The First Plum Of The Season!

As-salam`alaykum, peace be with you.

IT'S AUTUMN! Reds, and oranges and oh so many yellows. In Urdu, we call this season mausum-e khazaa موسم خزاں (silent 'n' at the end). Autumn has to be one of my favourite times of year. Being brought up on seasonal food and so many memories of picking fruit have been a glimpse of things to come in Heaven. My plum tree, is one of those signs.

Sat ladylike next to my apple tree (which recently provided 22 golden apples), is our baby plum tree. It's moved homes with us three times, until 5 years ago, when the giant tree was too deeply rooted to move. We split off one of its offsprings and dousing it with water, planted it immediately on the East side of the new house for sunshine.
Growing slow, like a deer learning to walk, we've wrapped it in netting, protected it from the snow and fixed broken branches. The freakishly active squirrels tend to swing from its branches so you can imagine how crazed I get, runnin' out in wellies with a prayer and a broom. ARRRGGGHHH!!!

Anywhoshazoo. This year the tree squeezed really hard and popped 3 firm plums. There's no other way to describe it, I'm sorry. Alhamdulillah, I'm chuffed my tree's got fruit, yeah baby. I only need 12 more to make a pie. Ooh, or jam!

August, 2011. Say salam to plum number 2.

It's the simple green things in life that make me love Allah's creation.

Peace and eco-jihad,

Zaufishan, The Eco Muslim