Ladies finger, lettuce, lemongrass is slowly replacing rose gardens in Mumbai's home gardens (read balconies), with residents turning into urban farmers
Ladies finger, lettuce, lemongrass is slowly replacing rose gardens in Mumbai's home gardens (read balconies), with residents turning into urban farmersu00a0
It's a Green Revolution of a quiet kind. Located bang in the midst of chaotic Lower Parel, the 21st floor of a residential building is the chosen setting for Sreedevi Lakshmikutty. The potted plants that dot her tiny balcony, have a cultivated spread of therapeutic lemongrass, tulsi, coriander and aloe vera. Devi, as her friends call her, is not a unique case. There is a fair amount of populace, even though small in numbers now, who have chosen to grow lemongrass and coriander over a rose garden.
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Early this year, she along with a few friends started Urban Leaves. The idea was to replicate what Patil had achieved at her workplace and take it to a wider space and audienceu00a0- to every building'su00a0 lawns, and to the terraces and balconies of every Mumbaikar's home. "The process is in the initial stages. We're composting waste, developing soil and planting seeds," says Patil. Her balcony will soon produce ladies finger, karela, paan patta, lemongrass, pudina, chillies and lettuce.
Towards reducing your carbon footprint
Despite the notoriously famous space crunch in Mumbai, most residents manage to retain some green relief in their lives through potted plants in the balconies. Tulsi, the auspicious plant in Hindu religion, has been a fixture in our home gardens. But coriander, kadi patta, lemongrass, and leafy vegetables like methi, palak and lettuce are slowly making an appearance now.
Like regular farms, the home versions too require dedicated efforts. "It's a 100-day process, where we begin with soil building; the most important part of home farming. Once the soil is ready, I start planting seeds," says Jyoti Bhave, who decided to cultivate her own kitchen garden because she wanted to lead an organic life. For the Chembur-based housewife, her kitchen garden is also a place where her son, a standard nine, student learns the basics of botany.
Growing food in your own home is au00a0 great way to keep a tab on where the food on your plate is coming from. Few vegetable vendors in the city are honest enough to admit that their supply of leafy vegetables comes from the so-called farms by the side of the railway tracks. "I can trust the food I eat because I'm growing it myself. Also, I'm reducing my carbon footprint by growing at least some of my food organically," says Devi.u00a0
For the urban farmers, their kitchen gardens are a symbol of a change in attitudeu00a0-- towards the environment and the world at large. "Fundamentally, we have skewed prioritiesu00a0-- we're busy saving up our earnings but if there is no planet left,u00a0 what will you do with all the money? Everyday we hear stories of food being contaminated, water shortage, etc., but how do we tackle the problem? Growing your own food is perhaps a solution," says Devi.
A more optimistic Patil adds, "When you pluck your own vegetables and eat it, it's a different feeling of fulfilment. That is, probably, how the term 'fruits of labour' must have been coined."
The original Green Revolution
Once upon a time, famines were a regular phenomenon in the country. But the year 1965 saw the introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds and increased use of fertilisers and irrigation, which is known as the Green Revolution. The revolution provided an increase in production needed to make India self-sufficient in food grains. Ever since, the country has never had to deal with a famine again.
Farmville in real life
Unlike his buddies, whose only experience of farming is through the Facebook's widely popular game, 28 year-old Ubai Hussein has been growing his own food on his farm for the past two and a half years. The Peddar Road resident spends most of the week on his small farm in Bhiwandi where he grows everything from cereals and pulses to veggies and fruits. Hussein has no prior training in farming. He helped out a farmer for six months when he was in the US and decided to continue when he returned home. It wasn't an easy task. He had to start from scratch as the conditions here are very different. "It's a lifestyle decision," says Hussein as he explains the reason for his decision to grow his own food, "It's a choice I've made to reduce environmental abuse in my own small way."
Learn the basics
If you want to learn the ropes of being an urban farmer, head to Maharashtra Nature Park at Dharavi, every Sunday at 10 am. Preeti Patil also undertakes regular workshops on urban farming.
Check out https://www.natuecocityfarming.blogspot.com/
Michelle Obama is a home farmer too
The White House Food Garden recently saw its second harvest since it was planted in March this year. The food garden was Michelle Obama's idea, with some help from fifth graders from a local school. The garden has yielded over 740 pounds of food at a cost of less than $200. "We have planted enough food to feed not just the folks at the White House, but we've also given a lot of food to some of our neighbours," Obama was heard telling kids at the second harvest session that was held on October 29. In fact, the First Lady also plans to include some of the produce from her garden in the menu of the state banquet that will be held today.
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