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  • Side Dish For Chapati

My Organic Kitchen Garden

July 16, 2015 by PadhuSankar 63 Comments

Today instead of recipes, I am sharing with you few pictures from my kitchen garden. I love gardening and enjoy cooking with fresh vegetables from the garden. It is a great stress buster. It not only keeps me very happy and relaxed but also gives me immense satisfaction. Moreover it keeps me away from the computer at least for a few hours. Now-a-days, most of the food we get in the market are sprayed with pesticides and harmful chemicals. Though I do not have much space, in whatever space available, I am growing few fruits and vegetables using natural fertilizers. By growing our own fruits and vegetables, we know what we are eating is free of harmful chemicals and pesticides as we were the one to nurture the plant.

Now-a-days Organic food is becoming very popular. Let us see what is organic food?

What is Organic Food ?

I do not want to go in detail into the subject. In simple words, Organic food according to organic.org is food made or grown without the use of  synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. Animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products do not take antibiotics or growth hormones.  

What are the advantages of eating organic food

Organic food can reduce the risk of pesticide exposure.

Organically grown vegetables and fruits tastes better than non organic fruits and vegetables and they also cook faster.

It improves our immune system and helps prevent chronic diseases like cancer.

Studies have found that organic food is richer in antioxidants.

Organic food is often sold locally, so it is mostly fresh (no shipping or transporting across long distances etc).

Preserves our ecosystem.

Reduces pollution – protects water and soil.

Ensures safe and healthy world for the future generation.

Pictures of my harvest and my small backyard kitchen garden

papayas
papayas 

papaya tree
Papaya tree
Herbs are easy to grow and so rewarding. Once you use home grown herbs in your cooking, you will never like the ones in the market. Home grown herbs are fresh, full of flavor and very delicious. You have to grow it to believe it. You do not need any space for growing herbs. You can grow in pots in your balcony.

mint-pudina
Mint-Pudina

brinjal plant
Brinjals in grow bags

greens-pasalai keerai
Pasalai Keerai
Home grown vegetables grown using natural fertilizers, cooks faster and tastes great. Of course it is free of harmful chemicals and pesticides. It gives me lot of happiness when I cook with vegetables from my garden. Picture of ladies finger I harvested from my garden.

ladysfinger
Fresh Lady’sfinger from my kitchen garden

tomatoes
 tomatoes from my garden
At times, I decide my menu on what is available in my garden. I made keerai kootu, ladiesfinger poriyal and vallarai thuviayal on the day I harvested all these.

my harvest
radish plant
Radish 

Even if you do not have ground space, you can grow veggies in grow bags or pots in your balcony.

grow bags
Cluster beans and radish in grow bags 

taro root plant
Taro root and aloe vera 

sapodilla tree
Sapodilla tree in our backyard
Backyard Composting with Khamba 

I do not prefer wasting my kitchen waste (vegetable waste, fruit peels, used tea and coffee ground etc). I compost them using this composting pot. You do not need much space, just a corner in your garden or even balcony. I use the compost for my plants. I have long time back posted tips on how to compost  using wire mesh compost bin. This is another method of composting using the khamba pot which I will share it soon with all details.

Composter-kambha
Composting at home with Khamba

Let us together make this earth a better place to live and ensure safe and healthy world for the future generation.

If you found this post useful, I would really love it, if you pin it or share it with your Facebook fans or Twitter followers or Google+ circles today. All it takes is a simple click on the “pin it” “like,” “share,” “tweet,” or Google+ buttons below the post. It will keep me motivated. Thank  you!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Gardening tips, Uncategorized, Useful tips




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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. pratibha

    July 16, 2015 at 11:13 am

    Amazing. Ofcouse your hardwork is there. But the joy will be unlimited. Please post the process to plant all these veggies.

    Reply
  2. nandoos Kitchen

    July 16, 2015 at 11:35 am

    Wow! now I really wish I was living near to your house… It looks so fresh.

    Reply
  3. ammu's Mom

    July 16, 2015 at 12:15 pm

    Great job. I am planning to start this. Inspired! , THANKS

    Reply
  4. Sathya- MyKitchenodyssey

    July 16, 2015 at 1:44 pm

    What a lovely garden you have ..Where do you live ?

    Reply
  5. Vidya Poojari aka Vidz..

    July 16, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    aweesome padu

    Reply
  6. Irene

    July 16, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    Amazing padhu! Well done

    Reply
  7. divya

    July 16, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    Great…. Looks wonderful and also veggies are very fresh.

