vegetables Archives - Peepal - Bespoke & Sustainable Gardening Services

A garden has limitless possibilities when it comes to creativity and functionality.

It can be a space which you can share with your loved ones or spend your quality me-time. It can be a space where you can pluck your own food or flowers that fill your room with unadulterated fragrance. It can also be a space where you invite and integrate nature – be it the symphony of birdsongs or the sight of fluttering butterflies. A garden has many things on the menu to offer you beyond just greens.

In this age of rapid erosion of our natural environment, you can look at these emerging trends which are now taking centre-stage in landscapes worldwide:

Foodscaping

Contrary to popular beliefs, kitchen gardens or orchards can serve your individual needs but can also integrate well with your landscaping aesthetics – if designed ad planned well. Imagine plucking your own organic food straight from your front-yard or backyard. By incorporating edibles into an ornamental garden, one can transform your perception of the gardening experience.

Be it everyday vegetables, fruits or the rare, seasonal crops, your garden can be the source of your well-being and health. If maintained organically with sustainable farming principles, this small investment can prove to outweigh every other option.

Rain Gardens

Keen to do rainwater harvesting and worried about the associated costs? This simple and most effective technique to capture rainwater run-off on your land, can be your answer. Rain gardens can help in recharging groundwater with beautifully designed plant beds.

A rain garden is a landscaped area that collects, adsorbs, and filters stormwater runoff from roof tops, driveways, patios, and other hard surfaces that don’t otherwise allow water to soak in. It is the most cost-efficient and aesthetic way of channelizing stormwater and recharging your land’s groundwater easily. Every year, the intensity of storms keep intensifying and rain gardens can be your solution to address the flooding in a controlled way.

Water bodies

No, I am not talking about fountains. Water bodies are not just an interesting feature of any landscape but can help regulate the micro-climate of your land. Aspects such as lotus & lily plantation, fish, natural rocks can add so much value to your garden design.

There are several types of aquascaping that fits a landscape design theme. From a natural or jungle design that mimics a natural habitat such as a pond or river stream to a more detailed Japanese or Dutch design that its symmetrically defined. However, while designing any such aquascape, one must pay attention to regulate water flow at all times.

The next time you want to add any garden element, think of the above that might help you and our planet both.

What is luxury living?

To different people, it may mean different things. From home, car, décor, apparel, other exclusive lifestyle choices, the word ‘luxury’ has several connotations. However, in this rapidly changing environment, where nature is increasingly getting out of reach, luxury would be soon measured with the way we grow, consume, and interact with our food.

Growing your own food organically without using chemicals and plucking what you need, when you need epitomizes luxury today.

Now, one may argue that you would require acres of land to make this a reality. The fact is that even the smallest corner of your home, can be a potential kitchen garden. All you need to consider are the following factors:

Plants: Depending on the available space viz. window, balcony, terrace, or farm, decide the size and type of your kitchen garden. For instance, in window gardens, one can grow edibles that are smaller in size, tend to grow vertically and won’t require much space as compared to a terrace or farm. A few examples include day-to-day herbs and leafy veggies such as pudina, basil, oregano, methi, spinach, green chilies, lemons, et al. The size of your space will determine the type of edibles you can grow.

Materials: In balconies and terraces, one can create a more elaborate set-up to grow veggies v/s a window. From larger pots, fabric grow bags to raised vegetable beds, there are several ways in which an easy-to-maintain vegetable garden can be set-up. For instance, an open terrace can be more fitting for raised vegetable beds to grow space-consuming root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, beetroots, among others. Combined with the use of trellises for climbing veggies such as gourds can even add an aesthetic appeal to the garden.

Light & Air: While a lot of emphasis is laid upon the sunlight availability for a successful kitchen garden, we often miss out on the ventilation and circulation of fresh air. Even in the absence of direct sunlight, it is possible to grow certain kind of edible plants with the help of artificial, spectrum lights. If the space receives direct sunlight, it is important to keep the are clutter-free. For instance, often ornamental plants are thrown in the mix which tend to overgrow and overtake the kitchen garden space. This may not only invite pests but also reduce the overall growth of your produce.

Preparation: Once the above factors have been considered, it is important to get the fundamentals right. Quality and type of soil, efficient drainage & easy access to watering with drip irrigation as well as organic fertilizer such as vermicompost or cow-based manure will eventually make or break any garden. For terraces and balconies, it is important to ensure waterproofing as well as easy drainage from pots, raised beds.

Schedule: Above all, keeping a calendar of crops and herbs to grow as per the season can ensure a steady availability of produce in your kitchen. Practices such as crop rotation, mulching, timely use of organic pesticides and fertilizers can ensure good soil health and a bumper harvest for your own consumption.

As someone wise once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Rethink your space and start your own kitchen garden in the space available today.