Do you have a kitchen garden at your home? I am not talking about the flower garden but a vegetable garden. Do you? If not, you ought to have one. A kitchen garden is where herbs and vegetables are grown around the house for household use. Since early times a small plot near the house has been used for growing a variety of vegetables according to season. Kitchen gardening is a superb hobby to do as well. We all have small extra space in our house which could be easily used to make the kitchen garden. This space could be a balcony, courtyard, or terrace. A question may arise; what for the people living as tenants? Don't worry my friends, this is where the concept of urban agriculture arises. If you have containers or plastic bottles they would do the work. The kitchen garden will definitely give you much more in return then the effort we put. The food from the kitchen garden is organic and healthier as compared to that bought from the stores. We can grow different herbs and vegetables like mint, coriander, lemon, chili, carrot, radish, onion, pumpkin, bitter gourd, etc. Develop a taste for kitchen gardening and it will stay forever in your life.
Why the kitchen garden is important?
With the rapid growth of urban populations around the world, the demand for urban food supply is blatantly more. Every nation is promoting the concept of green cities and I believe, kitchen gardening could give us a break. What do you reckon? The impacts of global warming, the greenhouse effect, and other climatic factors would be worse than we could imagine, and to repair our ecosystems, reduce temperature and increase cities' resilience to climate change, the kitchen garden is important.
Kitchen gardening is something that all of us can do to make our cities greener. It's a garden where you grow your own food, fruits, and vegetables. Moreover, it gives city dwellers a chance to produce their own food. We produce it so they are fresh and healthy. When we buy vegetables and fruits from the stores we don't know the source and the extent of chemicals used; there are some organic stores though. When we grow at our home, it is entirely organic. The importance of the kitchen garden is great and manifold.
- The more the plant, the more fresh air you get. So your house can become green amid the dust around you.
- Growing own fruits and vegetables can offer the opportunity to reduce the number of pesticides that are used commercially, making us healthier.
- We can make the fertilizer for the plant by decaying organic waste like kitchen waste and it helps the plant to grow faster as well as helps us to get rid of the kitchen waste.
A composting vessel - It brings down the need to buy from the market and helps us to save money that could be used for other purposes.
- We can again make the compost from the dead and unwanted vegetables from the garden which ultimately aids us and plants.
- It is a great way of engaging all family members to physical activity and helps to reduce the stress hormone.
- Some herbs and plants like lemon, mint, coriander, cilantro, tulsi, spinach, etc have detoxifying and healing properties in our body.
- Plants make your house greener and peaceful and help to uplift your mood.
- Kitchen gardens also help to solve our food problems. Apart from green and leafy vegetables, we can also grow several crops like potatoes and even cereals like maize if we have enough space.
Kitchen Garden at my home
How to make a kitchen garden?
There is not much tradition of kitchen gardening because many people don't know how to grow them and they find it easier to buy than to grow, spending lots of money to maintain the diet. I have witnessed such people who claim to be from an agricultural background but don't know a single thing about farming. As a proverb goes, "Where the is a will, there is a way". If you really want to establish a kitchen garden, there are so many tutorials over there on the internet. You can learn it online, I guess you love that way of learning. Or it may be that you have not been able to make a kitchen garden. There are so many reasons why you aren't successful despite your intend.
- Pests, diseases, and livestock have destroyed the crops
- No quality seeds or seedlings
- Lack of water and fertility
- No spare time and lack of proper knowledge
Things to pay attention to!
To establish and manage a kitchen garden successfully and easily, the following factors should be considered:
Site selection: If you already own a kitchen garden, you may not need to choose a new site, it is enough to improve the old site. But if you are about to establish a new kitchen garden following things about should be taken in mind while selecting a site:
- Protection from livestock
- Watering and drainage facility of the site
- Soil and the fertility requirements
- Sunlight
- Easy access from the home
Fertility: Everybody knows without fertility crops won't grow. So our kitchen garden needs to be self-reliant for fertility. The sources of compost for a kitchen garden could be sweepings pit, liquid manure, composting pit, mulching, green manures, etc.
Seeds and seedlings: For obtaining the optimum yield, the quality of the seeds and seedlings used for plantation must be good. And it is necessary to plant them as recommended.
Garden design: It's all in the hand of the farmer to give the best possible and suited design to the garden.
A kitchen garden is not always growing vegetables in a small piece of land beside the house, your kitchen garden can be ambitious and creative to that extent your imagination and creativity allows it to be.
The people of cities may say that they don't have space even for building expansion and in such condition how could we. Many people in the cities live in rent and they may feel the same. Don't worry, this is where the concept of urban gardening arises. You don't always need a small piece of agricultural land for a kitchen gardening, what you need is an intention. Let's look at some examples of urban gardening:
- Rooftop gardens: Since urban areas have limited space, it doesn't mean agriculture can not be practiced. This is where rooftop space comes in as they can easily be utilized for cropping vegetables, fruits, and herbs.
Gardening in balcony - Vertical farms: This involves potentially farming upwards to reduce the agricultural land footprint.
Vertical gardening - Container gardening: You can also grow vegetables on a container.
Container gardening - In plastic bottle
Importance of the kitchen garden during Covid-19 pandemic
In these dire times, it is evident that the most important aspect of human life is food and health facilities. Sustainability in food and nutrition has always been a part of policy even before this uncertain situation. But the question arises, will there be sustainability in food and nutrition if such a distressing situation continues. I don't think there will be. Since the outbreak, many countries are in lockdown to flatten the curve and there are import-export restrictions. So neither the food is produced nor the produced food can be exported. The rotting of fruits and vegetables is another question. And we cannot deny the demand is more. The Government may claim that they have stock for more months. But what if the lockdown extends beyond that.
Meanwhile, WHO has given clear instructions to maintain proper hygiene in the food industry. There can be fears associated with the purchase and consumption of packed food. On the other hand, there is a shortage of labor too. At this critical moment, we must think of a sustainable solution for the shortage of food. Kitchen gardens can be one solution. The following mentioned points show how kitchen gardens could be of help:
- Kitchen gardens can be very useful to reduce the malnutrition as well as make sure that food security is ensured.
- When infants are fed micronutrients rich home produced vegetables and fruits, the stunning rate is reduced.
- Kitchen gardening can be a measure to introduce children to diverse food items.
- The consumption of less perfect vegetables, sour and bitter ones will teach us a lesson that they are also vegetables and prevents food waste even after the lockdown is lifted.
- Besides, kitchen gardening will keep people busy. It may kill the boredom of the people.
- This will promote the consumption of locally grown food, reducing the food miles, thereby contributing less to the carbon footprint.
We have faced such times in the past as well and kitchen gardens had shown their worth. When there was a food shortage, people were encouraged to grow their own food. Many people endured it until now. Covid-19 pandemic has also increased the number of urban gardens. During world war-I, 'Liberty garden' was encouraged in the USA. Similarly, 'Victory garden' during World war-II. Now also we are at war, but not with other nations and still kitchen gardens have proved themselves invaluable. Kitchen gardening is a cost-effective and sustainable solution for multiple issues that we are facing. A pandemic like Covid-19 can help us realize the vital components of human life and work for a more sustainable future.
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