My Green House

You all know that Chennai's climate is too harsh to grow cool climate plants like carrot, cabbage, cauliflower etc.  Therefore, I made green shade at my terrace to try out cool climate plants.

I covered 850 sq.ft. of my terrace space with green shade net.  To cover all the sides, I needed 1400 sq.ft. of net (appx. 75% sunlight reduction net.  There were 50% & 90% shade nets also available).  One bundle of standard size (3 mt. X 50 mt.) net costed me Rs.2.16 per sq.ft.

To support the shade net, I erected bamboo structure first.  The cost of one medium size bamboo pole(around 16 feet long) was Rs.65. There were various sizes bamboo poles available ranging @ Rs.65-130.

It costed me around Rs.8000/- for covering 850 sq.ft. terrace space. The requried material were bamboo poles, shade net, ropes, stay wire, clamps, nails etc. Since I did the labour work myself, there was no labour cost added.

Hope I can now able to grow my dream vegetables.  Wait and see for my next update. Bye.

Health benefit of Gardening

I need little motivation to garden because it gives me so much pleasure and health benefits.

This time of year, I daydream about getting out in the garden, pulling weeds, pruning and planting. For me, a life-long gardener, there's nothing better than seeking solace, sun and good moments in my yard.

So, when I found these 10 reasons to garden, I had to share them because they cover every good reason to garden, or at least try it:

1. Gardening provides exercise that seems to be lacking in the Indians, especially
Chennaiities'  lifestyle. This comes from picking up pots, hoeing, raking, and chores related to tending the garden.

2. Gardening creates an opportunity by which vitamin D can be absorbed. It only takes 15 minutes out in the sun without sunscreen to absorb a daily dose of this vitamin.

3. Gardening provides more control over an individual's food supply especially for those who are concern with food security.

4. Gardening gives an individual a reason to be outside.

5. Gardening can create social situations where social interaction can occur. Long-term friendships can develop through a common love of gardening.

6. The process of gardening can improve one's mood and reduce depression. This is believed to happen due to exercise and vitamin D exposure.

7. Gardening is a great hobby that every individual regardless of skill or living environment can do.

8. Gardening is a great way of reducing one's carbon footprint by cutting back on food transportation cost and increasing foliage on the planet that can trap carbon or become a carbon sink.

9. Gardening is a great way to reduce stress. Getting back to nature and combining this with exercise can help reduce the stress at the end of the day.

10. Vegetable gardening can improve your whole family's dietary habits by providing the first fast food, which is fresh vegetables and fruits. It has been found that if kids are involved in the gardening process they are more likely to try new foods and eat more vegetables.

Source: http://gardening.newsonly.org/

Also please read more on health benefit of gardening at http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/08/why.gardening.good/index.html

Bio-dynamic Agriculture

Do you know Bio-Dynamic Agriculture?

Bio-dynamics, derived from two Greek words, bios life and dynamos energy, refers to the agriculture science that recognizes basic principles at work in nature and applies this knowledge of life forces to bring about balance and healing in the soil.

Bio-dynamic methods produce a living soil with increased biological activity, in alignment with planetary cosmic rhythms, particularly those of the sun, moon and planets in the fixed constellations. Cosmic energies can work strongly through a living soil down into the plant. The coordinated working together of earthly and cosmic energies is what brings about healthy and nutritious plants. Bio-dynamics is a complete holistic outlook on agriculture.

To read more on this subject, please click the following link http://www.biodynamics.in/ of Bio-Dynamic Association of India (BDAI)

Also read the article on  Pest and Disease Control in Vegetable Cultivation by Organic & Bio-dynamic Farming Methods. For the beginners, this article is useful.

Compost at reasonable price

In my previous posts, I mentioned how to make your own compost.  In case you require compost immediately to start your terrace garden then you can get it at reasonable price if you reside near by Tambaram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Our Mudichur Panchayat has tied up with a NGO "Hand in Hand" to collect garbage from the residents at their door step with a very nominal monthly fee.

The collected wastes are dumped in the land fills located near to Mudichur Lake after segregating brown/green material.  Compost is being made at the plant located near to land fill area.  You can get compost and vermicompost here at a maximum cost of Rs.5 to Rs.10 per kg. depending upon your order quantity.

