The other day I posted about growing ladies finger organically at home in Magical present, my blog. I have mentioned I put a sturdy plastic net to protect those plants, hope you all remember. Well, this net is now serving as Trellis support for my Chinese long bean plants!
I bought seeds of Chinese long beans/yard long beans/asparagus bean/pea bean/achingapayar/sitaw /butong from a local vendor at the market. It was an impulsive buy; normally I go for high yield variety from reputed seed suppliers only. Moreover, the guy told me this is bush variety and will not need support since it is not a climbing vine. Anyway, the two seeds I planted sprouted quickly and stems began elongating day-by-day. I was confused about what to do because I have very limited outdoor space at home being in a metro city so I do not go for any climbers. I bought it from the vendor only because he told me this is a bush variety. Well, it wasn't! I watered it too daily when I go there to water ladies fingers. The plant began clutching to the plastic net that I kept for protecting my ladies finger plants. I was about to pluck away these two but decided to keep it there anyway. As days went by these two began growing vigorously entwining the net crisscross. I was in a dilemma again. A week ago, that is after almost 45 days since planting seeds these two began flowering. The flowers were colored bluish-white. Two days ago I noticed bean sprouting from these buds and today I found it has elongated to about 15 cm! I do not know if it will reach a yard or so, but I will have to pluck those to cook, maybe after a few days, otherwise it will become fibrous.
The potting mixture was the same I used for planting ladies finger. Good quality organic soil, cow dung powder, vermicompost, cocopeat and a handful of neem cake powder. I was so excited to see these beans coolly dangling from the stems. It was totally unexpected! I read online it will take at least 60 days for it to fruit and will need a lot of space for a climber like this. Nothing like that here, it occupies only a limited space and seems happy growing crisscross, up and down.
Pesticide usage and other harmful cultivation practices are big problems here. It has become almost impossible to find pesticide-free items. Our State has assumed the status of a consumer over a period of time depending on the neighboring States for almost everything including vegetables. Being a small State, the availability of land for cultivation has become less. Labour has become costly with limited manpower. Certified organic products are expensive. There is widespread coverage in the media in Kerala about the harmful health problems associated with a toxic pesticide, fertilizer, and hormonal use. The Incidence of serious diseases like cancer is on the rise like never before. This has prompted people to grow whatever possible in their homes even if it is very limited in quantity. Organic vegetable gardens have become popular here. There are training classes on organic cultivation; agencies are supplying seeds and other planting materials. People are sharing their experiences online and through other forums. Organic vegetable farming movement in Kerala has picked up in a big way.
Urban farming in Kerala is challenging, but things are possible. That is my experience ๐
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