    Reply
  8. Shobha

    July 16, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    Well done !

    Reply
  9. Ann

    July 16, 2015 at 7:44 pm

    Wow! Looks amazing! 🙂
    It looks so fresh n beautiful! Love the brilliant green color!

    Reply
  10. sweetygirl28

    July 16, 2015 at 9:29 pm

    I was waiting for a post on ir garden padhu. . Can u also write abt how to plant these? I mean from scratch. . Like methi leaves Comes from fenugreek. . I don't want to buy seeds from outside.. afraid of quality

    Reply
  11. kalai vani

    July 17, 2015 at 1:54 am

    Grt inspiring post for a healthy life.please tell us the way how to grow puthina in pot

    Reply
  12. R VENKATESWARAN

    July 17, 2015 at 2:27 am

    Hare Krishna. I am happy to see so many vegetables being grown in the organic farm. I was able to do this when we were in New Delhi with a good amount of open space attached to the apartment. Daily we used to collect vegetables (bindi, bengan, papaya, spinach, etc.) and prepare dishes to be sent as lunch for the children, which they cherished. Hope FB friends who have facilities for kitchen garden, follow some of the steps that you had suggested. Hare Krishna.

    Reply
  13. Gayathri Sathyanarayanan

    July 17, 2015 at 5:39 am

    Lovely Garden.

    Reply
  14. Gayathri Sathyanarayanan

    July 17, 2015 at 5:41 am

    Lovely Garden. I have brinjal in pot, getting flowers. But it is not going beyond that. Flowers are dried and falling. Should I use any fertilizer. What fertilizer I can use.

    Reply
  15. Padhu Sankar

    July 17, 2015 at 6:22 am

    Kalai Vani – After buying pudina, use the leaves and plant the thick stem alone. It will grow.

    Sweetygirl – Sow the fenugreek seeds you use for cooking. You can buy it from organic stores.

    Gayathri – Yes, you have to put fertilizers. I use vermicompost and cow dung. Then you have to soak neem cake overnight in water and use that water to prevent pest and insects. Also you should use 3 G spay now and then to control pest – grind ginger, garlic and green chillies to a fine paste- dilute it in water, filter it and spray on plants to prevent pest and insects from harming the plant. Your brinjal flowers are falling due to lack of nutrients. Use vermicompost.

    Reply
  16. Rama Srinivasan

    July 17, 2015 at 8:16 am

    Wow! Feast to the eyes! Where do you live?

    Reply
  17. sweetygirl28

    July 17, 2015 at 9:30 am

    Thank u for replying padhu.. Can u also tell how to plant brinjal, tomato etc.. do u sow store brought seeds?

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      July 17, 2015 at 9:53 am

      Yes, I buy good quality seeds and sow them directly in grow bags for ladies finger. For brinjal , I sow it in a tray or a pot, once it grows to a small plant, I transfer it to a separate pot mostly in the evening. If I transfer in the morning, it might die due to the heat.

      Rama – I live in South India

      Reply
    • lakshmi chandrasekaran

      July 18, 2015 at 2:33 pm

      Beautiful pictures.. They are a feast for our eyes! I am a fan of your blog and love all your posts 🙂 Thanks!

      Reply
  18. Yogalaksmi harini

    July 17, 2015 at 9:58 am

    Wow!lovely and very inspiring garden..kudos to u..gr8 job..nothing can get equal to harvesting from u'r own garden and cooking it..hope to hav one like u'rs in future..where can I get details about 'grow bags'? Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  19. umatejesh pattipati

    July 17, 2015 at 10:55 am

    Awwsome post 🙂 for healthy life
    I have lil place in my apartment i.want to plant corriander leaves n tried with corriander seeds but it didnt grown
    So pls can u tell how to plant corriander leaves

    Reply
  20. Rama

    July 17, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    Hi Padhu, This post is as fresh as your receipes. Recently i am on the look for setting up one for myself. I am new to Bangalore. can you pl share your wisdom on where to find good soil something like in 75Kg or so (not the costlier nurseries one!)

    Reply
  21. Padhu Sankar

    July 17, 2015 at 3:38 pm

    Harini – You get grow bags in all nurseries. I got some in Chennai and some in Coimbatore. I got it in Porur in Chennai

    Umatejest – Do not rub the seeds,break it and sow – sow it as a whole seed. It needs a very fertile soil .I tried many times and gave up

    Rama – I have no idea about Bangalore but you can try in Govt horticulture Dept.

