Soul, Soil and Sustainable Living...

Hello!

I'm always trying to make small changes to my lifestyle to live healthier and in a more sustainable manner for the planet. I don't get too excited and make big changes because, let's face it, it's too much to do overnight and no one hardly ever can stick to it.

I've been reading and trying to follow a few things from Doreen Virtue's book called 'Angel Detox' (yes, I'm into Angel therapy). Clubbed with my reignited vigour for gardening, I found a simple yet significant change to living healthier.

In her book, Doreen talks about Bisphenol A, or BPA, which is a chemical used to make plastics stronger. This BPA is responsible for a long, long list of health issues. This material makes our water toxic especially in the heat, including leaving your bottle in the car. The bad effects of using plastic to us and the environment has only been talked about too much already.

So, the first change I made was to get stainless steel water bottles to replace all the plastic ones in my house (just in time for summer too). Then I came up with a way to make the best possible use of the bottles instead of putting them in trash.

Luckily, I used a new technique I learned at a gardening workshop by Green Souls, Mumbai. I cut off the mouths of all the bottles to use them as pots. Here's how!

To cut off the bottle-mouth, I heated a knife and used it to make the process easier. Then to make holes in the bottle for aeration (learn about it in my previous post), I used one of tools/cutlery/what's-its'name. Once again, I heated it on the stove to make the holes in the plastic easily.

Make a set of holes between the length of the bottle, or a little closer to the top to attach it to the grill. Cut the plastic ropes and put them through a set of holes. Next, fill in the bottle with mulch, cow dung, compost, soil using the 'sandwich technique' I spoke about in my previous post and plant a seed/plant in it. I simply used small bamboo branch from a huge bamboo plant my dad maintains. I'm planning to get creepers for these soon though. 

But that's all! Just tie the strings to the grill and beautify your windows and view it offers! :D 

Holes made close to the base for aeration. 

Look how well the chawli plant has grown in just a few days since my last post! 

I've recently also added Mint and Curry plants to my garden. The fragrance both these plants offer is heavenly to cure a headache. 

Do tell me what you think of this and also if you try this technique out. Looking forward to some of those comments! 

I've found soul in the soil: Re-ignition...

Hola!

This one is coming after a long, long time, isn't it? But I can't be blamed. After the shift from a terrace garden to a grill-garden, I felt like I was bumped down from first class to economy. I felt so restricted in trying new things due to a space and weight crunch. Hell, I had to leave behind some of my too-big-to-put-on-the-grill sized pots.

Yet, nature has no ego and it found its way to connect with me again. And the attraction of nature is hard to resist. Even Facebook was material to this reigniting relationship. It introduced me to a community called 'Green Souls', a group of people who are enthusiastic about organic urban farming, practice it, and preach it too.

After months of not being able to go for any of their workshops, I finally attended one on the 2nd of March 2014 on 'Kitchen Gardening'. This event made a lot of changes to my life. The first (and embarrassing) one was that I traveled by a  local train after a few years. My day was quite adventurous in my attempt to travel to and fro Koparkhairane and Chembur. And the second, and good, one was that I learned about new ways of taking care of my plants.

Turns out, our 'regular' way of gardening is WRONG. There's this Japanese urban farmer and author called Masanobu Fukuoka who says that we should simply pick tips and techniques for taking care of our plants from nature itself. There is NO forest which is made up of just soil. It has a lot more elements in it.

Although, I could not implement everything I learned at the workshop because I'd have to redo the entire garden all over. However, I've decided to slowly and steadily implement changes to my garden and live a nature-blessed life.

Here's how I'm (re)working on my garden....

One of the troubles I've faced for years is that some plants get burned due to overexposure in the sun. The way to tackle this is to cover the top layer of your pot with dried leaves. Isn't it just too simple? Well, yes! Even in forests, dried leaves simply fall down around the tree. No one picks it up to 'clean' the area. It's just there and the forests live happily ever after... until humans go and murder them.

So that's the first thing I made sure I'd do. 

I started reworking the pots by removing the dried leaves from the plants (and saving them to use as a 'shield'). 

Now, coming to the most important lesson I learned...

