Growing Organic Bhutan Chilies

Introduction

Name : Bhutan Chilly

Sowing season : Anytime - It is not a seasonal plant
Harvesting Season : It gives chillies throughout the year

Health Benefits

Check out this website : Click Me

1. Lowers blood sugar level

2. Improves heart health, boosts circulation, thins blood and helps protect against stroke

3. Provides pain relief and reduces inflammation

4. Acts as a therapeutic and relaxant

5. Helps clear congestion

6. Limits spreading of prostrate cancer

7. lowers risk of stomach cancer

8. Help to burn fat

How to Plant

• Planting Time : Beginning of Winter season (November, December)

• Note : This is how I planted them. But you should remember that it is not a seasonal vegetable and you can plant it anytime. it gives chillies throughout the year.

• Steps :

Preparation of Sapling ( in October)

1. Take a pot. Make a hole in it.
2. Mix 3 parts of soil, 1 part of sand and 1 part of vermi-compost.
3. Fill the packet with the above mixture.
4. Put a few chilly seeds in each pot.
5. Put some soil on it.
6. DONT pour water on it. Just sprinkle some water on it.
7. When the sapling has 4-6 leaves then prepare to plant it in a larger sack.

Planting of Sapling ( in November or December)

1. Take a 5kg or 10kg empty plastic sack. Make a few holes at the bottom of the sack.
2. Take three parts of soil, one part of sand and one part of half/fully decayed kitchen waste.
3. Mix them well.
4. Fill the sack with the above mixture.
5. Now transfer the sapling in the sack. (1 sapling in a 5kg packet. 2 saplings in a 10kg packet)

Bhutan Chilies of my Terrace Garden

Growing Organic Tomatoes

Introduction

Name : Tomato

Indian name : Tamatar

Other names : Scientifically known as - Solanum lycopersicum

Health Benefits  

1. Helps in overcoming eye irritation.

2. Helps in healing sunburns.

3. Restores Vitality For Persistent Fatigue.

4. Restores the Health of the Liver.

5. Leaves of tomatoes acts as Antibiotics.

6. Contains Potassium, vitamin B6, niacin, vitamin K, chromium and biotin.

How to Plant

• Planting Time : Beginning of Winter season (November, December)
• Steps :

Preparation of Sapling ( in October)

1. Take a 1 liter empty and cleaned milk packet.
2. Mix 3 parts of soil, 1 part of sand and 1 part of vermi-compost.
3. Fill the packet with the above mixture.
4. Put 1 tomato seed in each packet.
5. Put some soil on it.
6. DONT pour water on it. Just sprinkle some water on it.

Planting of Sapling ( in November or December)

1. Take a 5kg or 10kg empty plastic sack.
2. Take three parts of soil, one part of sand and one part of half/fully decayed kitchen waste.
3. Mix them well.
4. Fill the sack with the above mixture.
5. Now transfer the sapling in the sack. (1 sapling in a 5kg packet. 2 saplings in a 10kg packet)

This is how you should plant the sapling in the sack.

Tomatoes of my Terrace Garden

How to Preserve seeds of Okra / Lady's fingers?

Check out my video demonstration -

I had planted okra in the end of winter season. 

The entire summer I got tasty, healthy & organic okra from it.

Now, it is time to collect the seeds from it - for sowing in the next season.

Here is what you have to do -

1. Leave some healthy okras on the plant at the end of the summer season.

2. Let it dry on the plant itself.

3. Keep checking its condition, when it becomes yellowish-brown then pluck it.

4. Keep it for drying under the sun.

5. After drying, keep all the seeds in an airtight container or zip-lock bag for planting in the next season.

Note : Okra seeds have a history of not storing well, so you will need to collect new seeds after each season for the next planting season.

How to Grow Organic Strawberries - Part 1

Introduction

There are mainly two types of Strawberries -

1. Commonly Edible Strawberry - It originates from white flower and it is better in taste and nutrition. It is the commercial strawberry.

2. Indian/Mock/False Strawberry - It originates from yellow flower. It is mostly tasteless. It is considered as a weed.

Name : Strawberry

Indian Name : Jharaber, Hisalu

Other Names : Scientific names -

1. Fragaria ananassa

2. Duchesnea indica

Health Benefits

1. Boosts immunity

2. Prevent heart disease

3. Prevents constipation & diabetes

4. Fight cancer

5. Helps you lose weight

6. Great for your bones

7. Boosts memory

8. To know more - Click me

9. Other benefits - Click me

Drawbacks

1. Strawberries are said to contain at-least 13 pesticides, which are quite harmful for humans.

So, it is better to grow it in your garden with organic manure.

