Over the past couple of months, I sat with the question, “Why there and not here?”
You might remember from a previous postcard where I shared my experience with cultivating ketumbar jawa and pegaga. Uprooting them from a sanctuary and into a holding pot while I waited to “better” a patch of earth. Mulching and composting, in hopes of cultivating the most “perfect” or favourable conditions.
Well, after all that waiting, by the time the replanting happened, the ketumbar didn’t survive the transfer. But the pegaga did. And just as it was beginning to grow new nodes and spread out, one vine at a time, it was unapologetically lopped off—even though boundaries were set in place. The excuse? The markings weren’t “clear enough” (even though the space around it was cleared and marked with wooden sticks); and it probably looked like a bunch of weeds to the person who didn’t know how to eat it.
Well, by some miracle, despite losing all of its leaves, its hairline roots somehow clung on—just enough.
It sprouted again; though smaller. Clumping timidly in one spot without creeping across the earth to explore. There was so much space. Yet it wasn’t safe.
But it grew—just enough—to produce a new sprout.
This time, barely big “enough”, I uprooted the new pegaga sprout,
I intentionally left the main plant behind; this time with clearer (but uglier) plastic fences in place—as an experiment to not only hedge bets on the survival of the pegaga, but to see whether its boundaries will truly be respected. To see if it could truly thrive with those “protective” fences in place (though I have my biases and have seen the possibilities when patches of herbs and edibles are left alone to thrive beyond the soil and onto pavements).
As for the new sprout, I moved it into a cream coloured planting box, just short of the length of two bricks. This time with new neighbours, cuttings of dill, rosemary and mint. And it seems to be holding up just fine, if not better and at greater heights. I’ll keep you posted.
P/S On a separate note, if you’re based in KL/Selangor, save the date for Sunday, 17 October! More details to come.
This week, I’m
working on: a couple more deadlines
watching: ‘I Wore Digital Clothes For A Week' — Safiya Nygaard
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