Born and introduced up in Vellarada village close to the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, amidst the plush greenery of nature, Padma Suresh deeply missed her village. Raised in a household rooted in farming traditions, she inherited a love for agriculture from her father. Younger Padma would spend most of her night after faculty within the fields, studying the artwork of natural farming.
This early publicity instilled a profound reference to the land and an appreciation for homegrown produce.
“I might tag together with my father to the sphere and assist him in managing small chores of the sphere. That’s how I learnt other ways to develop greens organically,” she says.
After shifting to Thiruvananthapuram post-marriage, she took these reminiscences to her in-laws’ house. Confronted with the problem of restricted house, Padma felt the absence of recent and homegrown greens within the bustling city panorama.
Disenchanted with the style and high quality of store-bought greens, she determined to take issues into her personal arms and remodel her small 500-square-foot terrace right into a flourishing vegetable backyard.
Now 48, Padma has devoted the previous 12 years to cultivating a thriving backyard — boasting 200 crops of 20 sorts of greens. With Onam across the nook, she is stocking provides to arrange feasts for the upcoming competition!
By rising her personal meals, the gardener has not solely discovered a approach to offer a constant provide of natural greens to her household but in addition a option to generate a secondary revenue. We sat down along with her to study extra about her ardour for attaining self-sufficiency in rising meals for her household.
Greater than only a passion
Initially, Padma focussed on rising flowers akin to orchids and jasmine. She solely turned to rising her personal greens after studying a number of information articles that highlighted the perils of consuming chemical-laden greens that dominated the market.
“It isn’t an unknown incontrovertible fact that chemical-laden greens are detrimental to human well being. I believed simply by sparing a while within the morning and night, I might get wholesome nutritious and chemical-free meals for my household. Moreover, I didn’t just like the style of meals cooked utilizing greens I purchased from the market. So, I needed to develop my very own greens,” she shares.
She transitioned to rising quite a lot of important greens — akin to chillies, cherry tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, brinjals, curry leaves, cauliflowers, okra, and extra. With over 200 crops thriving in develop luggage, the terrace backyard has develop into a continuing supply of pleasure and sustenance for Padma; and likewise a hyperlink to her rural roots.
“I solely must buy potatoes, garlic, tamarind, and onions from the market. Apart from these greens, my terrace backyard provides all the essential produce,” she factors out.
Whereas the greens from her terrace are enough to offer for her household of 4, Padma sells the additional harvest available in the market. So, rising greens is not only a mere passion for her but in addition a mode of revenue. “Each Sunday, a variety of gardeners attain Gandhi Bhawan to promote organically grown greens. I too have a devoted stall the place I promote further greens. Inside an hour, all my greens are offered out. This earns me as much as Rs 1,000,” she provides.
“By eliminating the necessity to buy greens from the market, I’ve not solely achieved self-sufficiency but in addition considerably lowered my month-to-month bills on greens by saving round Rs 1,500 per thirty days,” she says.
Padma says with little effort, anybody can develop greens organically at house. She depends on pure fertilisers like vermicompost, cow dung, poultry dung, bonemeal, and neem cake, steering away from dangerous chemical substances.
Moreover, she employs progressive strategies like getting ready liquid fertilisers from jaggery and fish, which act each as a nutrient supply and pesticide for the crops. Sharing the method to arrange this fertiliser, she says, “Take mathi (sardine) fish and chop it into small items. Then, add 1.5 kg of jaggery and blend it with the fish. Preserve the contents in an hermetic container. Stir it each day.”
“The fertiliser will likely be prepared to be used after 45 days. Combine 3 ml of this liquid fertiliser in a single litre of water and add to crops. It ought to be given to crops at an interval of 15 days. This acts each as a fertiliser and pure pesticide,” she shares.
Padma additionally recurrently displays her backyard for pests. “Within the evening, bugs often go away the plant. At the moment, I attempt to manually take away them from crops and destroy them. I additionally use biopesticide to spray it on crops to eliminate bugs,” she shares.
This proactive strategy not solely safeguards the crops but in addition ensures the well-being of her household by offering them with nutritious, chemical-free meals.
Her husband Suresh Ettan, who’s presently working in an oil and fuel firm in Oman, misses the natural meals cooked by Padma. “As I’m a vegetarian, I’ve restricted meals selections right here. Secondly, I don’t just like the style of greens. For the previous 4 years, I’ve been surviving on plain rice, lentils, and curd,” he says.
“At any time when I sit all the way down to eat, I deeply miss our home-cooked meals. Each morning, my spouse sends me a great morning message. And together with it, she shares pictures of her day’s harvest. I take pleasure in showcasing these pictures to my colleagues,” he provides.
In the meantime, Padma says she finds solace and connection to her village via the standard recipes and flavours of homegrown greens. “I can now put together feasts with veggies from my backyard for festive events like Onam. We take pleasure in savouring the freshness of cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and different backyard delights,” she says.
“This not solely offers bodily nourishment but in addition enriches my soul. It provides me a way of goal that transcends materials beneficial properties. All my worries fade away when I’m busy nurturing my crops,” she remarks.
Edited by Pranita Bhat. All pictures: Suresh Ettan.
