Maintaining a Home Garden will cost you little or nothing. You won’t even feel it. You can reap a bountiful, plentiful and abundant harvest and even have an excess by using items in your house that you plan to throw away. Green Thumbs speaks to District Agriculture Instructor of Deputy Provincial Director of Agriculture Office K. N. K. Jayathilake on how one can have a completely self- sufficient life with minimal effort.
“In maintaining an efficient home garden the planting material must be well prepared. If it is prepared in such a way then there can be a continuous supply of crops that can be harvested. Planting material can be divided into two. They are crops that can be directly planted in beds as seeds, and crops that can be planted/raised in nurseries and then planted in the home garden such as Chili, Brinjals, Tomato and Cabbage,” said Jayathilake.
When planting in the nursery you can use items such as Yoghurt Cups, Ice Cream cans, Paper Bags, milk containers, plastic bottles and Coconut shells. These are items that are normally discarded in households. With these discarded items you can make an investment that will last you years.
“You can grow a diverse amount of crops, which can be looked after well, and you can raise the required amount for the consumption of your family. However you need a good soil medium. The soil medium should consist of Top Soil and Organic Manure. The items of Yoghurt cups, ice cream cans, paper bags and Coconut shells can be filled with this medium. There should be also adequate sunlight in the nurseries. The seeds can be planted in these items and soon the plants will grow,” stated Jayathilake.
However before planting the seeds in the nursery, the seeds must be dipped in water for about 12 hours and then planted. This will ensure that the plants come up quickly. After planting seeds the plants will appear in 3-7 days.
“After seeds are planted in nurseries a covering can be used above the plants (Goniya). After the plants start to appear then that covering can be removed. Slowly these plants need to be exposed to the sunlight. After around three weeks the healthy plants can be planted in the home garden. The soil mound containing the plant is removed and planted in the home garden. If all of this is done correctly there will be no shortage of crops in your home garden,” explained Jayathilake
Also if you have excess space in your home garden you can sell the excess harvest to the market. So in addition to your self-sufficient lifestyle you also have an extra income.
“The items used – yoghurt cups, ice cream cans, paper bags and coconut shells need to have a good drainage system. After the plants emerge in the nursery it has to be irrigated with a water can. It is imperative that the roots of the plant are undamaged in the soil mound. So as you can see, in your home garden the nursery is an essential feature. Also, to protect the plants against insects you can use neems,” pointed out Jayathilake.
For the more ambitious of home gardeners nursery trays can be used.
“These can be rigifoam or plastic containers with holes. These holes can be filled with the soil medium and then the seeds are planted. Then the covering/ goniya is applied and the plants appear. The covering is taken off and then the soil mound containing the plant can be planted in the home garden,” said Jayathilake
Just think you can buy a Yoghurt cup for Rs. 35. If you buy 10 yoghurt cups during one month that would cost you around Rs. 350 for that month! If you want some Coconut shells/ husks why not drive over to the village and pick up some coconuts which won’t cost you a dime except for the petrol. Maybe even you can buy a few milk containers because one milk container will cost you Rs. 220.
Three will cost you Rs.660. And what about some ice cream cans/container? One will cost you Rs. 350. Five will cost you Rs. 1750. All together this will all cost you around Rs. 2760.
But with a well organized home garden it is an investment for a year. Just remember we know that buying vegetables every week from the market place will cost you between Rs. 2000- 3000. But by spending Rs. 2760 for one month you are covered for the whole year. Incredible is it not? Of course you will need to spend money on good seeds but then again it is all worth it!
And remember if there is an excess you can sell it. And get some additional income. Also since times are hard you can even be the model neighbor and give an excess if you have to your fellow neighbours. Maybe you can even encourage your neighbours to have home gardens themselves. Then you can have an entire local network of people operating home gardens. Think of the huge benefits - a whole self sufficient neighbourhood helping each other out, a whole network of families consuming healthy food and saving money. We may even see the transformation of an entire town. Home gardens are a wonderful experiment. The possibilities are mind boggling! Children will in turn learn about home gardens and entire generations can be transformed. Spending under Rs. 3000 you can save up on thousands. This will even take care of medical expenses. Visits to the doctor will be rare because there will be no health complaints.
What we have here is a unique way of living. Something that is futuristic. Think what this will mean to poverty? If people can grow their own food then they can spend minimally. Then all they need to think of is electricity, water and Wi-Fi. It is a whole new world of opportunity.
Also think what it will mean for our lives? We can have free time for ourselves without needing to go to the supermarket all the time saving on transport and time with fresh fruits and vegetables at your doorstep.
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