Just putting soil in a pot isn't going to work for the life you are putting in it. It needs an ecosystem to survive. It NEEDS some types of insects and materials other than soil. God only knows how many of my plants caught some bug or infection that ruined it, which then made me consider packaged manure or even insecticides. Keeping the garden organic just seemed impossible to do.

Once again, nature provides us with answers. The best way to pot plants is to use a 'sandwich' technique. You shouldn't just shove soil in the pot. Instead, put layers of dried leaves (mulch), cow dung, goat dung and soil. Ideally you should put mulch at the base, top it up with soil and cow-dung, followed by a little more mulch, soil and goat dung(or cow dung if you don't find goat poop :P). Then cover the top layer with dried leaves again for protection like I mentioned above.

This works wonders, just as nature should. :)

Last but not least, the hole in the pot should NOT be at the bottom. Nope. Not at all. For the soil and the organisms to exist healthily, the pot needs proper aeration. Putting a hole at the bottom just drains away all the water and nutrients from the pots.

Therefore, I heated a knife and made holes at the sides of the base for the bottom of the layer to get proper air supply, and to ensure there is no soil erosion. I also added some smaller holes a little below the top rim of the pot.

An analogy of this method to nature is that, some amount of water is always stored in the earth. There will always be a cavity in the hills and mountains that provides the trees with annual water supply. Similarly, any extra water that you may have put in the pot, gets stored at the bottom without getting drained out.

Brilliant, eh?

So, that's all for today, folks. There is a LOT more coming your way as I try to reinvent my gardening skills and try to make sustainable and natural changes to my lifestyle. Watch out for more!

Adios!

P.S.- If you can, do read the book 'One-straw revolution' by Masanoby Hakuoka. I'm reading an e-book version because I couldn't find the hard copy. (I hate reading e-books :( ) Anyway, this book is about he quit his job to promote urban farming, and how he worked out new ways of cultivating farms. The best part about the book is that it's not just about that, it speaks a lot of humans with respect to nature. It's quite thought provoking. 

I have found soul in the soil... 3

Hello!

Another month of these poor rains and drought would have to be declared, say government officials. True that. But weeks ago, when there was a semblance of monsoon there were mixed feelings by the 'greens' of my garden. Like most of you who follow the blog know that my garden is on the terrace, therefore rainfall is abundant on the plants. Some reacted well and grew abundantly, but there were some plants that caught some of the blues of the weather.

It's the first time I had to handle the care of my plants in the monsoon; and may I add, it's not easy. I realized there are some things that amateur gardeners can't manage mainly due to lack of knowledge. Therefore, for the very first time, much to my disappointment, I called a professional gardener aka 'maali' to apply medicines to the plants.

The infection/ insects affecting my plants is basically looks like some white residue of some paste. If you have a garden (I fervently hope you do), you should get it fixed soon too. Why? Because the plants' growth gets stunted and sometimes it may even die. I observed that mainly my vegetable plants were affected, i.e. chilly, tomato and curry leaves. The tomato plant was affected worse and had to be uprooted completely. :'(

I asked the maali where he got the medicine from for future use and he told me it's available at most nurseries and gardening related shops. Ask around, you may easily get it.

This maali or in this case the doctor, did apply the medication, but the bad news for me was he removed some of my plants that, according to me, were growing pretty well. :'( I had planted marigold and a couple other seeds which had been growing well this season, however he uprooted these plants completely because he diagnosed their roots weren't healthy.)
However, the good news is, I asked him to give me small plants of flowers and seeds of brinjal and capsicum, which he did. So I now have a lot of new additions to my 'green' family! :D

Have a look at the pictures. I haven't been able to add a picture of the medicine because he had already applied it and thrown the packets. However, in my next post I'll try to add a picture and get the name of the same for you.

Happy monsoon! (if we are blessed with some more.) 

Aloe Vera.
It's got black spots at some places which was caused due to overdose of water thanks to the rains. However, if you look to the left of the main plants, you'll see new shoots coming. :D 

I love white flowers! They give so much peace. 

My first ever rose plant! :D 

Yellow roses. Can brighten the dullest day. 

Hibiscus flower plant. A huge white flower blossomed in this one a week after I took this picture. 

Another rose plant! Got a lot of these ones. 

Just look at the shades! Pretty, much?

