Pavansut: The Monkey God

The Joshi Kitchen Garden Folks living in southern United States or in warmer countries, don't have to worry about germinating seeds indoors. But up here in the North, I have no choice but to grow seedlings indoor if I were to expect produce in a reasonable time.  If I were to wait for the right temperature to grow seeds outdoors, it will be the tail end of July before I would be able to get any produce at all. So, I typically start growing seeds indoors in the month of March and often start harvesting vegetables by early June.  This year was no exception - I started my seeds indoor in mid March.   Over the years I have tried various methods of seed germination, planting in seed starter trays, using warming pad, placing them in sun, placing them in plastic tubs to maintain humidity, and placing the tubs in the sun etc etc. But I was having mixed success.  I would get about half the seeds to germinate and some to not germinate at all!  So last year I decided to try something new.   I

Hiking Baldpate Mountain in New Jersey Not more than 8 minute drive from my home, is an open space called, Baldpate Mountain. One lazy Sunday afternoon I stumbled upon this place when I took an unplanned turn onto Fiddlers Creek Road. Spying the lonely parking lot on the left, I wondered - should I, should I not. With only a hard top Jeep to keep it company, the parking lot seemed to be calling my name. Why not, I reasoned, and turned into the lot,  slowly getting out of the Mercedes to stretch my legs. The bulletin board at the end of the lot announced a trail going up to the top of the hill and not having much to do, I started to walk on what seemed like a well trodden trail. 45 minutes later I was at the top peering over the Delaware river into Pennsylvania.  The proximity of broad vistas offered by Baldpate Mountain, to my home, surprised me and I vowed to come here more often. That was in late December when the blanket of winter was well spread and everything looked dismal. It h