Home Garden

This has been a long pending post, since November, yeah REALLY long pending ! You all should have guessed from the title what the post is going to be about. I am going to take you through small vegetable garden back in my home in India.

Food is all about being healthy and organic these days and people are ready to pay more for the fertilizers free produce. Terrace and balcony gardens are a rage in the metros where you have a constraint on the space for the garden. My home is known for its garden in our locality, for so many years now (say, 50!). My grandmother should be given all the credit as she was the one who really set the garden up. I will take you through the produce that are straight from the home garden, with absolutely no fertilizers and no processing. One interesting thing is that, we didn’t buy any seeds from any farm, all these are from the vegetable and fruit waste. The seedlings came out on their own from the waste and we have just been taking good care of them. And by we, I mean my parents, grandmother and brother.

So shall we?

 

Papaya tree

Look at the color of the Papaya!

Bananas. How I wish I have them here and make banana breads every time they ripe!

Tomatoes

Green Chilies

Ladies finger

Pomegranates

Manathakali or sukuti keerai

Curry leaves

Our soil is not so fertile and it’s mostly rocky as we go down. We just ensure the plants are watered regularly. The fertilizer or nourishment that we add is the vegetables/fruit waste that we leave to decompose in an old aluminium bucket. Everyday kitchen waste goes in there, keep it covered it will naturally decompose in a few days. Place portions of the decomposed waste near the roots of the plants and cover with soil so that they don’t get washed away when you water them.

You have invest some time to have your own garden and get fresh produce. No big science! And I am telling you, you will never want to go to stores. It is not about the money that you save by not buying from stores but it is the real happiness when you produce fresh and healthy vegetables and fruits of your own, it is unmatchable!

Happy gardening and a healthy living !

 

Pri