Over the past decades, my home gardens have shifted from full-fledged four side gardens around the house to those on terraces, and balconies. I have had a mixed cropping system that encompassed vegetables, fruits, herbs, ornamental and medicinal plants.
Lives in cities, with less time to mind one’s passions, and paucity of space, usually limits the scope of home gardening. I guess, I was resolute and fortunate at the same time to pursue generating foliage around me, and I accomplished it. The benefits of this practice were multiple and diverse, and I intend to share these here with readers.
1. No metal or plastic centrepiece, or precious stone can replace the beauty of natural plants and flowers. The house with rich foliage stands apart.
2. Home gardens provide a green cover, a sense of peace and well-being.
“The whole terrace is full of colourful flowers and money plants all over the walls. She has been growing lemons, guavas, pomegranate, raw mangoes, chillis and vegetables like tomato, brinjal, beans, ridge gourd (tori), bottle gourd (lauki), bitter gourd (karela). She also grows tulsi, curry leaves and pudina which she uses mostly in her everyday cooking”
3. All plants are natural air filters that enrich air with oxygen. The home gardens tend to be a wall (a filter) around your house, tending to safeguard the air quality of your front, top (terrace) and backyard.
4. The kitchen or home garden soil often has rich nutritional content, especially if it is fed with kitchen waste. The home gardens become a regular and convenient supply of healthy vegetables and herbs.
“It is your own organic farming where you grow 100% fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables, for your own family”
5. Satisfying experience as you can be assured of the quality. You know that there are no chemicals or colouring agents used to make the products look appealing.
6. The kitchen waste, liquid or solid, is incredibly nutritious for plants. Making your own compost is an effective utilization of organic waste. A friend shared,
“For composting, I have been utilising kitchen waste like peels of vegetables and fruits, tea and coffee grounds/leftovers, wastewater from rice etc.”
7. Home farming is economical – ‘no fancy seeds, no tools to bring results…’. Once you are done cooking or eating, sow the seeds, drain water in plants or simply collect the waste to convert into compost. Home farming is one environment friendly approach, leading to ‘no waste’.
8. Home gardening is an excellent exercise for all age groups. Toiling and nurturing the gardens with our own hands, keeps us physically, cerebrally, and spiritually alive.
9. Children, at an early age, grow fond of having their own sacrosanct sections where they experiment their own skills. They learnt that the responsibility cannot be ad hoc.
My son grew some gram in a pot, as a part of school assignment. The excitement remained for a full of two evenings and then the little being was left upon me to tend to. Well…I did not do my job well! The plant started drying. Although my son argued with me for being biased, he also learnt that plants are a serious business.
10. This hobby soon becomes the habit. Greenery is a ‘stick-y’ practice. Yes, you stick to it, and it is messy. Even if you are tired or low, these living beings must be attended to everyday. The advantage, on the other hand, is that their proximity is healing. Just like that of family!
11. It is a passion, and an outlet. Gardening lets you express yourself. It allows you to nurture a creative side of yours that remained dormant…
“Home gardening/farming is not yet considered an artistic pursuit…as if it not an expression of your emotions. But it is!!”
“My mother has been practising kitchen gardening for years now. Our whole terrace is full of greenery. All the knowledge she has about plants and gardening is from gardeners and YouTube videos. She spends most of her day watching videos on the internet on how to reuse materials from home to beautify our garden. It’s a hobby she developed over time and has been very passionate about it”
12. Gardening is probably the best meditative exercise. It calms the nerves and dilates the senses. Each aspect of gardening is therapeutic – touching the soil; tending to the roots and saplings with care; watering and nurturing every day; sorting the dry and infected parts, pondering over the solutions; or merely standing and gazing at the nature, with gratitude towards the bounty.
13. All plants have an Aura, yet, Tulsi, Neem, and Peepal top the category. Besides being medicinal, effective in warding off day to day viruses and infections, these plants are elevated on vibrations.
14. The necessity for growing our own food never became more apparent as during this current pandemic. Short supply of foods, unavailable supply channels, and the fear of surface contamination, prodded the thought that the source of food ought to be in close proximity!
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Monica (Managing Editor) is the quintessential researcher - she thrives on showcasing overlooked aspects that form the foundation blocks of people, places and issues. She is a social scientist by profession with masters in Economics and loves to travel.