krya sustainable urban living guides baby steps to growing your own food

8/10/2019 Krya Sustainable Urban Living Guides Baby Steps to Growing Your Own Food

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kryaSustainable urban living guides

This is a DIY guide for the novice urban farmer who has asmall balcony or terrace to work with.

This guide is inspired by the joy of growing your own food

which is slowly becoming a critical need.As your garden grows,please use the resources given here to

take you further.


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Finding the right spot

Find a spot on your balcony or terrace that receives a lot of sunlight (atleast 4hours a day)

Keep some space near the spot to store your gardening equipment somecompost, natural fertiliser / pesticide, a small trowel, some garden gloves, a spray

bottle to water your garden

Choose your pot wisely!

Choose the containers in which you would like to grow your plants. You can re-use old

plastic tubs, water bottles, and even trash bags or HDPE plastic bags. Try to re-use

what is available rather than buy something new.

Giving your plant good soil

Kalai (the urban gardener whose workshop I attended) recommends using a

mixture of coco peat (40%), fertile soil (20%) and vermicompost (40%) for abalcony garden.

Preeti of Urban leaves recommends using a mixture of red earth and compost in

the ratio of 1: 1.

Experts say that good soil should be damp, airy and alive with beneficial

earthworms, microbes and other insects that work well on the aoil.

Baby steps to growing your own food

Home-made compost from Aparna Georges

kitchen - packed with nutrition for your plants

and sustainable too!

When the soil is this good, the worms come to

play! - From the Urban Leaves community

garden in Maharashtra National Park


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Soil basics

Soil should be alive. Good soil

contains lots of earthworms,

beneficial ants, and other micro

organisms that work hard on it

to make it rich and fertile and full

of nutrients.

Using coco peat brings down the

weight of your soil container. This

makes it a great option for

balconies and terrace garden.

Coco peat also absorbs more

moisture than soil, which means

you will have to water your plants

less.

Some soil potting mixes

Coco peat - 40% , Fertile soil - 20% ,

Vermi compost - 40%

Red earth : Compost (1 : 1)

Fertile Soil : Compost (1: 1)

Make your own compost to be even more sustainable!

Fresh veggies and fruits from your garden are extremely

nutritious, and taste awesome !

Courtesy: Sangeetha Srirams urban garden


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Seeds and Saplings to plant

Many seeds can be planted as is. Some seeds need to be germinated and then transplanted

into its final container.

Preparing seeds for planting (with germination)

Examples of plants whose seeds require germination are aubergines, tomatoes and chillies.

The seeds of these plants have to be soaked (after they are dry) in nourishing water (EM /

Amrut Jal / Panchakavya in water in a ratio of 1:10) for an hour. After an hour, plant them in a

small container (the depth of an egg tray or a pudding snack pack) in good compost at a depth

of 4 cm. Poke 2 holes at the bottom of the container so that excess water leaves it (and does

not stay behind to rot the roots).

Sprinkle a tiny amount of water every day on the seed bed (just enough that the soil feels

damp).

Transplant the seedling once it has grown to about 10 cm tall.

Planting seeds that do not need germination:

Many plants can be sown directly into your container. Okra, greens, some herbs (like corian-

der, fenugreek), gourds (bitter gourd, ridge gourd), etc.

Urban leaves recommends starting with easy seeds and plants that can be found in any Indi-

an kitchen cupboard like coriander seeds, fenugreek, mustard, channa, etc.

Kalai recommends planting greens many of them are ready to harvest in a month, and a

large amount can be harvested, enough for a familys needs once they grow.

Planting time

The best to plant your seeds or saplings is between the new moon

and the full moon (closer to the new moon). As the full moon

approaches, the moisture content in the soil increases, as do insect

pests. Too much moisture in the soil kills the young plants roots as

do too many insect pests.


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Mulching is the practice of covering the soil with driedorganic matter like leaves to prevent the top soil fromlosing moisture from evaporation.

Mulching is a critical element in your urban garden.

Proper mulching of your plant pots will keep the topsoil moist, and prevent invasive weeds from growing inyour plant pots.

Mulch also conserves water in the top soil so you needto water less.

This is critical because over watering can also kill yourplants by making the roots soggy.

So mulch your plant pots well, and water themsparingly

Mulching

Companion planting in a medium sized pot:

Plant a single okra seed or a bitter gourd seed in the centre. You could get these seeds while

cooking with organic okras or bitter gourds at home - take the seed of a fully ripe and mature

okra / bitter gourd if possible, or buy it from a reliable supplier of traditional / heritage seeds.

As a companion to the okra / bitter gourd, plant greens around the circumference of the pot

you can plant between 10 - 15 seeds depending on the size of your pot.

The greens should be sown at a depth of half an inch from the top and the centre plant at a

depth of one inch.

Use a container of about 12 inches depth for this arrangement.

Some plants you can start your garden with :


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Soil basics

Small container plants

Coriander is a great plant to plant in a container. You can begin

harvesting fresh leaves within 3 weeks of planting. The growing

season is October - March

Lightly crush the seed until it breaks into 2 halves - each half gives

you one plant.

Soak the seeds in nourishing water for 4 - 5 hours. Dry the seeds

under a fan. Plant when dry in the evening into your soil container

at a depth of 3 cm in the soil. Choose a container thats 6 - 8 inches

deep.

