After what seemed like eternity the air seems to be getting cooler now. Winters will set in soon and that means boom time for kitchen gardeners in the tropics. You can grow a huge variety of colorful and nutritious vegetables in your container garden from November to February when the temperature stays between 15° and 30° in most parts of India. Most of these vegetables are very easy to grow and do just fine with minimal care. Here is my top ten list of vegetables to grow in pots this winter. Tomato Tomato is probably the favorite vegetable of most gardeners. … Continue reading “10 winter vegetables to grow in pots”
Taking Urban Farming to the Urban Poor
For those of us living in cities we enjoy service of a lot of people in our everyday lives. The services range from newspaper delivery, cleaning services to home maintenance and home cooking. And these people who make our lives easier don’t lead a easy life themselves. They live in the same cities as us where the cost of living is substantially higher than the countryside and their meager income does not help their cause. As a result their access to fresh and nutritious food is quite limited. Urban farming can be one of the solutions to this problem. To assess … Continue reading “Taking Urban Farming to the Urban Poor”
Guide to Growing Tomatoes in Containers
Tomato is one of the most versatile vegetables which is loved all around the world for its flavor, texture, color, taste and juiciness. But tomato is also a food source with an ambiguity. Though botanically its a fruit, it is eaten as a vegetable. However knowing this fact really does not make any difference to you when you want to grow juicy, colorful and yummy tomatoes in a container in your garden. But going through this post on how to grow tomatoes in containers surely will. So without much ado here we go. Quick Reference Table to Grow Tomatoes in Containers Item … Continue reading “Guide to Growing Tomatoes in Containers”
How to Grow Brinjal in Containers
Fire roasted brinjal (or eggplant or aubergine) smashed with chopped onions, chilies and a little mustard oil is a dish that is smoky, sweet, gooey, meaty, hot and above all irresistible. It is an absolute favorite here in my part of the world. In fact eggplant is one of the most used vegetables in Odia cooking. Its goodness can really be enjoyed to the fullest if it is organically grown and is of indigenous variety. Brinjal being a perennial vegetable in tropical weather, it can be planted any time and it can be enjoyed throughout the year. In this post … Continue reading “How to Grow Brinjal in Containers”
How to Prepare Garden Soil for Organic Vegetable Garden
Sometime back one of our readers wrote to us about his ridge gourd plant that he was growing in his backyard vegetable garden. And he wanted to know if there is any special way to prepare garden soil for farming in the backyard. I am making this post to help him out on preparing a raised bed garden. And I am sure this will be useful to many others who want grow organic vegetables in raised vegetable beds. In organic farming and especially in natural farming as made famous by Masanobu Fukuoka we follow a ‘no till’, ‘no dig’ method of farming. … Continue reading “How to Prepare Garden Soil for Organic Vegetable Garden”
Make Your Own Self Watering Pot
Water is an important natural resource and it gives life to plants, animals and humans. When you are growing your own food at home you should never take water for granted and must do all you can to conserve water. Also when you are away from home you need to make sure that you plants are watered everyday. Self Watering Pots can solve this problem to a great extent while conserving water. After we made a post on Correct way of Watering, one of our readers wanted us to write about Self Watering Containers. And though we are a little … Continue reading “Make Your Own Self Watering Pot”
Benefits of Gardening : Infographics
One of our reader Peter Kimzey of Yo Innovation came up with an infographics on benefits of gardening and shared with us. We liked it and after some minor changes that we suggested the infographics looked really good. So we decided to share it with you. Thank you Peter for this beautiful and informative image. If any of you would like to share anything useful here do let us know by dropping a mail at [email protected].
Update on Urban Farming Training
In April this month we announced our Summer Course on Urban Farming on facebook and got a overwhelming response. And our first course on Organic Urban Farming Training commenced in May 20017. Our course was designed with the following objectives. Sensitize participants on the problems with the food we eat today and the food and nutrition gap we are facing now. Make participants aware of all major aspects of Organic Urban Farming which are Choosing Containers and preparing them Preparing potting soil Choosing appropriate vegetables Preparation of organic fertilizer and soil conditioners Composting and recycling techniques Water management Soil management … Continue reading “Update on Urban Farming Training”
Guide to Growing Broad Beans in Containers
You either hate Broad beans (also known as fava beans or flat beans) or you love them. This is one bean that is difficult to ignore because of its intense flavor and hard texture. I love that intensity and the bite. We get a lot of indigenous varieties of flat beans here in eastern and southern parts of India. Most of them are climbers and need a trellis to grow. A few hybrid varieties are also available now which are of bush variety and hence can easily grow at any place. Being a leguminous plant it also fixes nitrogen in your … Continue reading “Guide to Growing Broad Beans in Containers”
Announcing Summer Course on Urban Farming
High pesticide residues, lack of essential nutrients, use of growth hormones, lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, GMO contamination and rising food prices are some of the reasons why people all around the world are taking to growing their own food at their homes and communities. With a very high population, depleting resources and climate change food and nutrition gap in India is growing at an alarming rate. To deal with this issue and to be future ready Urban Farming is fast becoming a necessity rather than a hobby. In states like Kerala govt is giving subsidies and encouraging people … Continue reading “Announcing Summer Course on Urban Farming”