I had always wanted to have palm trees at my farm. These trees are called ‘Eecha Maram’ in Tamil and I love them for three reasons. 1) They look beautiful. 2) I love the taste of their fruits. 3) They are sturdy.
Surprisingly though I could never get the saplings in any of the nurseries. I had visited lots of nurseries with no luck. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find dozens of the palm saplings growing on the road side just a short walk from my farm.
I marshalled up my men and we began to unearth these saplings and transport them to the farm.
Seen here is Sekhar (our farm caretaker) and his son Satish, digging up a young sapling.
We found the older saplings to have a bigger root bulb and roots. This means there’s a better chance for the plant to survive the transplantation.
We packed them up in the trunk of my car and transported them to the farm.
Sathish and his elder brother, Mathi, bringing in the newly uprooted palm saplings. We dug holes and let them cool overnight. Experience has taught us never to plant in the evenings because the soil is still warm from the afternoon sun. Its always better to plant in the mornings so that its sufficiently cool.
We planted all of them in front of our house. Am really hoping that the nine saplings we transplanted survive and thrive.
