Kitchen Gardening
This playbook is a how-to guide for setting up kitchen gardens where you can grow vegetables and herbs.
Who can use the playbook?
This playbook is intended for any individual/family who lives in an Indian city in peninsular India and wants to grow some of their food. This playbook will help you set up a small kitchen garden.
What are the benefits to stakeholders?
Clean environment – Garden space will have fresh air for healthy living, more carbon credits to the nation. Reduces carbon footprints. Encourages home composting with household wet organic matter thus the quantity of mixed waste sent out from the household gets reduced.
Physical exercise and time utilization – Good activity for elderly to spend their leisure hours, do physical activities to remain active
Emotional bonding – Bonding with plants keeps the mind fresh
Safe and functional food – Encourages eco-friendly and traditional practices and provides fresh and healthy vegetables for consumption, possibly to improve food safety, food security in the community. Cost of vegetables will be cheaper in the long run.
Facilitates green job growth – Lots of enterprises chances in Urban Foodscapes and increases economic growth of the city
Maintains biodiversity - Increase in birds and other beneficial creatures.
Reduces global warming – Gardening makes our homes cooler and also helps in lowering global warming.
Learning opportunities for children and youngsters – Children born and brought up in the cities get an opportunity to understand the concept of food and get hands-on experience of growing their own food.
Who created this playbook?
xx (Rainmatter + WELL Labs teams?)
Steps for setting up an urban kitchen garden
Step 1: Gather materials and set up a gardening space
You can set up an urban kitchen garden in 2 spaces:
A paved yard, terrace or balcony, or windowsill
An unpaved yard
Make sure you set up your garden in a space that gets ample sunlight and is accessible for you to water everyday.
Here are some materials you will need:
Planters/ grow bags/ containers. You can also recycle material such as coconut shells and used tyres, fruit crates, etc. and use them as planters. For some plants such as climbers you might have to set up trellises using rope or sticks (you can use old materials for this). Another great container to use for a rooftop garden is a small child’s wading pool.
Different plants require different container sizes.
Vegetable
Container size
Final Plant Spacing (Inches)
Light Requirement
Minimum Soil Depth (Inches)
Beans, Bush
Medium
2 to 3
Sun
6
Beets
Medium
2 to 3
Sun
6
Broccoli
Large
Single Plant
Sun
10
Carrots
Small/Medium
1
Sun
8
Cucumbers
Large
14 to 18
Sun
10
Eggplant
Large
Single plant
Sun
10
Lettuce
(any variety)
Medium
4 to 6
Partial Shade
6
Onion
Small
2 to 3
Partial Shade
8
Pepper
Large
Single Plant
Sun
8
Potato
Large
Single Plant
Sun
Start with 10” of soil in 30” deep container
Radish
Small
1
Partial Shade
4
Summer Squash
Large
Single Plant
Sun
10
Swiss Chard
Medium
4 to 6
Partial Shade
8
Tomato
Large
Medium
Single Plant
Sun
12
8
Winter Squash
(Use bush types)
Large
Single Plant
Sun
10
Safety of plastic containers: HDPE, LDPE & PP are suggested as being safe for recycling. The containers made of these are supposed to be safe with less residual effects, see below.
Gardening tools such as shovel, rake, a pair of gloves, garden scissors - get these in sizes that are suitable for the space you have.
Optional: Lay down plastic sheeting where you are going to put the containers in case of roof-top garden.
Following is the list of plant categories and the container requirements:
Herbs: They do well in window boxes or containers mixed with veggies and flowers or in their own container groupings. Try herbs like mints and oregano in hanging baskets. Explore some or all of these options: basil, chives, mints, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, summer savory, marjoram, tarragon and thyme.
Annual flowers: Those with shallow root systems will thrive best in containers. Try alyssum, coleus, geranium, impatiens, lobelia, marigold, nasturtium, pansy, petunia, salvia, snapdragon, thumbergia, verbena, zinnia, dusty miller and short types of cosmos. Dwarf varieties of sunflowers make wonderful container statements!
