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Lighterside
LAST September I suggested to my aunt that she grew vegetables in front of her Mpopoma house. So stunned was the old lady that I had to catch her before she hit the ground. Still dazed, she sat on a down turned metal bucket. “You want me to be the butt of jokes from my neighbours, my relatives and the club ladies! People will say I have fallen on hard times. Vegetables and maize are grown at the backyard and flowers at the front.”
“But aunt, you have an oversupply of healthy green shoots from the giant rape at the back. These shoots (amaxhakela) are crying out to be independent plants. It would be a waste to throw them away.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Son of my sister, the shoots may be healthy and robust but they have no place in my front yard. Only beautiful flowers are for the front.”
I recall when I was a kid and we moved to a new town. Father went three months ahead of us. He grew cabbages all round the house. When we joined him, mother was shocked. She wanted to uproot the veggies at the front but father pointed out that it was too late. The cabbages were about to mature.
As soon as they matured, mother donated the cabbages to neighbours. She planted roses, marigold, flame lilies, elephant ears and other types of flowers in front and at the sides of the house. Only the small backyard was left for vegetables and maize.
Coming back from a business trip, it was father’s turn to be shocked. He wanted the sides of the house for vegetables but mother insisted that she had to make up for the blunder made in the first three months.
Five years later, mother’s allocation of our arable yard still stood. “It will take time,” she explained, “to erase the shock and embarrassment of being entirely surrounded by cabbages. I need the beauty and fragrance of flowers to help me heal.”
Thanks to the good rains in most parts of the country this year, my eyes have seen beautiful crops. Even in some parts of the drought prone Matabeleland South province, I saw maize fit to grace the front yard of the State House, even the front of my aunt’s house in Mpopoma.
When in fertile soils and receiving enough water, maize is a beauty. Its bamboo-like stem stands in a defiant upright position. From it, long and arching leaves grow at regular, alternating intervals. This plant has the grace and poise of a beauty queen.
For the flower lover, maize is a one stop shop. The crop boasts two sets of beautiful flowers — the tassel on top of the stem and the ear at the middle.
The tassel is the male flower. Look closely at this khaki-coloured crown and you will notice loose panicles that dangle in the air like the earrings of a gypsy. Not bad for a male flower.
In its early stages the female flower (young cob), is covered by layers of leaves. Then pale yellow silks emerge at the top of the flower and hang down like the hair of a beauty queen. No hairdresser can make your hair sparkle and be as smooth as that of the maize silk.
As if to show off, the silk later changes its colour to green, red and pink. What variety within one plant!
Perhaps in praising maize, I have become as biased as a soccer fanatic. I should compare it to other flowers in a methodical way.
First, we compare with the rose. Roses have thorns while maize is harvester friendly. One point for maize and zero for the rose. Roses have a pleasant fragrance. What about maize? Have you ever sniffed the air when fresh maize is being boiled? No aroma is more pleasant. So, when it comes to scents, both contenders get a point.
As already noted, the maize plant has the eye catching poise of a beauty queen. The rose plant . . . well . . . it is just a shrub. Another point for the maize and zero for the rose. Thus a neutral observer would conclude that in the beauty stakes maize beats a rose 3–1.
How does the elephant ear compare to maize. This flower is poisonous. Being harmful is an own goal. Thus maize leads 1–0. Maize provides food and the elephant ear gives nothing. Maize therefore surges ahead and beats this flower 2–0.
The flame lily is also poisonous. However like maize, it is beautiful. The contest with the lily is therefore a hard-fought affair. Maize scraps home with a 2–1 victory.
Suddenly, I know what I will give my aunt for Mothers’ Day. (By the way, in Africa aunties are mothers.) I will give my aunt the results above. This should win her over to the idea of growing maize and vegetables at the front yard. I will suggest two neat rows of maize from the front door to the gate. Besides the maize, there will be rape, chomoullier, cabbages and other greens as ground covers in the place of lawns . . . what a unique and beautiful front garden!
Can anyone out there offer a better Mothers’ Day present?
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter