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 look after his little inexperienced paradise on the terrace. He would name this the “finest 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 remodeled 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 timber, 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 many others.
Final yr, she was honoured with the celebrated Dr IV Subba Rao Rythu Nestham award by the previous vice chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu, for her exceptional terrace backyard.
Professional tip: Sharing the right potting combine to develop natural veggies at residence, Bangaru shares that the right potting composition contains 30 % vermicompost/kitchen waste compost/cow dung, 30 % soil, 30 % cocopeat, and 10 % neem cake.
2. Pinnaka Padma, Hyderabad
At 59 years previous, 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 remodeled 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.
Professional 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 development.”
3. Aman Sharma, Delhi
Aman was simply a young person when he launched into reworking 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 secure haven to draw birds and butterflies.
Now in his twenties, Aman shares, “At any time when I am going out, I at all times maintain an eye fixed 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 the moment, I’ve greater than 500 crops on my terrace which are a magnet for a whole lot of birds and butterflies.”
Professional tip: Sharing tips about how you can appeal to butterflies and birds to your city jungle, Aman shares, “Plant the mandatory host crops: powderpuff, milkweed, lemon tree and curry — crops the place butterflies lay eggs that flip into caterpillars that finally flip into butterflies.”
4. Sunita Prasad, Bihar
Vertical gardening is usually perceived as an costly farming technique. 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 intention to supply 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.
Professional 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 reduce as many components in accordance 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 combination of vermicompost or every other 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 varied greens and fruits, aiming to supply her household with a chemical-free weight-reduction plan. 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 accordance with the climate, nurturing cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, radish, and carrots in winter, and transitioning to cucumber, bitter gourd, girl’s finger, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, and melons in summer season.
Ravneet additionally remodeled into an Instagram influencer by sharing her experience, inspiring over 1.8 lakh followers to delve into gardening.
Professional tip: “As a lot as attainable, plant issues which can be indigenous to the place you reside in,” says Ravneet. Search for desi seeds out of your native nurseries and communities. You will see these crops rising higher, she shares.
(Edited by Pranita Bhat)