Bulbs: Plant spring-flowering bulbs in fall. Place containers in a cool (35-40oF) dark spot for 8 to 15 weeks. You can bury them outside under sand, ground bark or other organic material. Try crocus, daffodil, hyacinth or tulip. Summer-flowering bulbs don’t require a chilling period. Instead, if you want to keep them going after their first season, you need to provide a dry storage period. Consider caladium, calla lily, dahlia, short gladiolus, tuberous begonia.
Perennials: In warm climate, perennials in containers will require division after a few seasons. In cold climates, containers need lots of winter protection from the cold. Try aster, coral bell, coreopsis, daylily, compact delphinium, gaillardia, lavender, primrose, yarrow, etc. If you are ambitious, you might even try growing small trees (e.g. lemon) or shrubs in large containers.
Step 2: Prepare soil
Quick soil preparation :
Light soil less potting mix here (video in Hindi) using cocopeat, compost, vermiculite.
Heavy potting soil mix with compost, sand, red soil and cow dung here (video in Hindi).
Long Term soil preparation :
Amrut Mitti using Natueco method - here (blog in English)
The growing media should ideally have more compost, less soil. Otherwise, due to caking, hardened surface will not allow proper root aeration and water infiltration. A general combination will be 1 part of soil with 4 parts of compost for the majority of the crops, which can reduce the weight as well on the terrace.
Step 3: Choose your crops
Option 1
We recommend choosing from a list of seasonal crops for your region. These are easier to grow and maintain, and require minimal inputs and care.
Seed sowing calendar for South India for leafy veggies, fruits/veggies and flowers - by month
Vegetable planting calendar (Especially for Bengaluru)
Vegetable Types
Crops
Months
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Leafy vegetables
Amaranthus (dantu Soppu)
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Coriander (Dhania)
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Palak
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Fenugreek (Methi)
X
X
X
X
Indian spinach
Lettuce
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Dill
X
X
X
X
X
X
Broccoli
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Gourds
Pumpkin
X
X
X
X
Ash gourd
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Ridge gourd
X
X
X
X
X
X
Bottle gourd
X
X
X
X
X
X
ChowChow
X
X
X
Cucumber
X
X
X
X
Bitter Gourd
X
X
X
X
X
X
Little Gourd
X
X
X
X
Snakegourd
X
X
X
X
X
X
Watermelon
X
X
X
X
Tubers
Radish
X
X
X
X
X
X
Carrot
X
X
X
X
X
X
Beet root
X
X
X
X
Onion
X
X
X
X
X
X
Garlic
X
X
X
X
Ginger
X
X
X
X
X
X
Cole Crops
Cabbage
X
X
X
X
Cauliflower
X
X
X
X
Knol Khol
X
X
X
X
Bush vegetables
Tomato
X
X
X
X
X
X
Capsicum
X
X
X
X
Chillies
X
X
X
X
X
X
Lady finger/ Okra (Bhendi)
X
X
X
X
Brinjal
X
X
X
X
X
X
Legumes
French beans
X
X
X
X
X
X
Cluster beans
X
X
X
X
Cowpea
X
X
X
X
X
Peas
X
X
Winged bean
X
X
Others
Drumstick
X
X
Betel vine
X
X
Black pepper
X
X
X – Planting month
We recommend that you use companion planting as this reduces pest attacks and improves yields of both crops. You can use this Companion planting guide for veggies and herbs for India. This article also expands on the benefits of companion planting.
Here is another Crop calendar that you can use which lists ideal conditions for each crop and suggests companion plants for each crop.
Option 2
You can also plant crops you wish to even if they are not seasonal or local:
Prepare a list of the crops your family regularly consumes with their respective approximate frequencies.
Take into account the space available.
Allocate areas for each crop according to the steps above (consider companion planting if you consume both crops).
Provide special care to the non-seasonal crops - read up about their specific sunlight and water requirements and adjust accordingly.