More Info on Side-Effects

Strawberries of my Garden

How to Grow

• Planting Time : 

1. To get the runners from the mother plant  -  Rainy Season
2. For getting fruits  -  End of Winter

• Note 1 : We get strawberries from the runners that grow from the mother plant.
• Note 2 : We plant the mother plant in rainy season. It gives other small plants known as runners to us. During winter, we plant the runners to get strawberries.

• Steps :

During Rainy Season

1. Get a strawberry plant from the nursery. We call it a mother plant.
2. Take a basket.
3. Make a bed for it.
4. Take 2 parts of soil, 1 part of sand & 1 part of vermicompost.
5. Mix it well.
6. Now plant the plant in it.
7. Pour some water on it.
8. Leave it to get rain water & spreed it's runner.
9. For video demonstration  - Click Me

 During Winter Season

1. To know what to do in winter season, stay tuned.
2. If you want to know about it now, then simply message me or drop a comment on my G+ profile.

How to Grow & Care of Mint in Rainy Season

Introduction

Name : Mint

Indian name : Pudina

Other names : Scientifically known as - Mentha

Health Benefits

1. Relieves indigestion
2. Helps fight oral infections
3. Help relieve the pain associated with menstrual cramps
4. Boosts immunity
5. Beats stress & depression
6. Help relieve cough & asthma helps relieve cough & asthma
7. To know more - Click Me

Mint of my Garden

 

How to Grow

• Planting Time : End of Winter
• Steps :

1. Bring a bunch of mint from the market.
2. Take a glass of water.
3. Dip the stem of the mint in it.
4. Make sure that the leaves are out of water.
5. Leave it for 1 week or till the roots have formed.
6. Check water in between.
7. Take a basket or sack.
8. Fill it with 2 parts of soil, 2 parts of sand and 1 part of vermicompost.
9. Mint grows well in sandy soil, so be careful while adding sand.
10. Mix it well.
11. Plant the mint in it.
12. The whole summer you can have the healthy mint of your garden.
13. But in rainy season you have to take care of it, for the rest of the season.

How to Care for Mint in Rainy Season

Click here for the video.

1. Mint is not a rainy season plant. So, you must protect it from the rain.
2. If a mint plant gets excess of water, then it decays & dies.
3. So, during rainy season keep it under shade or in a shed.

The two pictures below are of wild Mints --They can harm you.     

Side Effects

To know about side effects - Click me

Growing Organic Ginger

Introduction
Name : Ginger
Indian name : Adrak
Other names : Scientifically known as - Zingiber officinale


Health Benefits

1. Instant relief from cold and cough.
2. Improves digestion.
3. Tried and tested to relieve menstrual pain.
4. Relieves headache/migraine.
5. It is a powerful weapon against cancer.
6. For 10 health benefits of ginger - Click Me
7. For more uses of ginger - Click Me 
8. Health benefits of dry ginger - Click Me

• Tip 1 : How to make dry ginger or sonth - Click Me

Ginger of my Garden

Video

  
 Photos

How to Grow

• Planting time : End of summer. I have planted it in the end of May.

• Steps : 

1. Take a sack, roll it from top.

   

   Roll the sack from top.

2. Take 2 - 3 inches of ginger which has at-least 1 or 2 eyes on it.
3. Take 2 parts of soil, 2 parts of sand and 1 part of vermicompost.
4. Mix them well.
5. Take 3 parts of the above mixture and put it in the sack.
6. Put the ginger on it, then cover the ginger with the remaining 3 parts of mixture.
7. Sprinkle very little amount of water. Do not water it after that.
8. Once it gets the rain water, the shoots will start coming out.
   
9. For video demonstration - Click Me (I got the idea from this video)

• Tip 2 : Ginger grows in sandy soil, so be careful when you are making the bed for it.
• Tip 3 : Ginger plants need soil on top, so keep adding soil, sand and vermicompost from time to time. And each time you add the mixture keep rolling the sides of the sack upwards.
• Tip 4 : Be sure that the ginger rhizome is not exposed to the sunlight. If it is exposed to the sunlight then it will turn green and green gingers are not good for health.
• Tip 5 : Make sure that water doesn't collect in the sack. It should be drained out.
• Tip 6 : After 3 months of planting the ginger, you can take out the full grown ginger and you can start using it in food.
• Tip 7 : You can leave the ginger rhizome with smaller shoots in the soil till the end of winter. After that you will have to take them all out and store them. 
• Tip 8 : If you want to use these ginger for planting in next season, you can store them in dry soil containing sand in a dark place.

