Sayesha.. Its been over a decade that am a follower of your blog. I have been a silent reader. I love all your posts and Xena.
I had a question for you. How do you make the compost? Do you just pile up all veggie scrapes in a pot? Please let me know. I would like to do it as well. Off late my interest has gotten into growing plants.
Well you know what they(namely me to my kids!!) mums are ALWAYS right!!!
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