A time to reap

Isn't it time to start your own kitchen garden?

Pick your own: A kitchen garden Photo: K. Ananthan

Choose a place where there is ample sunlight.

When you visit the market to pick the earthen pots, make a little list of things to buy which should include a shovel, spade to dig, a bagful of red earth from a plant nursery and natural fertilizer pellets and neem-based organic pesticide from a seed store, and importantly the seeds.

Variety of veg

The vegetables which can be grown in your garden range from onions, coriander, green chillies, tomatoes, potatoes to carrots.

And if space is no constraint then try veggies which grow on creepers like sweet gourd and French beans.

All these take minimum of two months to grow, flower and then it's time for the harvest.

In case you plan to add fruits to your garden try growing guava, custard apple and chikoo as the climate in our region is favourable for their cultivation.

But remember fruit growing trees take more time to yield.

Avoid using chemical fertilizer or pesticides.

And to make the garden project less expensive try looking at stuff at home that you can use.

It can be an old flower pot that might come handy for the chilly plants.

Kitchen is the best place to get your seeds.

Shade dry all the seeds from the vegetables before you plant them.

Sprinkle neem oil mixed in water to keep pests way.

Use organic pesticides for healthy vegetables.