My friends at my mini Orchard!

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Befriending plants and trees may seem quite strange. But unlike human beings, they always remain committed, self-less, generous and repay in plenty what you have given to them. Naturally plants are endowed with some special characteristics. They are never artificial but always remain natural according to the seasonal variations.

In summer they shed their leaves and manage to live only with their skeleton. When season changes to spring or autumn, they have new lease of life, their skeletons are clothed with beautiful green leaves. Then they begin their life cycle in right earnest; they breathe; they too prepare their own food in a special process known as photosynthesis; they reproduce by having flowers which turn into fruits.

I too have a few plant friends at my garden. They were small plants a few years ago. Now all of them have grown up into trees. Since I have played a significant role in rearing them up, I can even proudly say that I am their guardian and caretaker. I have a coconut tree, some papaya trees, two jack fruit trees, a lime tree, a guava tree and a suppotta tree etc in my garden. Since I have a number of fruit trees in my garden, it has virtually become a mini orchard.

Surrounding my house, these trees always create a very cool atmosphere during summer providing us with gentle breeze. In the rainy season we feel too cold to live at our home.

I still vividly remember. Several years ago, I got this coconut sapling from a nursery and got it planted at my garden. What I have been doing all these years to her is that I have been just watering her; sometimes cut off her aged leaves and trimmed her; applied some salt and medicines to help her to recover from the onslaughts of some strange insects. Now she is alright. For the past few years, she has been yielding coconuts to me regularly. Apart from serving us delicious and nutritious coconut water frequently, coconut forms the part and parcel of our dishes that we have in our dining table.