You don’t need land. Making a small
farm at home is quite simple and can be done so with things lying around the
house and some waste material and water on a rooftop, terrace or balcony.
Step 1
You need a container to grow the plants. Earthen
pots are the best. Wooden crates lined on the
inside with plastic, old tires, egg trays,any plastic containers can also be
used.
Step 2
You need to put a substrate in the container. Rice hull, sawdust,sand, gravel,
coconut fibre, peat, peanut husks etc. You will also require a nutrient
solution which can be obtained from the fermentation of organic waste material.
Step 3
You need a suitable location. Basically, you need 1 to 10 square metres of free
space, a minimum of six hours of daily sunlight and a clean water source. So
the options could be your rooftop, balcony, backyard or any place else that
meets the requirements.
Step 4
You have to select what you have to
grow. Tomato, beans, onion, garlic, gourds, potato, celery,
pepper, chilly, carrot, lettuce, basil, cucumber, radish, cabbage, red beet,
spinach, eggplant, medicinal plants
Go organic: Be a
chemical free farmer. Buy readymade, or compost your own organic kitchen,
garden, left over food, household waste. You can create a vermicompost bin even
on a balcony in a flat.
Be Waterwise: Wastewater from kitchen and bathrooms can be
treated, recycled and used.
Be chemical free:
make use of bio-pesticides using neem, turmeric, lemons, tobacco, garlic,
onions. Soap solution helps. Plant 'plant traps' like marigold or
chrysanthemums to mitigate bugs. Remember pests cannot be controlled, only
managed.
Now
you’re ready to be a City farmer!
