My Plants From the Village

A while back, I showed you the small vegetable garden I have at my city home; it’s small because, obviously, I don’t have much space in my yard—and basically no soil, just concrete—so I had to get creative to grow a few small plants. However, I have another house in a town about 45 minutes away from the city—a place my family and I visit from time to time—and there, there is plenty of space to plant, grow, and harvest a much wider variety of produce. So, I want to show you some of the crops my brother planted there and that we’ve been tending to.

These, for example, are some of our banana plants—or *cambur* plants, as we call them in Venezuela. The interesting thing about them is that once they bear fruit, the plant dies but leaves behind a smaller, younger one in its place; in this way, the plantation never dies out.

That day, I set about removing the withered leaves; leaves dry out not only from a lack of moisture but also from the exact opposite—it has rained heavily in the village, and this has affected the plants as well. However, while checking on them, look what I found: some are already bearing fruit. Although the fruit is still very tender, I need to wait a few weeks for it to strengthen before harvesting it from the plants.

This is a young avocado tree; it hasn't borne fruit yet—precisely because it is too young—but I am pleased to see how fast it has grown since we planted it.

We have another avocado tree that is already quite lush; it has produced fruit in the past, but since it’s not the right season, the tree currently has only leaves—though, thank God, it is very healthy.

One of the things I like most is that it’s common to find this aromatic herb growing on the ground—we call it "wild cilantro," "mountain cilantro," or simply "culantro." It has a very intense aroma and an exquisite flavor; it’s ideal for sauces for pasta or beans—my wife usually uses it for that.

It was a pleasure for me to share with you the plants I keep at my village home; I hope you enjoyed them.