Pics by Dr Amanulla Vadakkangara
Doha: From common fruits such as grapes and papaya to not so common flowers like Black-Eyed Susan and Spanish Flag welcome visitors as one enters the house of Qatar resident Simi Paul.
With over 100 varieties of flowering and vegetable plants, Simi's garden is a delight to the senses.
A technical assistant at Qatar Petroleum, Simi is a gardener by passion who can often be found outside in her home garden at Mamoura. Apart from the regular plants usually grown in home gardens, Simi has grapes, oranges, pomegranates, banana, mulberry, papaya and mangoes to name a few.
She also has a variety of creepers includes Halloween pumpkin, yellow pumpkin, sweet melon, water melon, round orange pumpkin, ash pumpkin, ash gourd and golden cucumber and vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, etc
"Leaving behind my hometown in Kerala, India, after marriage in 1997 and relocating to Doha meant residing in a flat with a small balcony. I would make use of the balcony in whatever small way I could," says Simi.
Seeing her passion for gardening, Simi's husband Paul Valiyaveetil suggested shifting to a villa with a backyard. The couple moved to that house about 20 years ago and eight to nine months every year, except during peak summers, have a green backyard with organic vegetables and flowering plants.
Almost 90 percent of her plants are grown from seeds, which come from friends and relatives in India or her husband's business trips and a few from her previous year's planting season.
"Rarely have I bought a plant except for very rare hybrid plants. Usually, I keep seeds from my previous year's produce and they give me the best quality vegetables and fruits," adds the mother of two-Kevin and Edwin.
The couple has a variety of flowers in their home garden including adenium, cosmos, begonia, Spanish flag flower, maidens jealousy, curcuma, lobelia , celosia, garlic vine, roses, bougainvillea, crepe myrtle, Rangoon creeper, blue cluster vine, coral vine, black eyed Susan, zinnia elegans, dahlia, cypress vine, morning glory, jasmine, marigold, bonsai etc.
Wide range of plants and vegetables can be grown in plenty if we take care of few things says Paul, adding "we need to buy some good soil and water it properly. Manure can be made from food waste. "
Paul and Simi both have a passion for gardening and believe that their love for plants comes from their parents who are passionate gardeners and farmers. "From my childhood, we have always exchanged seeds and plants with our friends and relatives. It is after coming to Doha that we could spend time to work on that passion of ours and since my husband also enjoys gardening, the task becomes much simpler," says Simi.
Tips for newbie gardeners:
1) The most important factor is sunlight, whether it’s flowers or vegetables most of the plants requires partial (at least 6 hours) or full sunlight.
2) Feeding plants with the right organic fertilizer plays an important role for its healthy growth. Make use of your kitchen waste by converting it into the best organic fertilizer to nourish your plants. Spraying of organic fish amino acid and egg amino acid will help the plant to get better flowering, a good yield and will keep them healthy too.
3) Start your garden with soil rich in nutrients. So preparing the soil by adding the required organic manure before the start of the season is very important.