This is a plant which grows small sizes roses. According to my maali, it's called 'desi-gulaab'  and there will always be at least one rose on this plant at a time. Only time will tell whether it's true or not. 

Brinjal beginning to grow. 

Peppermint plant, growing as much as ever! 

Curry Leaves plant. If you focus on the main branch you will see some whitish residue. That's the thing bothering my plants. :( But these curry leaves are being used everyday in my kitchen! No heath issues because it is cooked well. 

More hibiscus plants. Each gives flowers of different colours. 

Chillies. Here you can see the green chilly turning into a red one. These too are regularly used in my kitchen and so many grow that I can easily distribute it out to friends. :D

My chilly plants too had caught that infection. 

The largest plant in my garden. :D

Monsoon or not, sickness or none, these plants are a great way for me to break away from 'worldly' issues, even if it is just for 5 minutes. Watering and taking care of them give me a huge sense of calm and peace.

Want to know how exactly? Get a garden. There's no other way you'll ever find out.
Wishing more green to you...


Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
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I have found soul in the soil... 2

Salut!

2 European nations have gone for voting; Aamir Khan finally made his TV debut; Petrol prices hiked; Karan Johar turned 40; I got a new maid; and lots of world-changing events have taken place since I last published the post on my gardening project.
Life has changed and grown with a lot more meaning up top over here... (referring to my terrace garden).

One of the many things that I have learnt from gardening is patience. You can't rush nature. You have to wait, you have to work, you have to love, for it to flourish; almost like everything else in life.
So after a lot of waiting, working and loving, I have seen these results in my mini-farm/garden. Have a look, mateys!

There are new additions to my farm! These are: Coriander, Fenugreek and Marigold. 
Note: Please do have a look at the photos in the previous post (I have found soul in the soil) and you will see how much these living organisms have grown!
Also, you will find the beginner's tip below!

Soul in the soil

Still haven't found the name of this one! But it's blossoming wonderfully! 

Still haven't found the name of this one! 

Marigold plant... That's the latest addition to my garden!

Aloe Vera

Fresh and long Peppermint!

Another new additon! Fenugreek/ Methi. 

The tall upshoots  that you see in the same plant are, I assume, of onions. I am not sure because I did not plant it; however, occasionally some plants do grow out of the earth. The reason I assume is that the mud must have previously been home to roots of those plants. 

Curry leaves!

That is one plant I am most proud of!
Presenting the first flowers on my tomato plant! Once the flowers set in in any plant, the fruit/vegetable isn't far away! 

Tomato flowers! 

THE tomato plant

Still haven't found the name, but these flowers make me happy 

Would appreciate help with the name! 

Welcoming Red chilies to my garden!

The majestic green chillies

Fresh red chilies

MUST SEE!
Like I said in my previous post, the chilies come  out from where the flowers blossom. In this picture you can see a part of the flower still clinging to that newly born chilly. Fascinating, isn't it? 

Upcoming chilies!
P.S.- I had to hold on to the plant because there was so much breeze on the terrace! It's the south-westerly winds!Monsoon's coming Mumbaikars! 

Upcoming chilies!
P.S.- I had to hold on to the plant because there was so much breeze on the terrace! It's the south-westerly winds!Monsoon's coming Mumbaikars! 

Another new addition!
Coriander/Dhania! You can plant these too, all you need is the seeds, which are available in most Indian household kitchens. 

Palm plants.
They are slightly burnt because of the strong summer sunlight.

That's my farm!

That's a view of my terrace! My haven from this cruel, cruel world...

It would give me immense and absolute pleasure if these posts urge you to get even one single plant. Life would be a lot happier if it were greener. So please do find some time to plant a pot. You can't fully know what I mean until you actually experience it.

For those, who do have plants or practice gardening, I have one beginner's tip for you.

BEGINNER'S TIP: Do not water your plants in the afternoon. Mornings are the BEST time to water them. In case you can't, or have busy mornings, do it in the evening, but NOT the afternoon. The reason for this is very simple. Plants, or their leaves specifically, get burnt when you water them in the sunlight as strong as that of the afternoon in summer. (This is actually my mommy's advice... :D )

Hope you plan to find soul in the soil, too. Until then, 

Au revoir,

Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/