Rising up, the aroma of freshly made jalebis and kachoris would gently drift into my nostrils, accompanied by the faint strains of Jagjit Singh’s ghazals, signalling the beginning of my Sundays!
Enveloped within the calming melodies of those songs, my father would take care of his little inexperienced paradise on the terrace. He would name this the “greatest use of a terrace” and tending to his backyard “a Sunday well-spent”.
Right here’s a compilation of 5 such passionate homemakers and gardeners who’ve made essentially the most of their balconies and terraces. They’ve cultivated a various array of produce — starting from mangoes to strawberries, and from broccoli to turmeric.
1. Bangaru Jhansi, Visakhapatnam
Bangaru Jhansi (28) has reworked her terrace right into a verdant jungle spanning 800 sq. ft. Bursting with a various array of decorative and medicinal crops, verdant leafy greens, blooming flowers, and towering fruit bushes, her terrace backyard has emerged as a hub for sustainable farming.
The inexperienced oasis boasts over 600 crops — together with watermelon, drumsticks, spring onions, star-fruits, three sorts of mangoes, yellow and red-coloured jackfruits, candy lime, two sorts of oranges, Barbados cherries, strawberries, blueberries, dragon fruit, and so on.
Final yr, she was honoured with the distinguished Dr IV Subba Rao Rythu Nestham award by the previous vice chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu, for her exceptional terrace backyard.
Skilled tip: Sharing the proper potting combine to develop natural veggies at residence, Bangaru shares that the proper potting composition contains 30 p.c vermicompost/kitchen waste compost/cow dung, 30 p.c soil, 30 p.c cocopeat, and 10 p.c neem cake.
2. Pinnaka Padma, Hyderabad
At 59 years outdated, Pinnaka Padma confronted a predicament. With frequent relocations throughout totally different cities alongside her husband, she by no means had the chance to nurture a backyard. Towards all odds, she has reworked her residence within the coronary heart of Hyderabad right into a thriving mini-jungle, flourishing with over 1,000 crops, meticulously nurtured in 600 pots.
The variety is astounding, encompassing greens, fruits, and flowers alike — together with mangoes, Indian gooseberries, aloe vera, fenugreek, tomatoes, curry leaves, turmeric, cucumber, and broccoli.
The award-winning gardener additionally spends time recording movies for her YouTube channel ‘Patnam Lo Palleturu’, which boasts over 4 lakh followers.
Skilled tip: Sharing one in all her many concoctions to maintain crops wholesome, Pinnaka says, “Combine 150 ml of coconut oil with neem oil, cooking oil, mustard oil, and eggs. This combination serves as a superb liquid fertiliser that may be sprayed on the crops, offering important proteins for his or her progress.”
3. Aman Sharma, Delhi
Aman was simply a youngster when he launched into remodeling his 1,500 sqft terrace into an city jungle in Delhi. Rising up with a deep ardour for birdwatching and wildlife, he was pushed to create a protected haven to draw birds and butterflies.
Now in his twenties, Aman shares, “Every time I’m going out, I all the time preserve a watch out for locating a slicing or sapling of a plant. In addition to, I’ve travelled throughout Delhi, visiting forests to gather plant cuttings. At present, I’ve greater than 500 crops on my terrace which are a magnet for a whole bunch of birds and butterflies.”
Skilled tip: Sharing recommendations on tips on how to appeal to butterflies and birds to your city jungle, Aman shares, “Plant the required host crops: powderpuff, milkweed, lemon tree and curry — crops the place butterflies lay eggs that flip into caterpillars that ultimately flip into butterflies.”
4. Sunita Prasad, Bihar
Vertical gardening is often perceived as an costly farming methodology. Nonetheless, Sunita Prasad (47), a homemaker from Bihar, is difficult this notion. She ingeniously utilised two five-foot PVC pipes and bamboo to domesticate greens and fruits — showcasing the affordability and effectivity of vertical gardening.
She was pushed by the purpose to offer her household with chemical-free produce. With a modest funding of Rs 1,000, this homemaker now reaps the rewards of as much as 5 kg of natural greens and fruits weekly — together with brinjal, okra, cabbage, and strawberries.
Skilled tip: Bashing all of the claims about vertical farming being an costly affair, Sunita Prasad shares a fool-proof and low-cost method of establishing your individual, “Take a five-foot pipe, and lower as many components in keeping with the variety of saplings/seeds you will have. Fill ¾ th a part of the pipe with soil and plant the seed/sapling. Add a mix of vermicompost or another natural fertiliser to the soil.”
5. Ravneet Kaur, Ludhiana
All of it started when Ravneet Kaur launched into rising wheatgrass to help her ailing father. Subsequently, she delved into experimenting with cultivating numerous greens and fruits, aiming to offer her household with a chemical-free food regimen. As her household rallied to assist her efforts, her terrace blossomed with 200 crops throughout its 2,000 sq ft expanse.
Ravneet meticulously adjusts her crops in keeping with the climate, nurturing cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, radish, and carrots in winter, and transitioning to cucumber, bitter gourd, woman’s finger, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, and melons in summer season.
Ravneet additionally reworked into an Instagram influencer by sharing her experience, inspiring over 1.8 lakh followers to delve into gardening.
Skilled tip: “As a lot as potential, plant issues which are indigenous to the place you reside in,” says Ravneet. Search for desi seeds out of your native nurseries and communities. You will discover these crops rising higher, she shares.
(Edited by Pranita Bhat)