How to Store Ginger

1. Method 1 : Store them as sonth.
2. Method 2 : Store them in fridge or freezer. For demonstration - Click Me

Holy Medicinal Plant - BASIL

 

Introduction 

 

Name : Basil

Indian name :Tulsi

Other names : Scientifically know as - Ocimum basilicum

Basil is a holy plant. It has a lot of medicinal value. One can easily grow in a pot & on the terrace. Rainy season is the right time to plant a Basil sapling. It is an annual plant. It can not survive in extreme cold weather.

Health Benefits 

1. It is a tonic to calm the nervous system. 
2. It helps in digestion & also ease stomach cramps.
3. It contains vitamin A, K & C. It also contains magnesium & calcium.
4. It is rich in antioxidant.
5. For detailed information please refer to - Click me
6. Curative uses of Basil
   
   
   
   

   Basil of My Garden

   
   
   

    

   How To Grow

   Planting Time : It grows in summer season but it is planted in the end of winter season.
   Note 1 : You can grow Basil with the help of seeds. It is easy to grow a sapling out of the seeds. Here is a tip for you - 
   
   Tips : Collect seeds of Basil in winter from a full grown healthy Basil plant. Dry it and store it in a airtight container.  

1. Take an earthen pot.
2. Fill it with three parts of soil, one part of sand & one part of vermicompost.
3. Put the seeds in it.
4. Cover the seeds. Sprinkle little soil on it.
5. Sprinkle little water on it.
6. Put the pot under the sunlight.
7. Don't pour water on it until the sapling comes out.
8. For pictorial demonstration - Click here
9. Have a look It will make you happy.

• Note 2 : Grow your own plant. Don't purchase chemically preserved basil products.

• Note 3 : Uses of leaf -  As medicine

• Note 4 : Uses of seed - As medicine

• Note 5 : Anything in excess is bad so eat only 2 leaves of basil a day from your own home grown plant.

• Note 6 : Use vermicompost beacuse : - Basil is one of the twelve plants in which residue of pesticide is very high. Click here for details

• Note 7 : Side effects of basil -Active Ingredient - Eugenol is the primary oil in holy basil. It is sometimes called clove oil because it is also the active ingredient in cloves. Eugenol is known for its antiseptic and analgesic properties and is often used by dentists to make temporary fillings. 
  
  Eugenol Side Effects - Eugenol overdose can occur if too much is ingested. Symptoms of overdose include shallow breathing, blood in the urine or sputum, mouth and throat burns, nausea, racing heartbeat, seizures, dizziness and coma. You should contact a doctor or poison control center immediately if any of these symptoms occur. Click here for details

How to Water a Potted Plant

A plant needs air, not too much of water & sunlight. Potted plants face the difficulties of growing if they don't get right amount of water. These plants die because of excess or less water. So, I am going to tell you how to water a plant.

Here are some easy ways to water a plant using waste bottles.
Note :  The photos are mine. And below them I have given the links from where I got the idea to make those irrigation systems for my kitchen garden.

• 1 : If you are going to leave the plant for a long time then - 

1. Fill a bottle of water
2. Insert a thread into the bottle till the end and place the other end of the thread near the root of the plant.
3. Click here for the video

•  2 : To continuously water your plant, you can use this technique -

1. Take an empty plastic bottle.
2. Make one or 2 holes at the bottom side of the bottle. 
3. Then fill water in it & close the cap. 
4. When the cap of the bottle is tightly closed the water will not come out, but when you loosen the cap the water will keep on dripping into the pot.
5. So, you should keep the cap slightly loose according to your need.
6. Click here for the video

•  3 : For watering hanging plants -

1. Take a bottle and cut it from the bottom
2. Make a hole in the center of the cap & hang it upside down. 
3. Now take a thread & make a knot such that it gets stuck into the hole of the cap of the bottle.
4. Put the remaining part of the thread into the hanging plant. 
5. Now the water will drip down slowly and easily. The advantage of it is that the floor will not get wet.

• 4  : For watering of the roots without damping of the soil -

1. Take a waste bottle.
2. Remove its cap and cut its bottom.
3. Now dig a part of soil near the plant and place the bottle upside down into the soil.
4. Cover the whole bottle with soil except the bottom which you have cut.
5. Click here for the video
6. Another idea - Click here for the video 

• 5 : For drip irrigation - 

 

1. Take a plastic bottle.
2. Make holes in it.
3. Place the bottle inside the soil, close to the plant.
4. Now fill water in the bottle & close the cap loosely.
5. Water will slowly come out from the bottle & will help the plant to get water easily.
6. I have pasted two photographs above, it will guide you.
7. It will more effective during summer.
8. These photos are not mine . I got them from pinterest 
9. Click here for pinterest link
10. Click here for pinterest link

Growing an Organic Cucumber

Introduction 

 

Name : Cucumber

Indian name : Khira

Other names : Scientifically know as - Cucumis sativus .

