With our mere 25 cents of land (which, for today, is a rather big plot in Thevara locality), and being in Kochi, agriculture as such was a remote possibility.
We hardly ever thought of 'farming' per se, I think.
I recall Ichayan sharing one farming experience of his youth. He referred to having taken a large plot on a lease together with Chittappan (could have been the Uppaappan of Panangadu), from the Koloth family! We have never come across any Koloth anywhere, I am afraid. Then he said something about it in connection with the land ceiling act - that if they had retained it in farming it would have come to him, as per the new law. Whether he didn't make an effort for that or whether he couldn't do it - I am not sure. This would have made an interesting story. But I am afraid none of us would know about it.
Then, when I was in grade VII or VIII, I remember Ichayan having taken on lease a small agricultural plot on the east side of the Kadavanthra canal, immediately after the bridge. It might not have been much more than 50 cents I think. I didn't know anything about it, until the harvest day, when I happened to be there, somehow. And realising it was Ichayan's or perhaps as a partner (?), I too joined in some activity, or of carrying home some paddy. I don't recall it fully.
Our two properties in Thuthiyoor - one was about 25 cents (I feel it was more) and another was about 40 cents I think. The first one, a level plot, had coconut palms and tapioca was planted there a couple of times. Initially, managed fully by ammachi, in the later stages, a couple of times, Rajettan and I had gone to harvest tapioca and bring that home. We never knew how or who planted them. Such a question never occurred to me. Later on, in the last 2 years of my schooling, when I was the sole caretaker, we never planted any tapioca.
In the bigger plot, which had many trees and was richer in biodiversity, there were jack, mango (?), and cashew trees. Rajettan and I had gone there a few times and had made very tiring efforts to get chakka home. It was a totally shaded plot, with 2 or 3 levels. Perhaps, there was a kind of well in one corner - not sure.
I don't know when they were disposed of. Definitely, post 1980, after I had left home for good to join the seminary. With that what little we had of a farm came to an end, I suppose.
We also had a one-acre traditional homestead - with a house having an ara (store). The house was built mostly of wood. Later, I learnt that Ichayan managed to dispose it of to the one who sold it to us, at the same price at which he had purchased it. It was considered a great achievement by ammachi and Ichayan. I regretted the loss of it, with its many trees, and that very traditional and lovely house. It was unimaginable at that time that land prices would have an appreciation, of all places, in Thycattussery! I don't know what constraints led Ichayan to sell the land off. Today, on the rare occasions when I pass by (maybe once in 10 years), I could see Parayil Mathew sir as the owner of it, and the house being inhabited.
(Ammachi always defended such decisions by Ichayan saying that Ichayan had got them all by his own effort, and he had every right to do what he wanted to do with them.)
When I overheard the description of the challenging life of Malabar from the elder sister of Chinnammakunjamma, I felt we should have done that! Go to Malabar, procure lots of land, and become prosperous. The latter part was vague --- how to go about it, what exactly to do. However, I felt inspired by that. Later on, I became critical of the policies like 'grow more food' where people were said to have been encouraged to go and settle in forest areas and clear the forests to grow more food. I felt that such policies were made without much thought and the likely impact.
However, in our 25 cent plot we had our bit of krishi with ammachi setting the lead. Vazha (Musa) - chundillakkannan was the sole variety we had, but we had them in plenty. Every now and then, a bunch would ripen, and ammachi would cut that, store, get all of the fruits to ripen, and then share them with the neighbours - especially those who were on our small campus - Rubi chechi, Pratapan chettan, Pattar saami, Nambiar Maman, Vasanthi chechi and Haridasan, Geetha chechi; perhaps, on rare occasions, extending the same to Mathai chettan, or Omana chechi or Mary chechi, our neighbour beyond the borders (?). As a school boy, I think I also contributed my bit, by helping to keep the plantain beds in good shape. We had, at times, chempu (usually, cheru chempu), some amarkka (lablab), on rare times, irachi payar or chatura payar (?), achinga payar (stringbeans), sometimes cheera (amaranthus), paval (bitter gourd), koval (ivy gourd), pappaya. Due to water-logging in our plot during the monsoons, most of the seasonal plants used to get destroyed in the season, except perhaps, amara which stayed strong for some seasons. Two other rare plants which we used for dishes on some occasions were chundanga (Turkey berry) and nitya vazhutana (clove beans). I never found either of them any that appealing. However, on my visit to P.J. Joseph's house, I happened to see this after a gap of almost 3 decades and got some seeds which we managed to sprout and harvest some fruits. On my solo all-India ride, I stopped seeing a man in rural Tamilnadu, harvesting chundakka, and on my asking him, he described in detail how they made a dish out of it.
