Everyone will have a desire to grow a terrace garden, but many of us do not even have the basic knowledge about gardening. As you have come to our site, you do not need to worry about gardening if you are searching for how to do it.
Look into the article completely, as an engineering professor who is growing vegetables in all varieties for his kitchen, also shared his experiences and tips about growing vegetables on the terrace. Terrace gardening even in small amounts is needed in every house as it improves your health and keeps you healthy.
Because today vegetables and fruits that are sold outside are full of pesticides, we will not get any health benefits from them. So growing our own even in small amounts will keep our families healthy in a good way.
Know About Engineering Professor Who Grows Veggies In Recycled Refrigerators
Here we are going to see the story of an engineering professor Thayumanavan Kunapalan Who is 39 years old and a resident of Neyveli.
- Thayumanavan Kunapalan is a resident of Neyveli but he grew up in Karaikal, Pondicherry. When Kunapalan was a child, his father maintained a beautiful flower garden along with vegetables and medicinal herbs.
- Slowly, by seeing his father without knowing he got interested in the field of farming.
- After he grew up, he became a professor in the electrical engineering subject and continued teaching.
- Even though he has a passion to do farming, it is not possible due to space constraints in his apartment.
- But they shifted to their own house that is in Neyveli, Thayumanavan in 2015, then he started his passion as they have a 1300 square feet terrace and 5.5 cents of land he has beside his house.
- He started using both of them for growing almost all varieties of vegetables.
- You can see almost all the vegetables in his garden except onion and garlic.
- Some of the vegetables you see like tomatoes, brinjal, okra, cucumber, beetroot, chilies, radish, sweet potato, bananas, and all types of creepers.
- To grow all these vegetables, along with growing bags, Thayumanavan also uses old refrigerators by collecting them in small amounts from scrap dealers.
- At starting as he did not have good knowledge about farming, he used to buy vermicompost from the market to get good yields.
- After YouTube became very popular, he used to follow some urban garden expert tips and used to follow.
- Today he prepares all the pesticides and soil mixes everything by himself.
- Even farmer concoctions like “Jeevamithra” are made by himself to enrich the plants. Also prepares natural pesticides like neem oil, neem cake, and mirchi/garlic paste are also prepared.
- He named his farmland as “Nilavanam”. He kept that name because Neela is his daughter’s name, and Vanam means forest.
Learn About the Unique Soil Mix That Was Made By Kunapalan
Kunapalan uses his own soil mixes, unlike others. Because he does not use cocopeat in his soil mix. Look into the complete process of making the soi mix by Kunapalan.
- He collects sugarcane waste from local vendors that is processed once again in a shredding machine he owns.
- And that Sugarcane waste was mixed with soil and cow dun in equal proportions, to which the seeds were sown within 90 days.
- By preparing the soil mix this way it will be equal to forest soil, and also rich in organic matter.
- Initially, he prepared soil mix to grow vegetables that would be for their family of four alone.
- Slowly, it increased and he started making excess and selling them.
- As it is not possible to provide items to everyone, he gives seeds and tips to everyone.
- He sells all his produce to the people who are in his WhatsApp group of 250 members.
- He even started poultry farming with chicken and ducks, as an initial step towards integrated farming, and also plans to set up a biogas soon.
Key Outcomes
And finally, today he grows vegetables of all varieties in 200 grow bags and in 25 old refrigerators. He also says that, next time, when you find an excuse to get away from setting up a small terrace garden. He also says his greatest motivation is to keep his family healthy.
So, grow your own and stay healthy.