Why kitchen garden/vegetable garden/residential mini vegetable farm?
Consume Fresh and tasty Fruits & Vegetables throughout the year is a basic requirement of the human being. All types of vegetables are easily available in the market but How about enjoying the best vegetables and fruit you’ve ever eaten?
Have you ever tasted garden-fresh vegetables from your own mini organic vegetable farm, the kitchen garden? There’s absolutely nothing quite like fresh veggies, especially if you grow them yourself—which you can!. Vegetable gardening is quite difficult but if you have a hobby then it can be a way to save money while you get up close and personal with nature.
It can be done easily done in the vacant land around the house. Water used for domestic purposes can be used for irrigation of plants and household waste can be used as compost manure. The main benefits of vegetables grown in the home kitchen garden are freshness, and if you can most important is keep plants away from the effect of poisonous medicines and pesticides, which can happen in vegetables bought from the market.
Children and youth of the house will also be inspired to do this work. Can be successfully grown on wooden boxes, pots, waste tins, and house roofs. Precious agricultural tools are not required in the kitchen garden. Household tools can be used. It can be adopted as a mind-blowing hobby.
In this article, we’ll highlight the basics of vegetable kitchen gardening and planning, how to pick the right place for your kitchen garden, how to select which vegetables to grow, etc.
Selection of Place of the kitchen garden
The selection of a good location for your kitchen garden is absolutely key point. The location of the kitchen garden should be near the house. A place away from the reach of the front or backyard of the house and completely open and adequate access to sunlight should be selected. For the home gardens, loamy soil which has a good amount of organic matter is suitable. Apart from this, it is also necessary that we can easily water plants for better growth. To understand how much space for each fruit and vegetable is needed we have to check the seed packet and then select pots and containers according to them.
What to grow in the kitchen garden/home garden
If you have an open plot then there is no limit to the vegetables you can grow. You can plant like tomato, chili, cilantro, bitter gourd, peas, fenugreek, spinach, radish, coriander, etc. If there is more space then also plants fruit trees like papaya, lemon, and guava can also be grown along with vegetables.
Plants that can be grown in September-October. Vegetables such as brinjal, mustard, peas, onion, garlic, potato, tomato, turnip, cauliflower, cabbage, gram, etc. can be cultivated at this time.
Plants that can be grown in February-March. Vegetables like okra, cucumber, cucumber, bottle gourd, luffa, tinda, arbi, watermelon, brinjal, etc. can be cultivated at this time.
Medicinal plants can also be grown in kitchen gardens like Aloe vera, Mint, and tulsi.
Preparation of land for a planting kitchen garden or home garden
There should be a good flow of water and air in the soil of the place where the home garden is to be planted. Therefore, it is important to prepare the land before planting a home garden. The more friable the soil, the richer the organic manure and organic matter, the better the yield will be.
To grow vegetables in a small space in the house, using a shovel or a shovel, the soil should be well pounded and the beds should be mixed by adding cow dung manure to the beds. Even while preparing the pots, the pots should be prepared by pulverizing the soil well with a hoe or shovel and mixing cow dung.
Fertilizers and manures for kitchen garden
Manure and fertilizers are of utmost importance in getting a good yield. For this, it is necessary that organic manure is used in the soil. Manure improves the condition of the soil and also supplies essential nutrients to the plants. For this, compost manure can also be made in one corner of the house.
If you have a bigger garden and need to make compost for your self then below is the method of making compost.
Compost is the decomposition of matter by bacteria and fungi of the household garbage, sewerage waste, excreta, straw, paper waste, etc. Dig a pit 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet deep depending on the area of the home garden. Doing so can reduce the damage caused by nutrient absorption. Fill the pit with fruit and vegetable peels, vegetable leaves, and kitchen waste. Spread 25 to 50 grams of urea and sprinkle water on the surface. If cow dung is easily available, then 2.5 to 5.0 cm above the plant residue. Spread a thick layer of cow dung. We can also add vermicompost as a fertilizer in the kitchen garden as it is nutrient-rich and helps support plants growth.
Adding urea to the compost pit serves two purposes. First, it acts as energy for the bacteria, secondly, it decomposes organic matter quickly and increases not only nitrogen in the manure but also elements like phosphorus and sulfur. The compost should be allowed to decompose for 2 months. In the house garden, 2-3 pits should be made in this way so that they can be used alternately. Growing vegetables and vegetables by making a bed in the home garden. Growing vegetables and vegetables by making a bed in the home garden are 10-15 cm with a shovel. Dig up the soil. Add well-rotted manure. Make the bed level and build a dam around it.