Step 4: Acquire and sow seeds
You can acquire your crop as seed, cutting or saplings in following ways:
Buy Online - websites like Amazon, Flipkart etc.
Buy from local stores - Organic shops, plant nurseries around you (find them through Google maps/ chat with your enthusiastic neighbours/ take a stroll around the neighbourhood)
Collect from your friends/ local gardening groups if any
Sowing seeds -
To sow seeds directly - You can use your finger or tools to make small pits about an inch deep in the soil and sow your seeds/saplings directly into these.
To plant cuttings or saplings - You can keep the cuttings in a glass container in water and under sunlight. Once you see roots forming, you can sow the cutting deep enough to cover the roots and a little of the stem with soil.
Water your plants as you sow them and pack the soil in a bit over the seeds/around the stem of the sapling/cutting.
Direct Seedings:
Transplanting seedlings:
Brinjal
Broccoli
Chillies
Capsicum
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Knol Khol
Onion
Tomato
Lettuce
Amaranthus (dantu Soppu in Kannada)
Ash gourd
Lady finger/ Okra (Bhendi)
Bottle gourd
Bitter gourd
Beet root
Carrot
Cucumber
Coriander (Dhania)
Corn (Maize)
Cluster beans
Dill
French beans
Field beans (Dolichos)
Fenugreek (Methi)
Spinach (Palak)
Peas
Pumpkin
Radish
Ridge gourd
Snake gourd
From Roots / bulbs / rhizomes:
Ginger
Garlic
Onion
Potato
Sweet Potato
Turmeric
Tapioca
From stem cuttings:
Basella (Indian Spinach)
Coleus (Dodda Patre in Kannada)
Mint (Pudina)
Drumstick (Moringa)
From mature fruit:
Chayote squash / Chow-Chow/ Seemae badanaekai (Sechium edule)
Step 5: Take care of your garden’s water and nutrient needs
Once you’ve set up your kitchen garden, you need to nourish it with three key ingredients:
Sunlight - Most vegetables are “full sun plants” and require anywhere between 4-8 hours of sunlight per day. In comparison, herbs are “partial sun plants” that require much less sunlight, at 2-4 hours per day. In addition, there are also greens that require minimal sunlight to survive. More details are available here (blog in English).
Water - Water requirements are highly variable, varying between vegetables and herbs. A good rule of thumb is to actually touch the soil in your garden under different plants and water those where the soil is moist but not muddy. If any soil is particularly muddy, you might be overwatering. If the soil feels too dry, you probably need to water this plant more. Container gardens dry out very quickly and will require frequent watering. Dr. Rajendra Hegdge, one of the founders of City Garden Farmers, Bengaluru advises watering the rooftop garden everyday unless it rains. We recommend using kitchen greywater to water plants. Mulch your garden with dry leaves/straw or grass clippings/coconut husk/tree bark to conserve water, retain the moisture in soil for a longer time and not dry out as quickly. A 2 to 3 inch thick layer of mulch at the top of the containers around the plants will help achieve this.
Fertilizers and pesticides - You can buy these inputs online or in local shops. Alternatively, you can make these from easily available and affordable materials yourself (Resources on making your own fertilizers - videos and posters). You can also make your own compost at home from kitchen waste and use it as manure for your garden - look at step 7 for instructions on how to do this.
Fertilize plants as needed. It is best to follow the instructions for fertilizing that come with the plants or seeds when you purchase them. Be careful not to over-fertilize because too much fertilizer can cause plants to burn.
Nutrition profile for each crop and nutrition needs for each growth stage
There are nutrients required by most plants at various stages of growth. This is where you can find the list along with important nutrients for specific plants.
Symptoms of nutritional deficiencies
Here is a link that enlists some common symptoms that indicate some common nutrient deficiencies in crops.
