WEEK 9
Nature is abundant!
WEEK 8 contd…
I don’t remember exactly when we planted the turmeric roots in the soil last year as someone gifted it to us. But today as the leaves were dried we harvested almost 2 kgs of turmeric.
As per my mil’s guidance we prepared fresh turmeric pickle. And shared it with people in my community. Simple pleasures are life are free!
WEEK 8 contd…
To speed up the process of composting I sprinkled some bio-enzyme solution with water (1:10 ratio) on all the mulched beds.
I can see now the composting process has started well, the leaves are turning black and giving that earthy smell.
WEEK 8
For a week we were unable to step out of the house and take care of the garden. I was worried and kept peeking out of the window to check on the plants.
But after a week to my surprise, plants were just fine…i could spot few tiny guests chomping off the green leaves of Chinese cabbage…marigold had grown by an inch…mulching had done its job well…The garden was still looking green.
That day I realized how less I know about plants and nature..Nature doesnt really need me but its vice-versa :))
WEEK 7 contd…
Corn gets a place in the new area of the garden. Instead of digging up the complete patch we have chosen a short cut to dig up individual pit, fill it with a mixture of cocopeat, compost and soil and plant the corn.
We are planning to mulch the surrounding area with a heavy layer of brown leaves.
WEEK 7 contd…
We visited this nursery as a part of my birthday celebration 🙂
You get lots of seasonal vegetable saplings along with garden supplies. I couldn’t resist buying few gourds, corn and tomatoes from there. We also bought two tomato plants. The shop owner told, its not a cherry tomato plant but the tomatoes are like cherry tomatoes! Its interesting to see how tomatoes grow on them…
WEEK 7
In the last few years, my composting efforts were not very consistent.
This khamba was gifted to me by one of my friends Soniya when we shifted to this home. But now as my MIL is staying with us, she has taken up th responsibility of putting wet waste in smart bin. Once that smart bin is full, I empty it in the pot of this khamba. I arrange the layers of brown leaves and wet waste and keep sprinkling compost powder in between. Within 3 months, we get ready to use home compost for the plants!
WEEK 7
In the heart of our hearts! 🙂
The bed getting ready for some smoothie greens.
WEEK 6
I wanted to have some flowers in the garden and what better than a marigold we thought!
It seems a sturdy plant to grow in dry soil. And also i remember reading somewhere that it helps keep the pests away
WEEK 5 contd..
Can you spot some cabbage and cauliflower saplings in the layer of brown leaves?
Looks like these saplings wont survive in this soil but who knows, the mulching may create the necessary environment.
WEEK 5 contd..
The unutilized part of the patch has very dry and parched soil. We thought lets ty mulching it with a layer of brown leaves and green material and some cocopeat to see if the soil quality improves with time.
Slowly I am getting addicted to digging up the top layer of soil.
Its been more than a month and I have already started experiencing improved strength in my back 🙂
WEEK 5
I am enjoying taking birds eye view pics of the garden patch every month.
You can see your progress and feel happy about it 🙂
WEEK 4
“No brown leaf should get burnt in India” Says Aditi Deodhar https://brownleaf.org/
Being part of the brown leaves group, has given me new perspective to look at these leaves. Fortunately we have access the huge piles of brown leaves in the community.
We have started mulching every patch with these brown leaves and the water consumption has gone down by 75%. It takes one bucket of water to water the garden patch!
WEEK 3 contd..
I also wanted to add some flowers to the patch. I ordered some flower seeds online and traying to prepare saplings in the seed tray.
I have experimented earlier too with the seed trays but haven’t been very lucky. I have mixed coco-peat, soil and compost in 3:2:2 proportion to go in the seed tray
WEEK 3 contd..
These are Chinese cabbage and Purple cabbage!
Even they seemed to be flourishing in this warm weather and the soil! Looks like beginners luck…
WEEK 3 (Jan 2022)
My MIL sowed these methi seeds and coriander seeds couple of weeks ago. She is gifted with green thumbs, see how well methi and coriander is growig! 🙂
WEEK 2 contd…
The gourd saplings are supported now 🙂
WEEK 2 contd…
We bought few saplings of ridge gourd and bottle gourds from a nearby nursery and planted them in one patch.
We also collected some bamboo, cut branches of a big tree to be used for staking purpose
WEEK 2 contd…
We have also started digging the compost pit in one corner. The idea is to dump garden waste, brown leaves in the pit to compost.
We bought a special tool ( a heavy metal rod with pointed tip) to make the job easier. But its going to take more time than we expected. So we have decided to dig daily 2-3inches deep 🙂
WEEK 2 (Jan 2022)
This is the birds eye view of the patch after first 2 weeks of the farm work. We had already planted banana saplings 6 months ago. They are adding the needed green color to the patch 🙂
WEEK 1 contd..
In this pic you can see some brinjal saplings that we have planted.
We also made some beds to grow greens between the brinjal saplings so they can provide natural green mulch for the soil.
Its an experiment, the results are awaited.
WEEK 1 contd..
Fortunately there is this small empty plot next to the house, that we have decided to experiment on till it remains empty! 🙂
Some patch has good quality soil, so we made the mii bed with the soil and started with planting some saplings.
Tomatoes, chilies and brinjals to start with.
WEEK 1 (Jan 2022)
As a new year resolution I have decided to experience and witness the process of growing your own food. I have named this project, #reconnect365 as my intention is to connect with the natural elements space, air, fire, water and earth and in a way connect with the self!