Sowing method for kitchen garden
Use an improved variety of seeds. Choose one of the following two methods depending upon the variety of the vegetable for proper sowing time and proper method.
Sowing by seeds in the kitchen garden
Seeds of vegetables like radish, turnip, fenugreek, spinach, cucumber, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, pumpkin, tinda, beans, okra, etc. are sown directly in the soil. Before sowing, it is good to treat the seeds with Thiram or Kaptan at the rate of 2 grams per kg of seed. Generally, seeds are already treated after taking seeds of good and well-known agricultural companies, so they do not need to be treated again. Before sowing, the land should be prepared by plowing the method described above. The first dose of manure and fertilizer should be sprinkled in the soil at the time of the last plowing in the specified quantity according to the variety of the vegetable and then irrigation should be done immediately so that the fertilizer becomes effective. After that only sowing should be done.
Seeds of vegetables should be sown in rows and proper space should be left between row to row and plant to plant. For spreading plants, row to row distance is more so that the plant can get a proper place to grow. Plant to plant distance and row to row distance is different in different vegetables.
Therefore, sowing should be done keeping this in mind. Two more doses of fertilizer are given after 1 month and the next dose is usually given at the time of flowering after the next 1-1.5 months. After this, irrigation should be continued from time to time according to season and as per requirement. It is necessary to keep the vegetable weed-free for the first 40-50 days, so keep weeding and hoeing from time to time. By sowing the seeds in rows, there is a facility to harvest after the vegetable is ripe. Vegetables should be plucked at the right time.
Methods for Nursery preparation for kitchen garden
In order to prepare the plants for transplanting, the soil should be made well pulverized by hoeing 4-5 times to prepare the nursery and dung manure, etc. has been mixed in proper quantity. After this, the seeds should be sown at a certain distance depending on the variety of the vegetable. Seeds should be planted 1.5 cm apart. It should not be sown deeper than this otherwise there is a problem in germination and the seeds germinate late. Applying a handful of DAP at the time of sowing and 5-6 days after seed sowing, 2 handfuls of urea per 10 square meters, the growth of the plants remains good. Light irrigation should be given after sowing the seeds in the beds. Seeds germinate in 1-2 weeks after sowing and are ready for transplanting in 1 month.
Transplanting
Irrigation should be given 1-2 days before transplanting, this makes the soil moist and the roots of the plants can easily come out from the soil without much damage. Before transplanting the plants, the fields/beds/plates should be prepared. For this, the soil should be prepared by plowing and adding fertilizers according to the method mentioned earlier. The first dose of fertilizer should be given by sprinkling in the soil before transplanting in the specified quantity according to the variety of the vegetable and immediately after that irrigation should be done so that the fertilizer becomes effective. Plants should be transplanted after 1-2 days.
For planting 15-20 cm. High and 1.25 m wide and long beds are made as per requirement. 30 cm between two beds. Leaves a wide drain, so that weeding and drainage of water are easy. Plants should be planted in the evening and light irrigation should be given after planting.
Weeding and weed control
It is necessary to keep weed-free for the first 40-50 days of vegetables, so keep weeding and hoeing from time to time. Two more doses of fertilizer are given after 1 month and the next dose is usually given at the time of flowering after the next 1-1.5 months. Apart from this, irrigation should be done from time to time according to season and as per requirement.
The most common factor that affects the health of the client. For the prevention of diseases in the kitchen garden, attention should be paid to the most important aspects from the very beginning. As if treating the soil with any fungicide before sowing.
Do you Know about Protected Mini Residential Vegetable Farm?
Ahmedabad, Gujarat-based company “Vagad agro Services” develops hi-tech protected Kitchen garden to get fresh vegetables throughout the year. Protected Net Stucutre protects the plants from heavy sunlight, winds, insects, animals, heavy rainfall, etc.. and makes it possible to get fresh insect-free vegetables continuously from the kitchen garden. They also work in Decorative Home Garden, Garden Landscape Design, Decorative Plants, Trees, Shrubs. They supply top-quality garden plants and accessories. We can also give you expert advice and guidance on how to care for your plants throughout the year.
Kalpesh Pathak
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