Growing Your Greens- Fenugreek!!

How many of you guys out there reading me right now have a green something close to u! Nope, tat green cup or a fridge magnet doesn’t count. I mean real living green leaves around you, especially if you have a balcony to spare. When I look out while I write this, I see this view and I feel lucky to have made this green patch in my home today. I have a bigger terrace which has vegetable seedlings growing and another little balcony which has herbs growing. I manage the gardens alone, with whatever help I get from anyone. Nursery visits are satisfying but sowing seeds from a real veggie is still much more filling than that. Mixing manure with soil, feeling the stringy roots forming and marvelling at the growth these little guys go through. Sigh… Container gardening is really a wonderful thing that has changed the way urban living goes! Today, just a bit of these little guys in nooks and corners of your house are gonna brighten your day up, and if you plant edible stuff, then the harvest will brighten your dish up as well.

For some time now, friends in the real and virtual worlds have been marvelling on my social media posts of my little container garden. There have been many requests for tips and tricks to get a green belt going in every house. It’s an inexpensive hobby that I discovered after moving to Gurgaon. And my balconies are turning green faster than I thought, and firmer than I ever imagined. The most satisfying beginner crop that I grow here is methi or fenugreek. And today I am going to pen down the way to plant it in the easiest fashion possible, which worked for me. I have harvested and replanted fenugreek quite many times, and each time I did that, it felt wonderful to eat wat I grew with my own hard work. It was fresh, pungent and so so tasty. I made this layered box for my husband to carry to his office. He was blown over when he opened the box and the aroma of these methi leaves travelled out. Growing your own veggies does guarantee a freshness which cannot be had anywhere else.

This is a unique recipe on my site today. In fact who would have thought I would be giving off recipes to planting seeds in this little corner that I call mine. I didn’t for sure, but if you liked it then do send out a shout to me on any of the mediums. I will then concentrate on making more such posts and giving you more inexpensive tips to get a green belt going in your house.

Now to planting these little guys. A fistful of your methi/fenugreek seeds can be thrown overnight in a bowl of water to soak. In the morning, all you do is take a few disposable salad bowls and with sharp knife or a part of scissors, drill some holes for proper drainage. Fill tat up with some soil mixed with manure and sprinkle the soaked seeds evenly on its surface. Sprinkle some more soil on top to barely cover the seeds. Water the seeds well and pat it down gently but firmly for a good soil to seed contact. Keep it in a draft free dark place and keep sprinkling some water daily for the first leaves to pop i.e. germination. Once there transfer it to a balcony and water it every day to get a good harvest of young Kasuri Methi leaves in 10 to 15 days’ time. When you are ready to harvest, take a bunch and snip off the roots. If you are eating it fresh like I do, then let the stocks remain. If you intend to dry it and make the spice ‘Kasuri Methi’ with it, then pluck the leaves only.

Now I can’t leave you without a proper recipe to go with this post. So keep looking out here, as my next post is going to blow your minds off. I would be making this delectable bowl that I call- METHI BIRYANI. And the best part is, I just used the left over rice to make it. So it is a recipe that you don’t want to miss really. And it’s perfect in fact better as a tiffin/lunch box than served right then and there. So coming really soon is my smart use of left over rice and hard boiled eggs in the making of Methi Biryani!  

Cheers!!