ALKHOBAR, 2 March 2007 — Have you ever eaten real tomatoes? No, I don’t mean those watery, greenish fruits that are called tomatoes by the supermarkets. The tomatoes I’m talking about are dark red with meaty, juicy flesh and a wonderful fragrance. I can describe them in such detail because I’ve been slicing them into my family’s salads and sandwiches all week.
These tomatoes are the product of Yousef Yacoob Al-Dulaijan’s green thumb. They were grown in the yard of his house in Al-Rakkah, a quiet Alkhobar suburb. While most senior citizens spend their days staring at the TV, Al-Dulaijan has too much energy to consider such time wasting. He has a passion for plants. His yard is not the standard layout of grass and flowers around a tiled courtyard. Instead, Al-Dulaijan has transformed his yard into a vegetable garden.
“I dislike grass,” he said. “It’s useless. It soaks up water and gives back nothing. Even worse, it has to be cut and fertilized. It attracts all sorts of pests so then it has to be sprayed with insecticides. I can’t think of anything good to say about grass, but I notice that more and more people are planting it in Saudi Arabia. People forget that the Kingdom is a desert. Most of our water is being created through desalination. Then we take that expensive water and pour it on grass. People need to be made aware that such behavior is wasteful.”
Don’t get the idea though that Al-Dulaijan is against greenery. He just thinks that people need to reconsider what they do with the land and water resources at their disposal. Always a proponent of tree planting, over the years Al-Dulaijan has filled the yard of his home with trees of many types. Now in the shade of these trees grown tall, he has planted vegetables, herbs and the occasional fruit vine. Magnificent Bougainvilleas climb the back wall of his home.
“We have just harvested our first tomatoes, eggplant and peppers of the season,” Al-Dulaijan remarked, showing me boxes of all these vegetables. “We also have mint, dill, basil, watercress and parsley. The garlic and onions will be ready soon, the pumpkins after that and then the dates.”
A well, dug down 30 meters, provides water for the home garden, and because Al-Dulaijan is not as sprightly as he used to be, Abdul Azim, a laborer from Egypt, helps with the heavy digging and lifting. This Saudi gardener is full of practical advice for anyone who wants to grow plants in the Kingdom’s hot climate.
Over the course of the year he plants three different times. He advised that people have just a week or two more to get their tomatoes and watermelons into the ground so the plants bloom and set their fruit before the high summer heat.
“People should know that the planting seasons aren’t the same here as in other places. We put our first tomatoes and eggplants into the ground in January. We use a lot of peat moss, manure and fish bone meal to improve the soil. I don’t believe in artificial fertilizer. Natural fertilizers help hold moisture in the sandy soil,” Al-Dulaijan explained. “We use pesticides very sparingly and water with a drip irrigation system either at night or at dawn, depending on the humidity.”
Gardening is more than this old soul’s hobby. Every Thursday all his children and grandchildren come and sit with Al-Dulaijan in his garden and eat from its bounty. As he shares with them the work of his hands and heart, he feels useful. He basks in their complements. There is something to look forward to in life. What a big harvest from a small patch of earth!
