With the rainy season in bloom, the garden is now full of greens. At first sight, the little plants popping up may look like insignificant weeds (or horse fodder), but on closer inspection, you will find Niger’s nature’s pantry right now in its most generous element. In addition to the hanza beans (whose fruits are ripe and wonderfully sweet right now) and the jiga leafs, the ground now offers lots of precious edible annuals that the people in the bush are harvesting.

Here is a sample from all the different annuals that I found growing in our garden!

Malahiya [Corchorus tridens or Corchorus trilocularis]

Tsaido [Tribulus terrestris]

Cecego [Sesbania leptocarpa]

Gaseya [Cleome gynandra]

Oh, I did not know rainy season could be so fun! Just imagine the casseroles I will be able to put together with this unique buffet of tastes…

The one plant I have yet to find in my garden however is tafasa (which was one of my friend Musa Tauro’s absolute favorites), but you never know - my eye is yet not that trained (meaning I may have missed it), for I am still learning from the poor.