Urban spaces
Kitchen gardening has been gaining popularity over the years as more people are becoming aware of its benefits. In accordance with this, several forums where one can get tips on the ways of growing organic food, and also promote the healthy lifestyle, have been popping up.
One such forum is ‘Organic Terrace Gardening’, which is dedicated to organic food farming in an urban environment. They promote organic events and organic gardening resources.
This includes growing our own food within City spaces like the yard, gardens, terraces, balconies or even spaces as small as window sills. They also aim to move away from unsustainable technologies and lifestyles, and adopt more of eco-friendly and sustainable methods of living.
Another forum is Oota from your Thota which means ‘food from your garden’. It is a one day organic vegetable gardening event in Bangalore and it makes various gardening tools available under one roof, along with technical know-how.
Visitors can pick up seeds, saplings, herbs, compost, eco-friendly cosmetics, organic produce directly from farmers and more. These pages have people posting regular pictures, advice, takes a healthy interest in organic gardening, helping beginners start off, and experts showcasing harvests.
Vishwanath Kadur, founder of ‘Garden City Farmers Trust’, which is popularly known as ‘Organic Terrace Gardening’ on Facebook, says, “Bangalore was known for kitchen gardening at one time. Before, every house had a food or flower garden, but now due to the greed of the people, they use up the entire land for commercial purposes.”
He adds, “I started farming in 1995 but from 2005, people started realising the benefits
of organic farming. We all know the negatives of market vegetables and that has made kitchen gardening popular.”
Minette Ranjit and her husband have been into kitchen gardening for the past five years and is a founder of ‘Greenthumbs Boutique’. “Being nature and plant lovers, we began our little adventure together. With most of the vegetables being produced with a lot of chemicals and fertilizers, we decided to start own vegetable patch. A single tomato or chilly gave us immense joy in the beginning years, after which we were inspired to grow more,” she says.
She went on to grow brinjal, snake gourd, bitter gourd, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, and herbs like rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano and mint.
Taking care of a garden is a lot of hard work. Dr Vishwanath says, “People should have a love for gardening and the plants will grow automatically. Start with one pot and the collection will grow gradually. Greens like bush beans and bhindi will harvest in 45 days and ground space is the best as it doesn’t involve monetary investment. And plants need to be taken care of just like you; they will need vermicompost, compost and regular watering is a must.”
Kitchen gardening has a lot of benefits. “This is a healthy way to relieve stress, eat healthier and safer, provide better nutrition to your family with fresh vegetables, and get some exercise while enjoying the warm sun and environment. By planting and tending to your garden, you control what you eat as well as how it is grown. Even apartment or flat dwellers can produce a nice size vegetable garden on their balconies,” sums up Minette.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Preethi Ravi / DHNS – September 19th, 2014