URBANMALI

CHAPTER 1∏

MEASURING MORSELS

On average a person consumes 300 grams of vegetable per day and one square foot yields about 2.7 kilograms of veggies per year. Putting supply and demand together it can be said that 40 square feet of land can provide one person with all the vegetables he/she requires for one whole year.

CHAPTER 2∏

VARIETY IS THE ESSENCE

Taking that this person is going to be eating mostly the food that is growing in this space, it is important for him/her to get all nutrition required and also that he/she does not get bored of eating the same vegetables over and over. Make sure your garden contains amixture of rooting, fruiting and leafy vegetables. The climbers and perennials add to the variety.

CHAPTER 3∏

SOW THEM LITTLE BY LITTLE

There are certain tricks that one can employ in order to make sure that one keeps getting vegetables from this all year round. Like for example, if you did not sow all your seeds at once but sowed a few seeds each week, you would get your harvests in a similar manner.

CHAPTER 4∏

VEGGIE VARIETIES

Did you know that that there are different varieties of the same vegetable that take different times to mature and produce fruit? Using these vegetables is another way to ensure that you keep getting harvests continuously and so that you don't get bored of eating the same variety all year long.

CHAPTER 5∏

TIMING MATTERS

Healthy plants give healthy fruit. Planting your vegetables according to their natural growth cycle ensures that they grow in a healthy manner. Leafy vegetables grow best during the summers. Cole vegetables like cabbages and cauliflowers prefer the winters. And all vegetables grow well during the rainy season so one is free to pick and choose during this time of the year.

CHAPTER 6∏

SUNSHINE DOES US GOOD

While growing a mix of different kinds of plants it is important to place them in such a manner that they all receive ample sunlight and are protected from the strong winds. This may sound complicated at first, but it is quite simple. Placing perennials such as curry leaves and drumsticks towards the corners and the rest towards the middle is all that is needed. These plants at the edges will act as a wind barrier and not cast their shadow over the sun loving annuals in the middle.

CHAPTER 7∏

MAKING THE WASTE COUNT

One simple way to ensure that your plants get all the nutrition they require is to have your own supply of compost. With all the plants that you would have growing in the 40 square feet, you would have about 500 grams of plant waste generated per day. This can be collected in a bin and converted to compost, which can then be used to enrich the soil.

CHAPTER 8∏

SEEDY PROBLEMS

One problem that most urban farmers face today is the availability of good seeds. The solution to this problem is quite simple. Use native plant varieties, or what is commonly called nati variety. These seeds grow to produce fruits whose seeds can be planted again to obtain plants for the next season. So at each harvest if you set aside one fruit for its seeds, you could use these same seeds the next season.

CHAPTER 9∏

MAKE EVERY DROP COUNT

Vegetable plants do require a lot of water to grow, but over-watering does more harm than good. One simple way to check if your plant needs water is to dig up the soil up to an inch, and check if it is moist. Mulching the soil, helps keeps it moist for much longer time, cutting down your water usage by almost one third the amount.

CHAPTER 10∏

PLANT LOVERS!

Even if you don't water your plants very often it is okay, but it is important for one to observe the plant. These couple of minutes spent each day is a gets you closer to the plants and helps one understand their needs much better.

R T Nagar, BangalorePh: +91-9535025938

email: vandana@artyplantz.com

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