food from desert : dr. raju m. mathew's experiments in al ain in tapioca and vegetable...

A PARADISE IN THE DESERT MAKING

DR.RAJU M. MATHEW

MY EXPERIMENT IN DESERT FARMING

• Till the beginning of 2008, life in a desert or near an oasis, leaving my ever green land, Kerala, blessed with rain for more than six months was quite unimaginable for me. In Kerala , there was not a single day without seeing the humming honey bees, butterflies and dragon flies of diverse colors and sizes and enjoying the songs of a fleet of parrots and other birds.

• In the UAE, I started my academic life in Abu Dhabi while staying in Al Ain, for my wife has been working there as the head of a school. Here, what I could see is the rushing of the new model cars, the unending lines of date palms on the sides of the road and occasionally grazing camels in my daily journey through the four lane and well maintained road.

• But I was sad, for I couldn’t see fruit or flower gardens filled with sweet honey and fragrance; the dancing honeybees, butterflies and dragon flies and the singing lovely parrots and the other birds near my home in Al Ain. For me, these beautiful things make the Paradise. So I decided to make my own paradise in my residence.

NO FRUIT, FLOWER OR BUTTERFLY

OUR FIRST ATTEMPT IN DESERT FARMING

• We planted a beguine villa plant, a small muringa (drum stick) tree and two plantains near our home and watered them in the morning and evening and put manure regularly. In the compound, we also planted some cassava or tapioca plants.

• It took nearly two years to come out the red flowers of the beguine villa and the white flowers of the muringa tree. Thereafter , some honeybees came and the little birds made their nests on the tree. It became lively and lovely. It took more than a year to get the crop from the cassava.

THE FIRST ATTEMPT

RED AND GREEN

FLOWERS ADD BEAUTY TO OUR LIFE

DESERT LOOK• The land was dry and hard even without any

grass before we planted there. It took several hours to clear a small plot of land for cultivation, as nobody had cared to plant anything there for the last several years, sometimes thousands of years. It was a part of a desert before it was developed as a residential area about 20 or 30 years ago. I had to fight with some thorny desert plants to clear the land for cultivation, that made my bone and muscle hard and strong.

DRY & HARD LAND

FACING THE MERCILESS SUMMER

• Summer is always hard and cruel in the UAE. In the scorching summer, heat rises above 50 degree Celsius that I could not bear. I eagerly wait for setting the sun to clear the land, plant seeds , water the plants or put manures. To protect the plant, I make shades over the plants by erecting some long poles, fixing iron or steel wires and putting dry palm leaves on them. Then they grow fast; even creepers like long beans, soya beans, ash or bitter or snake guards climb over them. Under the shades other plants start to grow; all these create an air-conditioned effect even on mid summer days.

DURING THE HOT SUMMER

BEANS, ASH GUARD AND LADIES FINGER

MAY 2013

DESERT THRONE

NEAR THE DATA PALM

JULY 2013-BETWEEN THE THRONE PLANT AND DATE PALMS

THULASI

ROSE & TURMERIC

CASSAVA OR TAPIOCA OR KAPPA

SCHOOL BOYS & OUR CASSAVA

FRUITS & FLOWERS

VERY LONG BEANS

RED CHEERA & POTHINA (MINT)

THE LOVER & BELOVED

BEANS, THUVARA& MURINGA

ASH GUARD

HIGH YIELDING CASSAVA (QUINTAL KAPPA)

LONG BEANS FLOWERS

THE HUMMING BUTTERFLIES

BUTTERFLY

LADIES’ FINGERS (OKRA)

YAM ALSO

THE LITTLE BIRDIE

BITTER GUARDS

SOYA BEANS, LONG BEANS & ASH GUARD

PADAVALAM (SNAKE GUARD)

LONG BEANS

BITTER GUARD

RED CHEERA

SOYA BEANS,LONG BEANS, TUVARA BEANS & DRUM STICK TREE

YAM & ASH GUARD

A PARADISE IN THE MAKING

• We can build up our own Paradise anywhere in the world with slow and steady little deeds rather than waiting for the paradise after death. It gives joy and satisfaction besides a new meaning to life.

• Birds come and build up their nest in the tree; in the shades of the tree, new plants start to grow; their flowers attract honey bees and butterflies; parrots come to eat tender beans. Fresh and organic fruits, roots and vegetables add our physical, spiritual and mental beauty, strength and health. We can play our own little role in solving the food crisis too.