In case you require any further information please message me.

To find address in Goodle Maps, please copy past the following link https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir//12.901121,80.078701/@12.9029036,80.0761763,17z/data=!4m5!1m4!3m3!1s0x3a52f5e6ffcecceb:0x05e16f34ccbba684!2zMTLCsDU0JzA0LjAiTiA4MMKwMDQnNDMuMyJF!3b1?hl=en

Gardening Tools

Basic Gardening Tools

Hand Gloves -  Gardening gloves are used to protect hands from dirt and,sticks, rocks that could cause cuts or scratches.

Watering Can - For watering plants

Shears/Hand Pruners - a type of scissors,to prune hard branches of trees & shrubs 

Garden hoe - small & big (Man Vetti) - hoes are useful to slice into the soil around weeds

 

Hand Trowel - It is used for breaking up earth, digging small holes, especially for  planting and weeding, mixing compost, and transferring plants to pots

Weeding / Digging Fork -  is ideal for planting, aerating and loosening, lifting & turning over soil, without making damages in compact planted areas. Also used for removing weeds.

Hand Cultivator - is used to turn the soil where plants and vegetables are planted, remove weeds from soil. For small flower or vegetable gardens, a hand cultivator can be used like a small plow to turn the earth and dig the planting rows.

Hand Weeder - is used to remove weeds and small roots.

Identify Seeds & Vegetables

Lady's Finger Seeds (Vendaikai Vidhaigal)

Lady's Finger (Vendaikai)

Cluster Beans Seeds (Kothavarangai Vidhaigal)

Cluster Beans (Kothavarangai)

Cucumber Seeds (Vellarikai Vidhaigal)

Cucumber (Vellarikai)

Bottle Gourd Seeds (Suraikai Vidhaigal)

Colour - Off white

Bottle Gourd (Suraikai)

Long Snake Gourd Seeds (Periya Pudalangkai Vidhaigal)

Long Snake Gourd (Periya Pudalangkai)

Small Snake Gourd Seeds(Chinna Pudalangai Vidhigal)

Small Snake Gourd(Chinna Pudalangai)

Cow Beans Seeds (Karamani Vidhaigal)

Cow beans (Karamani)

Cabbage Seeds (Muttaigoes Vidhaigal)

Cabbage (Muttaigoes)

Cauliflower Seeds (Pookosu Vidhaigal)

Cauliflower (Pookosu)

Bitter Gourd Seeds (Pavakai Seeds)

Bitter Gourd (Pavakai)

Ridge Gourd Seeds (Vari Peerkangai Vidhaigal)

Ridge Gourd (Vari Peerkangai)

Tomato Seeds (Thakkali Vidhaigal)

Tomato (Thakkali)

Brinjal Seeds (Kathirikai Vidhaigal)

Colour - Yellowish

Brinjal (Kathirikai)

Capsicum Seeds (Kudai Milagai Vidhaigal)

Colour - Yellowish

Capsicum(Kudai Milagai)

Kohl Kohl Seeds (Knool Kohl Vidhaigal)

Kohl Kohl (Knool Kohl)

White Radish Seeds (Vellai Mullangi Vidhaigal)

White Radish (Vellai Mullangi)

Carrot Seeds (Carrot or Manjal Mullangi Vidhaigal)

Carrot (Carrot or Manjal Mullangi)

Beetroot Seeds (Senkizhangu Seeds)

Beetroot (Senkizhangu)

Onion Seeds (Vengayam Vidhaigal)

Onion (Vengayam)

Coriander Seeds(Dhaniya Seeds)

Coriander (Dhaniya)

Amaranthus Tritis Seeds?(Arai Keerai Vidhaigal)

Amaranthus Tritis?(Araikeerai)

Amaranthus Seeds (Mulaikeerai Vidhaigal)

Amaranthus (Mulaikeerai)

Tropical Amaranthus Seeds (Siru Keerai)

Tropical Amaranthus (Siru Keerai)

Broad Beans Seeds (Avaraikai Vidhaigal)

Broad Beans Seeds (Avaraikai Vidhaigal)

Every effort has been put to give correct information.  However if you find any mistake kindly share the information to correct to same.

Your valuable suggestions are invited.