Organic Terrace Gardening for an absolute beginner/ skeptic

// Firstly I would like to tell you guys upfront and outright that most of the content in this post and blog are material gathered from some amazing people like : GeekGardener, Vishwanath, Kaushik Hatti, LakshmiNarayan Srinivasaih and the awesome members of the facebook group : http://www.facebook.com/groups/OrganicTerraceGardening/ I have just tried to put them all in one place and make them available to non members of the group and the general public // Dude, you started gardening ?? Seriously ?? That is so not cool man !!! Well maybe not in the conventional sense, but what if I told you, you get to live a holistic and healthy life in all aspects. You lost me at holistic !! Ok lets break it down, lets see some of the benefits : 1. First there is the cost factor, you get almost 30 - 40% of your daily needs vegetables from the rooftop or from your balcony and all for free with practically zero time between harvest and consumption 2. There is the health factor, almost all of the daily vegetables and fruits that we consume have a load of pesticides and chemical fertilizers which is literally slow poison and killing us day by day. Really ? I seem to be living a healthy life man, I dont have any issues as such, and lets say even if I did I might any day buy ready made organic material from the market right ? Yes you could be buying that, but to be honest "Organic" is a word misused and overused a lot, so we dont really know how much of it is actually the real stuff. And even if we do get it, there is nothing which can beat the freshness that you get when compared to plucking directly from the plant, the health benefits are plenty. And most of the food that we consume travel long distances before reaching us - which leads to both higher pollution, higher loss of nutrients and depleting fossil fuels. Fossil fuels ?? Why do I really care about that again ?

Because you can see that the petrol prices are already peaking up and to get a more realistic understanding I suggest you watch this video - How Cuba survived the peak oil crisis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgqn3bTekFA Lets also assume you really dont care about all these stuff, there are so many intangible benefits associated with it, thats it hard to explain the joy. For egs 1. Studies have proved that watching green and staying closer to nature has a very soothing and healing effect on your mind and body 2. You get the inner satisfaction that you are doing your bit however small and selfish it may be for the environment 3. You end up recycling the waste from your house, thereby reducing the garbage you dump back to earth 4. The health benefits of eating healthy, fresh, chemical free food. Ok you talk like you have had a lot of experience already, do you ? Well no :) I have just begun my journey, but I have had the opportunity to go through some of the material and experiences written by some brilliant minds like : GeekGardener, Vishwanath, Kaushik Hatti, Lakshminarayan Srinivasaia and I'm talking from that. And also last but not the least the mind blowing book : "One straw revolution" ( still haven't completed it though :)) Alright, alright all this seems ok, but I really dont have much space in my garden, so no point right ? You can begin even if you have a small 2ft X2ft space in your balcony, terrace or any other place with a few hours of sunlight everyday. Hmmm, ok but then wouldnt it cost a bomb ? No not really this is where the wisdom from people I mentioned above comes in handy. Here is part one of the article from Kaushik on how to start it with practically zero cost : How to start OTG - part 1 - http://sdrv.ms/KkkkaT PS: Even if you are willing to spend a few extra bucks I feel its totally worth it, considering the overall benefits ( both short term and long term ) I think I'm sold, now tell me how do I begin ? Well congratulations !! Welcome to the club. I'm pretty sure Kaushik's post would have been super helpful, here are few additional details for an "Absolute Beginner" Things you need : Item Options Place to buy Anywhere from city market to old Approximate Cost Wide range - from

Containers Paint Buckets, pots, plastic

trays, old water bottles, Milk Crates, etc etc Medium 1. Jaivik Shakthi + Soil ( 4:1 ) 2. Red Soil + Coco Peat + Manure/Compost

Gujri shops or old items from your home VMSRF ( BTM layout ) Lalbagh, Red Sanders, Varsha enterprise

zero to around 200 260 for 40 kgs ( Jaivik Shakti + soil ) Rs.120 for 30kg cocopeat Rs.120 for 30 kg vermicompost Rs.60 for 25 kg soil Zero to Rs.40

Seeds

You could get a variety of seeds from Organic, Hybrid, open pollinated, borrow during a seed exchange, or save your own seeds Panchagavya, Amrut Mitti,

Lalbagh Department of Horticulture ( Hulimavu ) Indo American Seeds ( Banshankari ) Namdharis Refer this : http://sdrv.ms/MXMgSP Sai Kiran - bc.saikiran@gmail.com

Pesticides and other fertilizers

Now that you have all the required material here are somethings to get you started : Garden Planning (by LakshmiNarayan Srinivasaiah ) - http://sdrv.ms/MvfCoU Additional places where you can buy the required items are here ( by Jyothi Nagaraj and Triveni Harish ) :
For Compost, Vermi Compost, Cocopeat, vermiculite, perculite, and other varieties of plant nutrients and manures : 1. Varsha Enterprises, Brigade MM, K R Road, Bangalore-70, Tel: 080 2676 4471 (also gardening tools, watering cans) 2. Mr. Arun, 'Red Sanders', The Heritage, Ranga Rao Road, Shankarpuram, Bangalore-4, Tel: 080 26673409 Mob: 9448062909 3. VMSRF, #94/3 & 94/5, 23rd cross, 29th Main, BTM 2nd Stage Bangalore-76 Tel: 09986782276 4. The Nurserymen Cooperative society, Lalbagh, KH Road, Bangalore-4, Tel: 91 80 26576733 5. Department of Horticulture-Bio Centre, (Near Meenakshi Temple) Hulimavu, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore-76 Tel: 08026582784, 080-26582775 For Red Soil: 6. Contact Gopi, opposite Lalbagh Gate, Siddapur Entrance. He sells a bag for Rs. 30/For Neem Cake, Honge Cake, Bone Meal, Seeds, Micro-nutrients: 7. Srinivasa Agro Corporation, Trinetra Market, 3rd Main Road, New Tharagupet, (Near Minto Hospital) City Market, Bangalore-2, Tel: 26701823/26701167While buying mention you are from the BTG/OTG (gardening group) to avail discounts For Blue plastic carpet, UV Shade net, Composting sheet, Mulching sheet, Garden fences etc. 8. Bhadra Tarpaulins, #104, Near Ravindra Kalakshetra, J C Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560002 Tel:080 22231865 9. Neeligiri Tarpaulins,Address : Mr. Veerabhadra, No 105, Opp. Kanada Bhawana, J.C. Road, Bangalore - 560002, Karnataka, India Phone : 91-80-41247909 (While buying mention you are from the BTG (gardening group) to avail discounts) 10. Nandi Tarpaulins on JC Road and many others on the same road, In shivajinagar you will get them on central street and near Russell market. For Organic Manure/Growth promoter (Panchagavya) 11. You can contact Saikiran, email: bc.saikiran@gmail.com

Good luck and happy gardening !!! Anand Kumar R Source : http://onestrawgardening.blogspot.in