A rare blessing, a pappaya plant grew rather well in the backyard, and its fruits were about to ripen. Usually, these plants used to get rotten during the monsoons and hardly ever did we see them grow with some strength. This was an exception. On the Maundy Thursday, when we returned from the church, ammachi was aghast, seeing that the best ones on the plant had disappeared. This was unusual for our locality. That regret is still there in my mind!
We had also a grapevine, which was a contribution by our aunt Aetty (Elizabeth). It grew well, and it was nurtured with water that was used to wash raw meat. It did bear some fruit, but didn't have much energy. The other precious tree was a breadfruit (kadachakka) which grew well, and began to bear fruits. However, ammachi had some idea that we were getting into some financial instability because of its presence. And after some consultations, she ensured that the tree was cut, which I regretted. Another rare plant was a kind of giant bitter lemon - vadukappuli naranga - which bore some fruits, but never appeared healthy. Our several attempts to grow a plant of curry leaf never bore fruit. A plant remained there, without ever growing. But of late, some plants did grow and seemed to survive.
To my great happiness and surprise, I find our family members, especially Lischechi and Kunjechi engaging in producing vegetables, sometimes aplenty. Others were Vellyechi and Saju. Rajettan also has taken some steps in that direction. Merry too had or is still having her short stints. This is much more systematic and productive than how it used to be in our younger days. I feel more could be done by people who stay at home, especially those who lead a life retired from active salaried jobs - if a family is determined, and has 1 cent plot (actually 1.5 cents) of land that receives sunshine, our (Organic Kerala Charitable Trust) position is that it can yield sufficient vegetables for the needs of the family of five, with half an hour (the time one takes to consume one's daily food) devoted to that daily. It can be a rewarding healthy engagement, and a very productive and useful one. A model experimental plot for this was set up on the top of the principal's office of Sacred Heart College. The good thing about it was that it had the whole range of vegetables required for healthy living - leafy vegetables, salad vegetables, legumes, tubers, and even some perennials like drumstick, curry leaf etc. (See the attachments - all credits to Mr. Nasar, our team member, and the initiator of the concept).
I would recommend 2 species which you might not be all that familiar, which could be of great value to you (1) Agatti cheera - Sesbania grandiflora, which can be useful for leafy dishes, and its flowers could also make delicious dishes, resembling mushroom in taste (2) Roselle - Hibiscus sabdariffa L. with a tangy taste, appearing like lady's finger, can be a very good source for sweet chutney, or perhaps for concentrate for a healthy drink. I have collected the seeds of both of these, and hope they are still there, and available.
At Rajagiri Doha, there had been some efforts under the leadership of teachers Ajitkumar and Nish Shahul. However, I find them more of a once-in-a-year show, and the student involvement, very minimal. Last year we introduced as part of increasing biodiversity, drumstick, and one of them yielded abundant fruits. This year, we plan to celebrate millets as part of the international millet year. On reopening the school hopes to have small plots or sets of pots dedicated to varieties of millets. This has already been initiated in our Sacred Heart Degree College, Sitapur, as part of its silver jubilee celebrations (yesterday). In addition, we hope to install two units for experimenting with composting.
Wherever I hope to be on some stable basis, I hope to make farming - vegetable and agro-forestry, part of my life.
Wish you all a happy productive urban/rural agri life!
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