April 17, 2006

The second year, the garden blooms and is captured in a Jeff Stride pastel, the new clinic is finished

FROM THE ARCHIVE, SPRING TO AUTUMN 2005

"Winter" ended suddenly one day in early February, just after I bought an extra blanket for my bed. The fluffy cotton quilt kept me toasty on the last night of the cold snap, which killed the sensitive kala jeera (Carum carvi) plants. The next night I barely needed a sheet. We shall soon have to start working at 6 am again to avoid the mid-day heat.

Ratna at work among the tulsi plants

What a difference now that everyone is here in our brand new beautiful clinic surrounded by our medicinal gardens. After two years of gardening alone to the sounds of construction, seeing the brilliant smiles of the people coming for care is pure magic. The Ayurvedic doctors send many people directly down to the garden with prescriptions for fresh herbs that we pick on the spot. Thus begins the process of introducing folks to the bounty of our garden.

Now it is a joy to be in the full bloom garden, buzzing with bees and other wild pollinators. Many bird species visit. A golden tiger cat has appeared to keep the burrowing rodent population in control. We would love some birdwatchers to do a population survey so we can record the increasing number of species attracted to and supported by our growing garden.

When the new clinic opened at the end of April we were busy processing our winter harvest. The cool, dry season between October and March is very productive for us here, with mild temperatures and sunny days that many tender annuals prefer. Seed crops and root crops maturing as the hot weather approaches can be easily dried and stored for use throughout the year.

The tulsi (basil) harvest. Tulsi is widely used in Indian herbal medicine and is in great demand among our herbalists. From left to right are Steve, Terry’s hat, Mukesh and Ratna, our gardeners, who built the jhopri.

Over the past few weeks we have been harvesting ashwaganda (Withania somnifera) roots. We devoted about a third of our field to this important general tonic that helps the body cope with all types of stress. To make one of the preparations used at the clinic the dried white roots are ground into a powder and mixed with shilajit, a black, mineral-rich ooze that seeps from rock outcrops in the Himalayas. This powerful combination is given to TB sufferers to strengthen their immune systems and help them get through the arduous, six-to-nine month long treatment with antibiotics.

Our Nigella is in bright white and yellow flower, soon ready for harvesting. Seed crops and root crops that are maturing as the hot weather approaches can be easily dried and stored for use throughout the year. We harvested seed crops of fennel, dill, cumin, cress, and coriander. My desk was covered with rose petals and calendula flowers drying for use in herbal teas and soothing oils – a far better state than being buried in reports and memos.

Biju, our medicine maker, came by the other day to request leaves of acaua, an essential ingredient in our pain relieving massage oil.

My desk is covered with drying rose petals and calendula flowers for use in herbal teas and soothing oils - a far better state than being buried in reports and memos overflowing the inbox.

We were helped in the garden this season by many overseas visitors. Graeme, former tree dweller, harvested castor roots and painted our plant signs; Charlene who planted tulsi; Rosa who planted Vidanga (Emblica ribes); Jenny and Andy who harvested flowers; Steve gathered seeds and made lots of delicious tea. If you'd like to help in the garden, please write to me.

Rosa's dad Jeff visited us to make a painting of the garden, one of a collection of twenty paintings he is doing of Bhopal in aid of the Medical Appeal.

Jeff at work and (below) the finished pastel

Jeff's pastels of Bhopal were exhibited in London in December 2005 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal. A few pastels are still available for sale, to view them please visit our arts website, www.bhopal.fm

Last December 3rd was the 20th anniversary of the gas disaster and thousands gathered in the streets to remember, and mourn, and carry the struggle for justice forward. Many of our long time supporters gathered in the garden jhopri to find peace and solace, sip medicinal tea, and plan for the future.

The 20th anniversary meeting of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal took place in this tea hut, built by Ratna. Below, the view from the tea-hut towards the new clinic

We’ve been giving attention to designing and planting the medicinal landscaping around the building. We want to create beautiful spaces around the clinic with both practical and educational value. In the courtyard outside the gynaecology and Ayurveda wings we have focused on plants used in daily panchakarma and massage therapies, and plants especially important to women’s health.

Staff from these departments provided ideas, suggestions, and requests for specific plants, which we incorporated into a design appropriate for and adapted to the different environmental conditions (sun, shade) of the space. Thus purple foliage of tulsi alternates with the bright green leaves of lemon balm to form a fragrant and colourful border along the passage where visitors wait to see the doctors.

A bank of roses and vitex (nirgundi) lines the sunny wall by the panchakarma rooms, ready to pluck as needed by the therapists. Creeping up the pillars behind the roses are climbing asparagus (shatavari) vines (good for treating vaginal infections) and leafy vines of heart-shaped giloy, Tinospora cordifolia, which among other things is a tonic, revitaliser and remedy for diabetes. The shady walls opposite are planted with the evergreen shrubs of vasa, beneath which a ground cover of brahmi grows. And the center of the courtyard will be shaded (in a few years time) by the shapely Sita ashok tree, an evergreen covered in bright orange blossoms, symbolic for women all over India with many medicinal uses.

We also just finished building a waterfall to channel rainwater runoff to our pond, which is once again full. As I gaze across the water surrounded by verdant vegetation a kingfisher perched on the castor tree dives for her dinner, a white egret glides in for a landing, and hundreds of green parrots perch and swoop in the top of the tamarind tree. There are so many more birds visiting now than when I began two years ago on a barren plot. We would love to have some birdwatchers visit us to do a population survey so we can record the increasing number of species attracted to and supported by our growing garden.

There is so much going on, even more to write about, but I’ll have to save it for the next newsletter. If you’d like to help in the garden, please write to me at terrykisan@yahoo.com

Much love from

Terry

Posted by ulrich at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)