Fenugreek is also an easy plant to grow.. Soak and dry the seeds

as described above, and plant in a small container alone or in a

larger pot as a companion to herbs like Basil. Fenugreek is an

excellent nitrogen fixer and is a great companion plant to other sun

loving herbs. You can harvest tender leaves from 15 days onwards.

Mustard is another excellent container plant. Sow the seeds (after

preparing them) between October - January. Sow each seed 6

inches apart (sow only as many as you want) . The plant needs

very little water and both leaves and seeds can be harvested.

Mustard seed harvesting tip from Urban leaves:

As the mustard flower grows and matures, it will form pods.

Watch for these pods to start to turn brown.

Another sign that you are nearing harvest time will be that the

leaves of the plant will start to yellow.

Be careful not to leave the pods on the mustard seed plant for too

long as they will burst open when fully ripe and the mustard seed

harvest will be lost.


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Thank you for downloading this eBook.

Through this eBook, we wanted to encourage and inspire you to begin

growing your own food.

This eBook as the title suggests is for basic level gardeners who have not yet

attempted to grow their own food. The resources at the end of this eBook

provide further contacts, blogs and groups to learn from.

As we progress in our gardening experiments we hope to write more

advanced guides on growing your own food.

In the meantime here are some photographs from urban gardens all over

India to further inspire you. Happy gardening!

From Aparna Georges urban garden in Bangalore :

purple and plump aubergines and tomatoes (below)

From Sangeetha Srirams urban garden in Chennai,

beautiful broad beans in the terrace


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Resources for further learning

Blogs / Facebook Group of experienced urban gardeners or gardening groups:

1. Urban Leaves City farmers Group:

http://www.urbanleavesofindia.blogspot.com

2. Geek Gardeners blog : http://geekgardener.in/

3. Organic Terrace gardening Facebook group (mostly based in Bangalore) -

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OrganicTerraceGardening/

Experienced urban gardeners and horticulturists or gardening groups you cancontact for queries:

1. The city farmers group : Request them to add you into their group :

[email protected]

2. Preeti Patil (of the Urban Leaves group) [email protected]

3. Dr.Vishwanath Narayan Urban Horticulturist and Urban gardener based in

Bangalore. Conducts urban gardening workshops in Bangalore

[email protected]

4. Kalaivaani (who conducted the Urban gardening workshop I attended) has a

5 acre organic farm in the outskirts of Chennai and also has a vibrant terrace

garden. Email Kalai at: [email protected]

5. Siddhartha Sikdar (Based in Pune) Organic gardener and permaculture

practioner. Can be contacted through the city farmers group.

Enthusiastic gardeners (who I know) who have had excellent results1. Aparna George (based in Bangalore) : http://apster.blogspot.com/

2. Sujatha Ramni (Based in Hyderabad) -

https://www.facebook.com/goodseeds

3. Sangeetha Sriram (is an urban gardener based in Chennai; is a great resource

to grow greens) - http://sangeethasriram.blogspot.com/

4. Kavitha Ramakrishnan (Has a wonderful urban terrace garden in Chennai withan amazing variety of vegetables) Kavitha can be contacted via reStore at

[email protected]


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Wonderful Learning opportunities and books and blogs:

1. Jyothi Nagaraj of the Organic Terrace gardening group is organising Oota

from your Thota in Bangalore this Sunday , Nov 27th Register for the event

here: https://www.facebook.com/events/264861213560428/

2. Urban Leaves is conducting a National seminar on Organic Urban Gardening

in Mumbai between the 10 12thof December this year. You can register for

this event here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDdIeGh0TDdv

QmFJUk43SXo1cmk1dmc6MQ

3. Dr.Vishwanath Narayan has written a wonderful book called the Handbook of

Organic terrace gardening which you can buy for Rs.150 (plus postage

charges from Bangalore). Please write to [email protected] order

your copy.

4. Masanobu Fukuoka (an inspiration to organic farming the world over) wrote a

seminal book called the One Straw Revolutiondetailing his natural farming

methods. Read this book to get inspired, learn more about natural farming and

to understand the importance of mulching.


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Credits:

1. Ms. Kalaivaani of Sadhana Kudil organic farm for the fantastic hands-onorganic farming workshop

2. Ms. Preeti Patil and Urban Leaves for the enthusiasm, knowledge and

happiness spread to hundreds of city farmers in India

3. ReStore volunteers and successful organic gardeners Sangeetha and Kavitha

for generously sharing their pictures and techniques and opening up their

homes for aspiring gardeners, and of course for organising the workshop.

4. Ms.Aparna George, blogger and environmental enthusiast who has an

enviable home garden and compost kambha going in her balcony in

Bangalore.

5. Photo credits

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoyachubby/with/464017688/

Dave Tuner - [email protected]

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Morguefile - http://www.morguefile.com

Apologies if we have missed anyone. If we have missed you out or if you feel

we have inadvertantly violated your copyright, please write to us at

[email protected] .


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About the Authors:

This eBook has been written by Preethi Sukumaran and Srinivas Krishnaswamyof Krya Consumer Products LLP (the copyright holder).

This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial -

Non Derivs 3.0 Unported License.

Simply put , you can share this eBook with anyone you like, without charging

them for it.

Krya Consumer Products create environmentally sustainable, completely natural

and vegan alternatives to stuff folks use around their home.

We are proud to have launched the Krya detergent which is made by skilfully

powdering sun-ripened, hand-picked, de-seeded, certified organic soapberries.

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well.

To find out more about us and what we do, please visit these sites:

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krya sustainable urban living guides baby steps to growing your own food

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