Regions: West India

Upright, bell-flowered and ancient; the oilseed of the dry season.

The grain that carries the western desert through a bad monsoon.

Palmarosa — a scented grass of the central hills, distilled for its rose-like oil.

Cut-and-come-again greens ready in six weeks from a shallow trough.

Sow thickly in a wide tray and cut the whole crop at three weeks.

The monsoon green that grows itself — heat-proof, rain-proof, ready in a month.

The winter weed worth sowing — mineral-rich leaves through the cold months.

A thick-leaved climbing spinach that thrives in the worst of the monsoon heat.

Needs depth more than width — a 30 cm trough of loose soil beats a wide bed.

Roots below, usable leaves above, and it tolerates a container better than carrot.