Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Starting my Kitchen garden

Finally!!!

Was wishing to write all about my gardening endeavors. Today is the day. The last two to three weeks I have been very much immersed in to vegetable gardening info from net and different although few books available. Side by side started it too. Very much motivated by Geek Gardener’s container garden I am all set. Recently shifted to a bigger home with not one, not two but three terraces all to my self, I and my husband from last 5-6 months were spending our leisure time on purchasing and arranging and rearranging the ornamental plants for green and flowery surroundings, and then first thought of having some herbal plants in our garden and then thanks to googling got addicted to idea of growing vegetables at home! WOW, I thought organic homegrown vegetables and that too on the rooftop in containers without damaging the roof. I was all set on 15th December 2010, and went to the seed shop that I was aware of, as far as nurseries in Gurgaon they do not sell vegetable seeds or transplants. So I purchased some hybrid tomatoes, long short and white brinjals, zucchini, cucumbers and sword bean seeds, lettuce, pok choy, celery, potatoes from a seed selling shop. I was a little disappointed when I tried to find about the variety and the determinate or indeterminate types but sadly it was not written on the seed ;packets available. So I came back happy with the seeds and showed it to everyone at home (we are a joint family) my seven year old son was especially excited to see white brinjals on seed packets (he happily promised to eat white brinjals once he will see them in our garden.) I had grown spinach, mustard, brinjal and methi before, but this is my first experience of container gardening. I wish myself all the luck.


So I prepared seedbeds in the old brass big dishes (called paraant in hindi)  :-






The weather is quite cold here and my enthusiasm just can’t wait so despite the shopkeeper and googled advices I have planted those seeds also which were to be sowed after the last frost date. So what I thought I will keep the baby plants indoors. Let us see.


The good news is all the seeds have germinated except zucchini (am waiting for you zucchini ji).

Pok choy were the first one to germinate then sem i.e. sword beans and then lettuce and after that one or two days here and there and I always have exciting news about new baby plants raising there heads in my garden. Wow it’s such a fulfilling and rewarding thing to do.

Now the new baby plants are like this:

This is pok choy---:   The winner.







The sword beans i.e. sem , came second giving me tremendous joy. My father once planted a sem creeper and that one creeper used to give us and neighbours too spontaneous supply of beans.







And then I waited and waited now have baby tomato plants, white, black brinjals but still waiting for zucchini, I think they are lying dormant. As the whether is quite chilling these days.



The Challenges before me:

1.      The weather of Gurgaon is quite an extreme one , too cold in winters and too hot in summers. I don’t know whether the plants will adapt on roof top or not.
2.      Whether I will achieve self-sufficiency and continuity or not.
3.      This is very tiring one, to take soil up there is quite tough, even asking the servants to take one or two bucket of mitti (soil) is a herculean task.
4.      I could not find any helpful shop from where I can get detailed info of the seeds I am sowing.
5.      I don’t know any of these growing mediums like coco-peat, vermiculite etc. and don’t exactly know where to look for them.
6.      Tried and called every source given by Geek gardener and fun gardener but still not know where to get my organic pesticide i.e. Panchgavya…….phew!!!

Any ways what ever the challenges, I have to do it and I want my home grown organic veggies,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Come what may!!!!!!!!!!.



Oh yes, forgot to mention I planted some potatoes, some baby plants of chives cabbage and marigold too:-





The little plants were more than I expected so thought of breaking these old urns and using them for cabbage planting.







The one above are cabbages, I don’t know which variety, waiting and watching.
Planning to plant my tomatoes in between onions and cabbages for companion planting.



Oh yes! Watching his mom busy gardening or googling about gardening all these days my son has also picked up the hobby, and he demanded his portion in the garden, collected some bins from the attic ( he said he want to recycle and save earth) and planted his favourite rajma, orange and peas yesterday. This is his part of labour:-  J




The first two paint bins are for peas, the thermocoal bins have his rajma beans, and in the sack he has put his potatoes (he wants all his produce to be turned in to finger fries once they are out and this last bin has papaya seeds.


wishing all the luck to my baby plants weather here is damn spine chilling.

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