    Reply
  22. umatejesh pattipati

    July 18, 2015 at 5:04 am

    Thank u for the reply padhu garu 🙂

    Reply
  23. kalai vani

    July 18, 2015 at 11:00 am

    Plz tell us the name of container were you kept pasala Keerai also where can we buy it

    Reply
  24. lakshmi chandrasekaran

    July 18, 2015 at 2:35 pm

    Beautiful pictures and a lovely garden! I am a fan of your blog and love all your posts!

    Reply
  25. Gayathri Sathyanarayanan

    July 18, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    Thank you. As you told how days once i have to use vermi compost for the plants.

    Reply
  26. Padhu Sankar

    July 19, 2015 at 6:53 am

    Kalai Vani -It is a milk crate. You can try in shops which sell plastic items. I am having it with me for years. Do not remember where I got it.

    Lakshmi – Thank you so much for liking my blog and recipes.Feeling happy.

    Gayathri – You can use it once in 15 days.(2-3 fistful)

    Reply
  27. Pooja S

    July 20, 2015 at 6:48 am

    Lovely organic garden and fan of your blog.I am too much inspired and definitely try these in my small garden 😉

    Reply
  28. Gayathri Sathyanarayanan

    July 21, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    Thanks. Thanks a lot.

    Reply
  29. shobha arvind

    July 27, 2015 at 2:10 am

    Great job Padhu – u r a good source of inspiration to all of us – where we waste time in what's app and face book – God bless

    Reply
  30. Mahi

    July 27, 2015 at 10:35 pm

    Beautiful garden…happy gardening! 🙂

    Reply
  31. Yogalaksmi harini

    July 28, 2015 at 10:02 am

    Hi padhu..seeing u'r blog I sowed methi and chillies as a start and am so happy and excited seeing the methi growing :-).reg milk crates, can v put soil in it directly and sow or shud v line the crate vth sum sheet or sumthng? And shud v transfer plants frm growbags to pot latr?

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      July 28, 2015 at 10:10 am

      Awesome!! I feel so happy Harini. You do not have to line it with anything. If you feel that the sand will get wash off when watering, you can line it with an old mosquito net or any other net. Regarding your second question – you do not have to transfer from grow bags to pots. The plants will stay happy in grow bags itself.

      Reply
  32. Sarala Prasad

    August 18, 2015 at 3:10 am

    Padhu, very happy to see ur otg. I too am into otg n i am to bokashi composting. Though no land space, i have planted in grow bags, pots n many other unwanted containers.

    Reply
  33. Thumb's UP!!

    November 9, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    Hi paddu….. I want to know about the type of pasalai keerai you grow…… Is it edible or some thing ornamental… I have it at my home since many years but never cooked… By the way I don't know Tamil… So what is this variety called in english

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      November 13, 2015 at 4:37 am

      It is a variety of spinach called tharai pasalai. What you see in the picture about in that yellow milk crate is edible. You can make kootu in that. It has Mucilage (slightly sticky) so only kootu or dal tastes good.

      Reply
  34. gita nair

    February 8, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    Hi padhu, guide me to grow pasalai keerai at home. My neighbour has a plant and I plucked a stem and planted it but no use it was try I two days. Any ideas to grow it in a pot

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      February 9, 2016 at 3:34 pm

      It is very very easy to grow pasalai keerai. Just plant a stem and water it. You can grow it in pot also.Keep in the shade for a few day and also use a rich soil.(soil mixed with compost or vermicompost)

      Reply
  35. Sathish Mrb

    May 2, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    Hi, Your garden really awesome. I love it. I wish to have a such a beautiful garden. Great blog nice n useful information , it is very helpful for me , thanks for sharing. I am also planning to buy some organic vegetable plants. Let me know any organic fertilizers available in market?

    Thanks,

    Sathish

    Reply
  36. Sandhya Ramchandani Kaura

    July 27, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    Hi Padhu, I keep reading your posts on and off. I find you extremely inspiring. I am beginning my kitchen gardening with 5pots in a couple of days. Thanks for sharing so many good recipes and useful ideas

    Reply
  37. Hema

    July 29, 2016 at 3:16 am

    Hi. Very intresting and practical recepies out of which i have tried a few. Its a lovely blog the pictures r very inspiring and mouthwatering . Even the garden tips r so nice . Will be trying out your ideas . Thx .