Plant-protection/ pest management
Common pests of vegetables on terrace gardens:
Sucking insects
Suck plant juice, cause leaf curl and twisting, stunting and other effects
More serious as vectors of plant viruses
Examples- Aphids, thrips, leaf hoppers, scales, mites ……
Protection required
Defoliating insects
Feed on leaf lamina, cause shot holes, reduce the photosynthetic area, may not be serious
Examples - Caterpillars, leaf miners, weevils, beetles, …..
Protection not a must
Flower and fruit feeding insects
Feed and flower and fruits, more destructive as cause direct damage, however, may not be serious on terrace gardens
Examples - Pod and fruit borers, …..
Protection not a must
Plant diseases
Caused by plant pathogenic fungi, bacteria…. can be managed through suitable protective measures
Viral diseases are more destructive – destruction is the only suitable methodology once it comes
Seed borne/air borne / soil borne
Powdery mildew, leaf spots, wilt, leaf curl…..
Protection required
Here is a link describing some common pests and their control measures.
*Note - All of the above are dependent on the general climatic conditions of the region you live in. For instance, if you are living in a city like Bangalore, where the average annual rainfall is over 800 mm per year, and your balcony has access to this rainfall, then it is likely that the garden’s irrigation water requirements will be minimal or negligible during the monsoon season.
Crop Type
Shrub / Bush Vegetables - Tomato, beans, brinjal, chilli, capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower etc.
Vine Vegetables - Gourds, cucurbits etc.
Leafy Vegetables – Spinach, coriander, fenugreek (methi), dill, amaranthus, mountain spinach (chakkotha in Kannada) etc.
Root Vegetables – Radish, Carrot, beetroot etc.
Planting Medium
1:1:1:1 – Animal compost: Vermicompost: Soil: Cocopeat/leaf powder, 12” pot
1:1:1:1 – Animal
compost: Vermicompost: Soil: Cocopeat/leaf powder, 6-10 inches bed is sufficient
1:1:1:1 – Animal compost: Vermicompost: Soil: Cocopeat/leaf powder
1:1:1:1 – Animal compost: Vermicompost: Soil: Cocopeat/leaf powder (Sand if required), minimum 1 ft height bed
Plant Nutrition
Drenching with organic liquid fertilizer PhytonicPlus (5ml/l)/Panchagavya/Jivamruta (30ml/l) after one month of sowing or transplanting
Drenching with Panchagavya/ liquid fertilizer (5ml/l) after one month of sowing, once a fortnight
Drenching with Panchagavya (5ml/l) after one month of pot transfer
Plant protection
3 sprays of SasyaRakshak@ 5-10 ml/l and 2 sprays of Neem Shakti @ 5ml/l and other home remedies alternating each other upto 60-70 DAS; (days after sowing), 1-2 sprays of MycoDim (5g/l)
2 sprays of Neem Shakti @ 1ml/l up to 40 DAS (days after sowing), 2-3 sprays of SasyaRakshak@ 5ml/l after 40 DAS; 2-3 sprays of MycoDim (5g/l)
2 sprays of SasyaRakshak @5ml/l
2 sprays of Neem Shakti @ 5ml/l up to 40 DAS (days after sowing), 2 spray of SasyaRakshak@ 5ml/l after 40 DAS; 1-2 sprays of MycoDim (5g/l) after 40 DAS
Step 6: Harvest
How to tell if your veggies are ready for harvesting?
Keep a log of when you have sown your seeds for each crop.
For root vegetables, here is a list of some root (and non-root) vegetables and their days to maturity, that is how long it generally takes for your veggies to be ready for harvest after sowing. When you think they are ready, loosen the soil around one plant and check if the veggies are at a stage where you can harvest them.
For other vegetables like beans, leafy, stem and fruit vegetables, you will be able to see them growing and can harvest them when they reach maturity.
Storing vegetables
You can store vegetables from your garden the same way you store your market bought vegetables.
Save seeds
We recommend that you save the seeds from your harvested vegetables so you can plant these for the next cycles or distribute them to other gardeners in your community.
Step 7: Composting
Why compost?
Composting kitchen waste is an eco-friendly and easy way to make manure for your garden.