Health Benefits

 

1.It has anti-cancer properties.

2.It has both antioxidant & anti - inflammatory properties.

3.It contains vitamin A B C D & E

For detailed information please refer to - Click me

 

Cucumber of My Garden

For video of my garden's cucumber and bitter gourd - Click Me

How To Grow

Planting Time : End of winter season (I planted it in March)

Note 1 : You have to grow cucumber with the help of seeds because the saplings of cucumber is quiet difficult to find. It is easy to grow a sapling out of the seeds. Here is a tip for you - 

• Soak the seeds for 24 hours in warm water.

Tips :  Here are the steps to plant the cucumber on the terrace in a pot/sack.

1. Prepare a bed for it; take a 10 kg empty wheat packet or a plastic sack.
2. Fill the sack / wheat packet with three parts of soil, one part of sand and one part of half/fully decayed kitchen waste.
   
   Note 2 : The sack that I have used here is of 5 kg and I have planted only 1 seed in it.
3. Mix them well.
4. Take out the soaked seeds and sow them in the soil, not too much inside the soil.
5. Sow the seed just half inch deep from the top.
6. You can sow three seeds in one container, not more than that.
7. Pour little water on it.
8. After that never pour water on it till the saplings comes out.
9. If the plastic polythene bag is thick then make many holes at the bottom for the drainage of excess water.
10. If you are taking a plastic sack then there is no need to make holes in it.

 Note 3 :

• It is very important  to water a cucumber plant regularly.
• Once the sapling comes out you can give some water daily.
• Make sure the water is not getting stored in the sack/plastic bag. It should be drained.
• Sapling will start coming within one week.

• It will start giving flowers after one and a half months. And then you can enjoy home-grown, organic cucumber which is a boon for all.

Growing an Organic Bitter-Gourd

Introduction 

Name : Bitter-Gourd

Indian name : Karela

Other names : Bitter-Melon, Balsam Pear, Bitter-Squash

Bitter-gourd is a tropical climber vegetable.

Health Benefits

1. It is a common remedy for diabetes.

2. It is useful in cases of spleen and liver diseases.

3. It is supposed to purify blood.

For detailed information please refer to - Click Me

Bitter-Gourd of my Garden

For video of my garden's bitter-gourd and cucumber - Click Me

How To Grow

Planting Time : End of winter season (I planted it in March)

Note 1 : You have to grow bitter-gourd with the help of seeds because the saplings of bitter-gourd is quiet difficult to find. It is difficult to grow a sapling out of the seeds so here is a tip for you - 

• Soak the seeds for 24 hours in warm water.

OR

 Note 2 : If you want to disinfect the seeds then for 50 gm of seeds -

1. Take a utensil. 
2. Put 1 small cup (100 ml) warm water in it.
3. Put 50 gm seeds into it. Shake it. (Take out those seeds which did not sink and throw them out of the utensil.)
4. Put 5 gm vermi-compost into it. It provides minerals to the seeds.
5. Put 5 gm jaggery into it. It provides nourishment to the seeds.
6. Put 5 ml cow urine. It disinfects the seeds. You can get cow urine from ayurvedic medical stores.
7. Mix it well and keep it for 24 hours in shade.
8. Take it out and strain it through a muslin cloth and tie the seeds in it very carefully.
9. Keep it wrapped in a jute sack or hay for 48 hours. 
10. Now it is ready for planting. 

• I got this information from - Click Me

Tips :  Here are the steps to plant the bitter-gourd on the terrace/pot.

1. Prepare a bed for it; take a 10 kg empty wheat packet or a plastic sack.
2. Fill the sack / wheat packet with three parts of soil, one part of sand and one part of half/fully decayed kitchen waste.
3. Mix them well.
4. Take out the soaked seeds and sow them in the soil, not too much inside the soil.
5. Sow the seed just half inch deep from the top.
6. You can sow three seeds in one container, not more than that.
7. Pour little water on it.
8. After that never pour water on it till the saplings comes out.
9. If the plastic polythene bag is thick then make many holes at the bottom for the drainage of excess water.
10. If you are taking a plastic sack then there is no need to make holes in it.

 Note 3 : It is very important not to water a bitter gourd seed until the sapling comes out.

• Once the sapling comes out you can give some water daily, or on every alternate day.
• Make sure the water is not getting stored in the sack/plastic bag. It should be drained.
• Sapling will start coming within one week. It would come earlier if you have disinfected the seeds.
• It will start giving flowers after one and a half months. And then you can enjoy home-grown, organic bitter-gourd which is a boon for the diabetic people.