From Kashmir to Mysuru, Apple Miracle!
4 min read
Mysuru: Apples, grown primarily in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, continue to enchant most of us, at least those in Southern India. Apples are enchanting not just as fruit but also the awe that surrounds the fruit, especially its taste and the picture of apple orchards. Consider them lucky who have had a chance to visit apple orchards in Shimla or Kashmir, a dream that many can only afford to dream. But can you believe it can be grown in Mysuru and that too on a terrace? However, far-fetched it may sound, meet Sharon Prasad of Namma Mysuru to believe it to be true.
Sharon Prasad, a resident of Sri Shivarathrishwara Nagar in Bannimantap has done what’s even considered ‘impossible’. Sharon has grown apple on her terrace in huge paint buckets and today, the plants are the star attraction to her neighbours, friends and relatives. A plant lover at heart, Sharon’s terrace is a beautiful medley of ornamental plants, herbs, veggies and fruits. But why apple?
“Who doesn’t like apple? I have been growing many fruits on my terrace and growing apples has always eluded me. Thanks to hot and sultry weather of Mysuru that the idea of apple was always discouraging,” said Sharon Prasad to Mysoorunews.com, Never one to give up, she tried to test-grow apples on terrace. For, terrace is her field.
“I got the saplings and tried. But I was unlucky, thrice” said Sharon. But, she still wanted to try and in her fourth attempt, she became success.
“I got apple plants from Kashmir that can be grown in hot climate.” She booked the order for ‘Hariman 1999’ variety of apples by paying around 500 to each plants. Not to forget the cost involving in logistics, Sharon had ordered around 15 plants. The plants were neatly packed to protect its root stock as they had to be brought all the way to Mysuru. She planted around eight of them in huge paint bucket and the rest she has planted in her farm near Tumakuru.
The plants were given different organic manure that she prepares at her home and also fed micro-nutrients required for the plant. She had to manage the plants from pest attack and she did it all without the help of fertilizers.
She planted these saplings in last year around October and around June this year, the plants had first batch of fruits.
“Around January and February (this year), I could spot pleasant pink flowers in the plant and that made me believe that nature do surprises us,” said Sharon excitedly. The aroma of the flowers filled my terrace and slowly, they turned into fruits. “First they were pale yellow and then turned to peachish pink and full red,” Sharon explained of the fruits. Each of her plant has around nine red juicy apples. “The initial ones were little sweety-sour but later, they were sweet and tangy,” Sharon said.
The size of the fruits were slightly small from what’s available in the market. “May be because of the space. But I will make it up next time,” Sharon added.
Interestingly, Sharon was asked not to grow them in pot by the seller in Kashmir as the apples are grown on land. But when she shared the pictures of her harvest in her paint buckets, the seller was surprised, to say the least, says excited Sharon.
Ever since, she has posted pictures of her harvest on social media and shared the news with her friends, her home is buzzing with visitors. Everyone, wants to know everything about it, she says with pride.
One might think, she may have had a fluke of luck. But, a look at her three-step terrace on her home, will prove otherwise. For, a green thumb she is, Sharon has a fruit market, literally on her terrace. She has papaya, guava, chiku, custard apple, orange, dragon fruit, grapes, passion fruit, Ooty apple and such all on her terrace. Apart from this she also grows several vegetables including ridgegourd, bottlegourd, brinjal and capsicum for her household needs. Sharon has over 300 variety of ornamental plants, including those in bonsai, that are placed aesthetically at her home. In a small compound of her house, she has grown pomegranates, avacados and lemon, too
A native of Hubballi, Sharon has made Mysuru her home after she got married here. Sharon credits her mother for her love for the plants. “Our home in Hubballi was full of plants and I used to keenly watch how my mother used to tend to plants. I don’t have much space around my house, so I started growing on terrace. I draw inspiration from her,” says Sharon, who has been winning first prize in Dasara terrace gardening competition for the past three years.
Isn’t it too expensive to grow so many plants on terrace? “Not at all. I would not spend money on expensive pots to jacket my plants. I grow them in any container and use only organic manure that’s generated in my kitchen. Of course, I try other variety of organic manure and use natural spray to keep pests at bay,” adds Sharon. Her gardening skill has come handy in running a landscaping firm that her sons manage in Mysuru.
Today, her terrace is not just a garden but a live-school for many enthusiastic gardeners, who visit her terrace for practical knowledge.
-Team Mysoorunews
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