Ways to compost your kitchen waste:
Option 1: Home composter
You can use one of the many home composters available in the market, such as from Daily dump
Follow these simple instructions to start composting your kitchen waste
Collect kitchen waste for the day in a container; if you can let it dry out a bit
Put your waste in the composter with some coco peat/dried leaves/remix powder
Turn and mix your compost every few days
In a few weeks, sieve and harvest your compost
Here’s a video on the whole process of composting and what compost will look like at each stage
Option 2: Shared composter in your building/society
Find a composter that’s appropriate for the size of your building.
Set up a schedule for daily collection of kitchen waste from households
Set up a rotating committee that will take on composting duties on a monthly basis - they can check in on the compost, turn it, harvest it and distribute it to all gardeners in the building.
What caveats/disclaimers do we need to keep in mind?
The top seven mistakes committed by uninformed gardeners:
Planting a garden in an area that doesn’t receive sufficient sunlight: Most vegetable plants need at least 8 hours of direct sunlight every day. Therefore you need to choose an area that gets both morning and afternoon sun. If you have trees nearby, it may be a good idea to remove them or prune them back if they are blocking your garden.
Planting your crops too close together: When seeds are sown, or transplants are planted everything is small and there is a lot of open space. It is common to try to plant closer than the recommended spacing to get more output per a limited space. In fact, you may decrease your output, as plants that can’t get proper air circulation are more susceptible to disease. Additionally larger plants will grow taller than smaller plants and shade them out.
Purchasing cheap transplants: While you might save a few rupees buying transplants at a discounted rate, you are better off buying at a reputable nursery. Sick plants will struggle all season. It is best to get started on the right foot.
Not watering properly: Both over watering and under watering are a problem. If you let the plants get too wet it is a recipe for disease. If they get too dry then they will wilt. The key is frequent, consistent watering. In the beginning of the season, a light watering will do. But as the season progresses, deep watering is required to encourage deep root growth. Plants with deep roots will survive a dry spell much easier than plants with a shallow root system.
Planting varieties of vegetables or fruits that aren’t a good match for your climate: Not all vegetables and plants grow vigorously in all climates. The best way to select the varieties that will thrive in your area is to contact your local gardeners club. They will be able to assist you. Most reputable nurseries will also only sell varieties that will thrive in the local climate.
Over fertilizing: While fertilizer is a good thing, too much of it can be a bad thing. Over fertilizing will lead to foliage growth but at the same time not increase produce output. So you will have tail stringy plants that can’t support the vegetables that are growing on them. A well composted garden at the beginning of the season will surely reduce your need for fertilizers during the season.
Planting more than you can care for: If you don’t have the time to pick your vegetables, water the garden and fertilize the garden, don’t get carried away. Start small and only grow what you need. Vegetables that aren’t picked when they are ripe will rot and be a magnet for insects and diseases.
FAQs
Weight on my Terrace: It is believed that the terrace of a well built 30X40 house can sustain a distributed weight up to 40 tons; at the same time weight due to terrace gardening will not be more than 10 tons. Each square foot of an RCC can sustain a weight of 250 kg and the weight here will be very less.
Water Leakage: The leakage is more of a construction/structure issue, if the roof has not leaked during the previous rainy season, it will not leak just because you are practicing terrace garden. Waterproofing, keeping the pots just above the roof so that air movement dries the base quickly, can be adopted.
What prerequisites does implementing this playbook need?
Note that if different steps require different requisites – they probably are different playbooks!
What is this playbook applicable for?
Tags: urban, english, gardening, food, organic
Are there companies that provide services available?
