Eco Muslim Photo Diary: Growing Veggies

Bism'illah, in the name of Almighty God.
As'salam`alaikum!

Oh em jee, I'm so chuffed Allah allowed me to see another season of spring. While consumerism is rampant with Easter shopping, I've snuck into my greenhouse to sow seeds at the opportune time. Alhamdulilah!

The following can be sown from late January to mid-April: Note* always have a notebook at hand to list what's and where's of your gardening. I swear, this one time, we grew corn and forgot about it until a squirrel pulled the entire 'cob' off the stalk and ran away with it. Fun times.

Spring is perfect for new life and growth. A time to go over your annual resolutions. It's also a fairly good climate to sow vegetable or herb seeds which will take from a few weeks to several months to seed - later in June/July this year insha'Allah I expect to see all my veggies in full bloomin' colour.

So, what am I growing?

okra • tomatoes • courgettes (zucchini to Americans) • radishes (my mother's idea) • spinach • cucumber • sweet corn • turnips (also my mother's doing) and aubergines

And now, to get in the right eco muslim gear. A butterfly top, grandad trousers and wellies.

To sow seeds you need, well, seeds, but apart from that, you need the right "equipment". In the gardening world these are basic tools and ingredients, which, with a little know how, help grow young saplings.

This is my stash for growing vegetables:

 shallow seed trays • plant pots or, for a really eco friendly resource: biodegradable paper cups and loo rolls (the inner grey tube) which can be used for several seasons • seed compost (translated: awesome soil)  • seed feed • water & watering can • trowel or hand shovel (not necessary) • gardening gloves (necessary) • propagator & lid

A propagator is a specific gardening tool which is basically a seed tray with a glass or transparent plastic lid. This is important for the first step of growing greens: the sowing. Just like pregnancy, the babies need ultimate warmth and comfort to grow in ideal conditions, therefore a glass lid ups the heat and growth rate in addition to being placed in a greenhouse.

You have to take note of these things otherwise all the effort of organising, planning and growing could go to waste. For example, my mother "saves" seeds from last year's flowers and plants but "forgets" to place them in the right warm conditions, so, a couple of months later after winter, they DIE. I found a packet of pea pods that were green because of fungus. Mother ji, if you're reading me, I still love you, but like, organise stuff!

Next time I'll show you how to actually go about planting seeds properly insha'Allah.

Till then, peace and respect and wholesome green jihad.

Zaufishan, the eco muslim