Page 12 - Vertical Garden
P. 12

Grow your own plants
                                                      Chapter 4: Seeds

                                                                                                                                              Seeds of beans are the easiest to find and grow. Simply head over to your kitchen
                                                                                                                                              and choose beans like green moong, brown moong, chowli, rajma. Sow them in soil
            Knowing which plants grow from a seed and which can grow from cuttings or                                                         and they will grow with ease. They will happily climb up a trellis and wind their

            roots is the next part of learning how to grow your own urban farm. We’ll identify                                                way around horizontally and vertically. You can even grow beans easily in a
            plants that you can easily propagate and grow from your kitchen or groceries.                                                     compact space.


            Some plants have to be grown from seeds, other can grow from cuttings or roots.                                                   It’s the same for pumpkins except that pumpkins require a lot of ground space to
                                                                                                                                              spread out their vines, sometimes stretching to 100 feet in length and more. Ensure
            Desi seeds are preferable. They are resistant to climate changes and pests. They’re                                               you have enough ground space before attempting these.
            also cheaper - save seeds from a dried ripened fruit or vegetable and reuse them
            next season - saving money as you only buy it once!                                                                               For plants like lady finger, gourds, edible flowers like roses, blue pea flower,
                                                                                                                                              marigold and jasmine, you will have to get a sapling or seed for the first time.

            Tomato and chilly can be grown from what you have in the kitchen. Visit a nursery                                                 Grow them and save their seeds for the next season.
            close to you to see what seeds they have. Ask them politely if they can give you
            sample seeds for your school project.                                                                                             India has some lovely indigenous seed collectives and companies that youcan order
                                                                                                                                              your packs of seeds from: Vanastree and Hariyali Seeds are two such companies.

            Let’s get started with seeds and cuttings from the kitchen, groceries and/or local                                                Or visit a nursery close by and request them to help your school project by giving
            nursery. This is convenient and a cheap way to start.                                                                             you any extra seeds they can spare.









                                        Paste the top strip of the accordian here
                                                                                                                                                                              Black and white sketches of different seeds

                                    (Insert ‘How to grow mint from cuttings’ sheet

                                                  folded like an accordian)







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