Service directory for kitchen gardeners in Bangalore:
Provide training for kitchen gardening:
iNatureWatch foundation’s course on ‘Kitchen gardening for beginners’
Under the tree - mostly caters to urban customers, they do workshops around gardening in small spaces but these are temporarily on hold
CSEI’s Green cities compiled a directory of urban farms for their blog on how COVID got people to think about growing their own food
Full stack service providers for setting up gardens:
UrbanMali offers garden maintenance packages and promotes native plants - based in Bangalore
Make my garden - end to end setup service, promotes organic fertilizers- based in Bangalore
Lush n Lawns - end to end support, vendors for all stages and maintenance - promotes organic farming - based in Bangalore
The Leaf Landscape set up3 different kinds of kitchen gardens for their urban customers and provide other services like landscaping and setting up solar panels as well - based in Noida
Vagad agro service - does residential set ups of many different types for growing food and provides inputs - based in Ahmedabad
Edible routes is a marketplace and they support garden and farm set up - they have been interested in partnering with us and setting up some kitchen gardens in Bangalore in the past
Contact information for Organic Terrace Garden Materials
For Compost, Vermicompost, Cocopeat etc.:
Ready mix, enriched vermicompost - Sudha Magadi, Kengeri Satellite Town -9341316619
Quantum Leaf, Talaghattapura - Krishna Kumar - 9035274764
My Dream Garden, #4, L.P Complex, 4th Cross, 2nd C Main, OMBR Layout, Banaswadi, Bengaluru, Karnataka – 560043, Ph:7795605303
Mr. Arun, 'Red Sanders', The Heritage, Ranga Rao Road, Shankarpuram, Bengaluru-4, Tel: 080 26673409, Mob: 9448062909
Department of Horticulture-Bio Centre, (Near Meenakshi Temple) Hulimavu, Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru - 76 Tel: 080-26582784, 080-26582775
For Neem Cake, Honge Cake, Bone Meal, Seeds, Micro-nutrients:
Quantum Leaf, Talaghattapura - Krishna Kumar - 9035274764
Srinivasa Agro Corporation, Trinetra Market, 3rd Main Road, New Tharagupet, (Near Minto Hospital) City Market, Bengaluru-2, Tel: 26701823/26701167 (While buying mention you are from the BTG (gardening group) to avail discounts)
For Blue plastic carpet, UV Shade net, Composting sheet, Mulching sheet, Garden fences etc.:
Bhadra Tarpaulins, #104, Near Ravindra Kalakshetra, J C Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560002 Tel:080 22231865
Nandi Tarpaulins on JC Road and many others on the same road, In shivajinagar you will get them on central street and near Russell market.
For Growth Promoters (Phytonic Plus, Panchagavya):
BRICS LLP, JP Nagar Bengaluru, www.bricsbio.com or Amazon – Prasanna, 9742837684
Quantum Leaf, Talaghattapura - Krishna Kumar – 9035274764
For local vegetables seeds:
Quantum Leaf, Talaghattapura - Krishna Kumar – 9035274764
Usyru Foundation: Lalitha – 9900578067
Sahaja Samruddha, Mysuru - Deepal Arya, 9844025235
For compost bins, compost cultures:
Aerobic composting - Soil and Health, Kanakapura Road: Vasuki Iyengar - 9845690778
Anaerobic composting - Quantum Leaf, Talaghattapura - Krishna Kumar – 9035274764
For plant protection items:
SasyaRakshak, NeemShakti: BRICS LLP, JP Nagar Bengaluru, www.bricsbio.com or Amazon – Prasanna, 9742837684
For automatic watering microchip with drip irrigation for pots:
Mr.Ashok Ahuja, Tech Maali, Ph:9886350909
For Setting up terrace gardens:
Quantum Leaf, Talaghattapura - Krishna Kumar – 9035274764 For coir pots/containers/
My Dream Garden, #4, L.P Complex, 4th Cross, 2nd C Main, OMBR Layout, Banaswadi, Bengaluru, Karnataka – 560043, Ph:7795605303
For information and queries/interaction:
Garden City Farmers – rajendranhegde@gmail.com
AME Foundation – 080-26699512/522, admin@amefound.org
Facebook – Organic Terrace Gardening/Oota from your Thota/Biological Research Innovation Centre and Solutions LLP
S. Laxminarayan- laxminarayan@gmail.com, 9886396488
Last updated