Growing Veggies at Home in Iron Trays

Gone are the days when one enjoyed the luxury of living in spacious bungalows with sprawling lawns and gardens where a part of it, mostly in the back yards, were reserved for sowing of vegetables. The acute pressure of space in our cities has forced even the rich to move into apartments. Depending on the size of the plot, modern residential flats are generally provided with balconies and terraces. Those fond of gardening, adorn these with ferns, evergreens and flowering plants grown either in pots, hanging baskets or window boxes.

But the memory of  home grown veggies  served fresh on the dining table lingers.  Because of our dietary habits,the daily intake of veggies  is fairly high. One has no option but to buy one’s daily requirement  either from Mother Dairy booths or the veggie vendors  “Thelas” ( a few high end fresh  grocery stores like Honey Money , Reliance Fresh and Natures Basket  have also come up)which dot all Delhi residential colonies. These Subziwalas buy their ware from the Azadpur or Okhla Mandis and sell after keeping  small margins for their daily labour. They are often not able to sell all the veggies on the same day and keep these wrapped in soiled moist cloth to keep them fresh looking, to  sell  the next day, or the third/ fourth.

I present here for trial by you, my successful experiment of growing veggies on terraces and balconies in specially designed and crafted CGI sheet  trays. Basically, I tasked the good old steel trunk makers who are now almost out of business, but you can also approach the desert cooler makers to fabricate a tray with a depth of  6  “.Specify  the length and breadth to suit availability of space on your terrace/ balcony. Ask them to  make holes at the bottom and ridges on the base to ensure drainage and two strong handles on either side to lift and move them. After the trays are ready, fill them with a mixture of manure,(Vermi Compost and Cocoa Peat) with sandy soil should work best. You can sow seeds or seedlings of seasonal veggies of your choice, water them regularly with a watering can, ensure adequate sun light and watch them grow till they are ready to be plucked and eaten fresh. I have very successfully grown a very wide variety of veggies like Methi,, Paalak, Red Chaulayi Saag, Dhaniya , Pudina, basil, celery, cherry tomatoes, brinjals, chillies, lettuce, pokchoi and parsley. These can also be frown in wooden trays, but those may last for just 2 years , while the CGI trays should be good for ten.

I am posting a few pictures of the veggies grown by me at our home to illustrate what I am talking about. Hope a few among you shall get motivated to start this very satisfying form of gardening in your home to get a more healthy and tasty supply of daily veggies for your kitchens.

Have fun and try to get the kids involved too, in this exercise.They can be encouraged to sow seeds and water the trays. Happy gardening.

You can reach me at anil.chowdhry@gmail.com, if you need further advice/help.

DESI MAALI