The little presents from my OTG

It has been 5 months since the idea of an organic terrace garden sprouted in the depths of my mind. The feelings I have right now as I write this post are so varied. The apprehensions and longing hopes when I sow a seed soon begin to fade away upon the first sighting of a green head poking out against a stark dark brown background.From that moment, the feeling of love and care that I feel towards my plant grows with the seedling. I am not ashamed to admit that I have come to see my plants as my babies. What is more, my son has begun to address them as "Your babies".

The joys of finding that a veggie is ready to be harvested or that fruit ready to be plucked off of the plant is second only to the joys of motherhood. In fact, I am increasingly inclined to think that gardening is another kind of motherhood!!

Watermelon in the making :)

Every time I go up to the terrace to tend to my plants I have a treasure waiting for me. I return home with the same joy as a child carrying a favorite toy would return from the toy store!! Beyond this, I am constantly learning by doing. Be it having more than two plants of a particular veggie or sieving the compost at the right time or figuring out ways to support climbing plants - it is enriching to learn from mistakes.

Freshly harvested carrot

Long sisters

Nature - the best teacher

Whoever said 'nature is the best teacher' was damn right!! The things I have learned about gardening in the last three months are worth more than years of college education in botany. My misconception about a garden being some odd plants that need daily watering and no other care has been completely annihilated!! But be warned, that I am still learning a lot about gardening and have much more that I want to research. I don't even feel I know enough to call my self a novice gardener!!

This post is to list some of the things that caring for and nurturing a terrace garden has taught me. In fact, many of these practical lessons have made me feel ashamed because I have just thrown my college education in biology out the window. Many a times, I have said the phrase "Of course, why didn't I think of this?"

Throwing a bunch of seeds into a pot will not ensure you get a good yield of plants. This is the deadliest and most sinful mistake any gardener can commit. I have done it. But learned not to do it through emotionally painful lessons. Each seed will sprout into a separate plant. Some may never sprout. I lost my spinach plants to this mistake. It was depressing. They were ALL doing so well until ALL of them drooped and wilted. It was the most heart wrenching experience - overcrowding and fight for light and nutrients claimed my greens.

Merely watering plants will not give you any results. Every alternate weekend I continue to turn up the top soil and add fresh compost and supplement the soil with egg shell powder and 'panchagavya'. I carefully examine the soil surface to pull out weeds. I have also been able to figure out that the greens like spinach and mint prefer partial shade.

I am also using crushed dry leaves to protect the potted soil from drying up in the intense heat that Bangalore is beginning to see. This was how I lost my carrot seedlings initially. I am also able to judge how much water each plant needs.

Above all, gardening has taught me to be patient, has taught me to segregate waste, learn to be disciplined in following the process of composting.

I have had my first harvest of okra, coriander, fenugreek and spinach. Hopefully with a harvest of tomatoes, onions and beans, I hope to reach out to my neighbours to educate them about composting and benefits of organic vegetables.

Green - The most refreshing colour

The new year saw me going out to Russel Market to buy different seeds - spinach, carrot, onions, peas so on. I also had seeds of double beans and green chilli that I had saved at home. I was very skeptical yet excited about the whole thing. With complete gusto, mom and I prepared the soil by mixing red sand and vermi-compost that I had procured from a local nursery. We set up different pots and sowed the seeds.

I remember thinking that this was going to fail very badly. And I couldn't help looking into the pot every few hours!! Then, I shook myself up mentally and told myself that if none of the seeds had sprouted in two weeks, I would consider myself unlucky!! Today, I feel lucky to know that I am indeed blessed with green fingers. 

All the seeds, with the exception of brinjal have sprouted. What makes me most happy is the fact that the chilli seeds I saved at home have sprouted as well. 
I watched a video about growing mint from market-bought mint sprigs. I placed one sprig of mint in a glass jar containing water. I changed the water every two days for a week and then I completely forgot about it. When I looked at the jar the day before yesterday, I noticed that sprig had developed numerous roots. I have now transplanted it into a pot. 

From this experience, I can vouch that no colour can be more refreshing than the delicate green colour of new shoots emerging against a brown background!!!

Picture taken on 2nd Jan, 2014

Picture taken on 17th Jan, 2014

Kitchen Garden

As a child, I vaguely remember questioning my mother if the vegetables she bought from the market could be grown in our own home. This curiosity has been buried deep inside me for all these years. Conveniently blame it on high priority tasks such as studying for a respectable degree, working for a reputable firm, settling down and so on.

Of late, the idea of vegetables grown at home has been nagging me quite a bit. It all started with a staff meeting in school. My colleague brought up the idea of composting kitchen waste. Ever since hearing her idea, I have been dying to try it at home. It took some time to help my family understand the need for reducing waste that leaves our house each morning. It took even more convincing to actually put a plan into place and follow through. Added to this, my sister has been constantly bringing up the topic of terrace gardening.

28th Dec, 2013. 
I feel happy to say that today we have moved a step closer to saving our planet. We have set up a pot for composting and the first batch of kitchen waste has gone into it and as I type I feel glad knowing that tiny little buggers are hard at work :) !!

We have planted fenugreek and cilantro seeds in tiny paper cups. Once they have sprouted, I plan to move them to earthen pots. Soaked bean and chickpea seeds sit over our chimney top. Once they germinate, they will go right into the pots. I am also trying to get tomato and chilli seeds to germinate.

I am aware it is a very modest beginning. Given that we all leave home for work or college and the fact that I am not sure of the time and effort that needs to be invested, I feel that a modest beginning will suffice for now. However, I am sure our kitchen garden will grow in variety and size. I eagerly wait for that day with fingers crossed!! :)