The Farm Diaries: Part 1: A Forgotten Fantasy

After one crazy day of planting baskets of seeds in the hope of seeing some tasty and fresh lettuces, cabbages, palak and tomatoes in winters I got  bored😪.  But since I was on 'The Farm' it never let's me stay bored for a long time. I trekked up and down the whole length of it asking for some respite from the dull uninspiring day and there it was on the other end of the lane, waiting for me a pot full of Bryophyllum😍

Psst....don't tell anybody but 'The Farm' has a secret power of teleporting you to the past!!  And in that moment I got teleported to a science class of my 10th grade!! There I was, a greedy child sitting on the front desk, eager to learn everything about the plants and there my teacher was standing near her desk so calmly telling us about a miracle leaf. She told us that this leaf could give birth to whole new plants and not one but many!!! I still remember that moment after that fact I didn't hear anything else. For the whole class and further days to come my train of thought was stuck on that leaf.

I wanted to find that leaf and see for myself that miracle which my science teacher so nonchalantly mentioned as a method of vegetative propagation!! But unfortunately my childhood desire of finding that leaf remained unfulfilled for a long time and slowly it got buried deep down under layers and layers of other childhood fantasies and desires. Until 'The Farm' brought it back up again!!

Now that's the reason I plucked a mature healthy leaf from the gorgeous Bryophyllum plant (I took permission from the plant first: that's the rule of 'The Farm') and plonked it in a secure corner with lots of soil, regular water supply, a dash of sunlight and a kiss just for a dose of magic 😋

For a month I let my kiss work its magic. For a month I resisted disturbing it. I only peeked at it twice a day😋 and touched it just three times in the whole month!! Soon from the nodes on the leaf's  boundary out came pretty little roots, then two leaves small and green which stopped my breath. Now after almost a month and a half the two tiny leaves have grown and gotten more companions and the delicate hairy roots have formed a bunch. I separated them from their mother leaf and put it in small pots. Now the little darlings are becoming independent and I'm their proud mother! 😋

My science teacher called it an experiment and the gardener called it vegetative propagation. For me it was a miracle!!! And the miracle which I made it happen!!

...Bryophyllum pinnatum: The Miracle Leaf...

...Magic of my kiss ;)....

...New plants growing from the nodes of leaf...