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Grihvatika Journal

Seasons: Winter

Chir Pine

The resin pine of the lower Himalaya, and the needle litter that makes those fires.

Wild Apple

A north-eastern hill fruit, sour and used for pickle and jam.

Sugarcane

A few canes in a corner give juice, gur and a green screen by October.

Walnut

The nut tree of Kashmir and the western hills, needing real winter cold.

Apricot

Ladakh and Himachal fruit — blossom in March, fruit in June, dried for winter.

Seabuckthorn

A cold-desert shrub of Ladakh, nitrogen-fixing and vitamin-dense.

Rhododendron

Buransh — scarlet trusses across the mid-Himalaya in March.

Deodar

The Himalayan cedar — a slow, magnificent, cold-climate conifer.

Mulberry

Fruit in March, silkworm leaves all summer, and shade in between.

Fig

Two crops a year in the west, and content in a large container.