Articles by Aparna George

I haven’t got around to writing a new post in a few weeks, and part of the reason was this inspiring set of posts from fellow gardener Srikant that left me thinking what more I could write. This is part 3 of his beginner’s series that also has links to the previous 2. http://thealternative.in/environment/a-beginners-guide-to-organic-terrace-gardening-from-seeding-to-pest-management/  A discussion with a friend the other day on how to get started off on waste segregation set me thinking on some of the ways composting, segregating waste and gardening have affected my life. Here are a few: Buttermilk is now no longer something that quenches…

I haven’t got around to writing a new post in a few weeks, and part of the reason was this inspiring set of posts from fellow gardener Srikant that left me thinking what more I could write. This is part 3 of his beginner’s series that also has links to the previous 2. http://thealternative.in/environment/a-beginners-guide-to-organic-terrace-gardening-from-seeding-to-pest-management/  A discussion with a friend the other day on how to get started off on waste segregation set me thinking on some of the ways composting, segregating waste and gardening have affected my life. Here are a few: Buttermilk is now no longer something that quenches…

I’m sure many of us never think of waste and rewards in the same breath :). When something is useless in our eyes, it just goes into the waste bin and then who cares what happens next. Well, I did start caring at some point and it was one of the most enlightening journeys of my life, in fact I credit it to be the beginning of my gardening journey as well! Once I started consciously thinking about the amount of waste generated by my household, it has never been a question of “Why we should manage our waste” but…

I’m sure many of us never think of waste and rewards in the same breath :). When something is useless in our eyes, it just goes into the waste bin and then who cares what happens next. Well, I did start caring at some point and it was one of the most enlightening journeys of my life, in fact I credit it to be the beginning of my gardening journey as well! Once I started consciously thinking about the amount of waste generated by my household, it has never been a question of “Why we should manage our waste” but…

Kitchen gardening has always been about growing my own food so that I know exactly where it came from, but along the way it also serves to give me a much deeper understanding of nearly every ingredient that comes into my kitchen. It started very simply for me – when my methi and coriander started flowering and then developed into seeds – it was an Aha moment – so that’s how the seeds form and the plant comes full circle. Just when I thought I knew how the seeds came about, I learnt about the lovely radish seedpods that are…

Kitchen gardening has always been about growing my own food so that I know exactly where it came from, but along the way it also serves to give me a much deeper understanding of nearly every ingredient that comes into my kitchen. It started very simply for me – when my methi and coriander started flowering and then developed into seeds – it was an Aha moment – so that’s how the seeds form and the plant comes full circle. Just when I thought I knew how the seeds came about, I learnt about the lovely radish seedpods that are…

Consider this scene: During the day, I had noticed a particular large leaved sprig on my curry leaves plant and when making dinner went up to my terrace in the dark to pluck it. Got to the plant, plucked the sprig and started walking away when I realized that (a) it smelt “funny” and not exactly like curry leaves and (b) it was HEAVY. Looked closely in the dark to find a LARGE caterpillar sitting on it. Think of the caterpillar from that children’s favourite book – “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, the one that looked like it had definitely overeaten.…

Consider this scene: During the day, I had noticed a particular large leaved sprig on my curry leaves plant and when making dinner went up to my terrace in the dark to pluck it. Got to the plant, plucked the sprig and started walking away when I realized that (a) it smelt “funny” and not exactly like curry leaves and (b) it was HEAVY. Looked closely in the dark to find a LARGE caterpillar sitting on it. Think of the caterpillar from that children’s favourite book – “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, the one that looked like it had definitely overeaten.…

My main long-term aim with growing vegetables, as with most other home gardeners, is to be self-sustainable and not need to buy anything much from the vegetable market. Though I have a way to go for achieving this, there are days when all the dishes on the tables have vegetables only from my terrace or my patch from Green Thumbs; and that is such a thrilling feeling for me J.   I spoke about sowing winged beans in an earlier post, so I thought I must share a pic of my harvest as well: Pic courtesy: Jyothi Vaidyanathan Last week…

My main long-term aim with growing vegetables, as with most other home gardeners, is to be self-sustainable and not need to buy anything much from the vegetable market. Though I have a way to go for achieving this, there are days when all the dishes on the tables have vegetables only from my terrace or my patch from Green Thumbs; and that is such a thrilling feeling for me J.   I spoke about sowing winged beans in an earlier post, so I thought I must share a pic of my harvest as well: Pic courtesy: Jyothi Vaidyanathan Last week…