Goals: Herbs & healing

Feathery-leaved and drought-hardy; one grafted tree feeds a household through winter.

One of the three fruits of triphala; a large deciduous tree of the sub-Himalayan tract.

The third triphala fruit, from a broad-crowned tree of dry deciduous forest.

A white-rooted asparagus of the north-western hills, grown on terraces and bunds.

A thorny desert shrub whose resin has been traded for millennia; now endangered.

A monsoon-flowering lily of the western hills, grown for its white tuber cluster.

A dry-country shrub with yellow flowers, tough enough for a Rajasthan roof.

A winter annual of the north-west, grown for the thyme-scented seed.

Plant a knob of market haldi in June; harvest your own in February.

The same trick as turmeric, in slightly more shade and slightly less time.