    Reply
  38. NiRaNjAnA BHASKARAN

    August 10, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    Hi padhu .Excellent way of growing organic plants at home. Am a great fan of your kitchen blogs. Few years back I started cooking and now I became expert after following your kitchen blogs. Thanks to you padhu. Wish to see more blogs from you. Happy cooking:-)

    Reply
  39. Ranjani Chandrasekar

    August 11, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    Mam wic sand u using ??its looks like black sand

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      August 12, 2016 at 7:30 am

      I use a mix of coco peat, vermicompost and soil and a little sand.I also add compost every 15 days. So the color is black.

      Reply
  40. Ranjani Chandrasekar

    August 12, 2016 at 10:06 am

    Thank you so much mam for ur quick response in ur busy schedule ….

    Reply
  41. Ranjani Chandrasekar

    August 15, 2016 at 7:02 am

    Mam Am living near chennai I have a doubt reg .where shud we get quality organic seeds and how much size grow bags is required for brinjal,tomato,chilly,ladies finger etc…. Pls tell me the process to plant these vegetables… A year before i tried all these veggies in my garden but because of big tress like coconut tree,lemon,sapota,Gooseberry it doesnt grow well … so i planned to grow all these veggies in bags….Am very much interested in gardening Pls mam waiting for ur reply …

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      August 16, 2016 at 11:51 am

      Standard size bags are enough for brinjal, tomatoes etc. Plants need sunlight, so it will not grow if there is shade. You can grow it in grow bags. Seeds are commonly availabe or you can collect it from those who already have a garden.

      Reply
  42. Renuka gopalan

    October 20, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    Hi padhu,
    Really amazed to c ur kitchen garden
    I have just now started organic veg terrace gardening at home. However, my tomato, chilli and brinjal flowers r falling off without producing fruit.:(.. Can u suggest a remedy for this problem?

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      October 21, 2016 at 8:35 am

      Even I am a learner when it comes to gardening. I learn only by trial and error. You should give good nutrition to the plants every week. To my knowledge compost is the best. I compost my kitchen waste at home itself. Brinjal flowers falling could be due to calcium deficiency.You can pour diluted buttermilk. Spray panchagavya which you will get it in shops which sell bio fertilizers.

      Reply
  43. Renuka gopalan

    October 21, 2016 at 8:59 am

    Thanks so much for your suggestion. I have recently started applying vermicompost to plants. Will that supply all the necessary nutrition to plants or I have to add compost as well ? Please also let me know the proportion to dilute panchagavya.

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      October 22, 2016 at 5:29 am

      Vermicompost is enough. Regarding Panchagavya – You will find instructions on the bottle itself.

      Reply
  44. Priya Pradeep

    November 29, 2016 at 10:11 am

    Hi Padhu, I used to follow your recipes.Today only I came to know abt ur terrace garden.I too have it but i can't maintain it…….Can you give details how to compose our kitchen waste…..no idea about that khamba also.

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      November 29, 2016 at 11:10 am

      Thank you for following my recipes. Writing about composting at home is in my agenda for a very long time but could not find time to do that yet. You can check this for now
      how to compost

      Reply
  45. Aiswarya Vinodh

    April 2, 2017 at 7:07 am

    Hi padhu.. I started growing taro root.. how long it will take to mature and supplements I need to give? How many taros can I get from one plant?

    Reply
  46. Emran Ahammad

    April 9, 2017 at 5:46 am

    nice

    Reply
  47. Surya

    July 23, 2017 at 12:04 pm

    Hi mam,
    I m planing to start this..
    But I really don't know where to get seeds..
    Pls help mee

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      July 26, 2017 at 10:31 am

      Try in any nursery or govt agricultural dept.

      Reply
  48. Jayasree Narayana Pillay

    November 27, 2017 at 8:19 am

    namaskhar padhu how do we avoid snails eating the small plants. is there any remedy to prevent snail's

    Reply
  49. VidhyaNavi

    December 23, 2017 at 5:02 am

    Wow!!! Padhu you are my last minute saviour in cooking!!! I love gardening!!! The moment I saw this post I am mesmerized!!!!

    Reply
  50. Manoj Kumar B E

    April 3, 2018 at 9:17 am

    It would be very useful if you share some tips related to organic pesticides for kitchen garden

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      April 4, 2018 at 8:12 am

      Yes, I too have that in my mind. Will do it soon.

      Reply
  51. myscribble

    April 10, 2018 at 10:19 am

    HI , could you let me know which website do you order seeds?

    Reply

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Meet Padhu, the Chef, the photographer, recipe developer and web designer behind Padhuskitchen which features Simple Indian Vegetarian recipes, healthy recipes, kids friendly recipes, Indian festival recipes, traditional South Indian Vegetarian ...

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