Take a chance...

I haven't lived a perfect life. I have regrets. But that's from a lifetime of taking chances, making decisions, and trying not to be frozen. The only thing that I can do with my regrets is understand them.

Kevin Costner

And just like Kevin Costner (An actor I admire) says, my little green patch is far from being perfect. I sure have quite a few regrets. But yes, that's from taking quite a few chances, making some difficult decisions and most of all not letting my passion for growing stop and my little patch to freeze midway... Ans surely, the best thing I can do with my regrets is turn them inside out and understand what they had for me to learn...

Not satisfied with the many greens I was growing, I wanted to now grow coriander. The one herb that was unfortunately turning out to be my "bete noir", with growing. I was determined and took chances with this particularly moody yet delightfully delectable herb and kept trying... I think my obstinacy was too much for this haughty herbs moods to take and it finally gave in. Well, it's been close to two years, I haven't looked back ! And my garden has not just been host to aromatic coriander on a regular basis, but has managed to convert my bete noir in my pride.

I am more than thankful to Ajja's and now Ajji's little "Beejada angadi" for the most trustworthy naati kotambri/coriander seeds and to my regular, (Oh-so-boring) yet dependable potting mix of equal portions of soil and compost with a little neem cake powder thrown in for fungal measure. Add to it my penchant for prudent watering and natures intriguingly brilliant ways, and there you have it, the most beautiful, fresh and aromatic coriander. It's then left to my imagination to add the charming visual appeal and exotic flavours of this herb as creatively as possible into my cuisine...   

Featured here is this afternoon's harvest of coriander from my hanging pots and a few sprigs of dill growing as companions in my brinjal pots.