A STUDY ON THE PREPARATION OF TERRACE VEGETABLE GARDEN

Reshmi Joseph

B.Ed. Student Natural Science

Mount Carmel College of Teacher Education, Kottayam

ABSTRACT
The present study is to prepare a terrace vegetable garden and to make the society aware about the
importance of preparing a vegetable garden in their homes to build a healthy nation and to avoid the
impact of the usage of chemicals and pesticides and smearing of the same on various products for
marketing to gain more profit that cause illhealth in human beings. This study also revelas that how
effective a vegetable garden is, inspite of avoiding the space limits of land that we have in our own
home land.

INTRODUCTION

Terrace garden is also called a roof garden, it is a garden in which vegetables,

fruits or flowers are grown on terraces, balconies or roofs of buildings. The
kitchen garden, a standard in every Indian household, has now shifted to the roof
due to constraints of space. These gardens can be created on almost all kinds of
buildings like residential flats, individual houses, commercial hubs, godowns and
factories. You can start with something from your kitchen shelf, that is available
and used in everyday cooking.

The tastes of home vegetables have own pleasure. It is also good for health due
to its purity. No harmful chemicals are mixed. Terrace garden is beneficial in
all aspects of life.

NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

If we buy vegetable wash liquid and once we dip the vegetables in the solution,
we can see the change of colour of the water which itself is a proof of the
quantity of pesticides used in them. Wax-coated apples, curry leaves, green
chillies and even the red chilly powder that we buy contain chemicals. Terrace
gardening is a healthy hobby, not only to keep one engaged for a couple of hours
in a week but it gives the pleasure of being in the midst of a growing garden.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

The following objectives have been formulated for the present study to:

Prepare the soil for cultivation of vegetable crops.

Select the seeds suitable for vegetable terrace garden.

Prepare the effective fertilizers for good yield.

Eradicate the pests that attacks the vegetable crops.

Provide a way to counter the health hazards caused by chemical poisoning in

vegetables.

METHODOLOGY:

Study area:

The Terrace vegetable garden was prepared and studied in a place called
Palluruthy in Ernakulam district.

Basic requirements for cultivation:

Space - The place where we keep the containers or the pots must get atleast 2-3
hours or more of direct sunlight. The weight of the container never matters,
because the average concrete slab can take huge amounts of weight. Just make
sure adequate waterproofing has been done.

Containers/ pots A container is any object like a pot in any shape/size. It can be
a pot too! Most importantly, it should be able to hold water and soil and other
ingredients in the container.

Sunlight - If our plants dont do too well under the scorching sun, then we can
consider installing a shade net, which cuts off the amount of sunlight hitting the
plants and not only the sun, even the rain too.

Water - Do not over water and do not under water. If we over water, the water
that drains out, will take away the nutrients.

Seeds used for vegetable garden in terrace:

We can grow commonly used vegetables on our terrace, including leafy
vegetables such as amaranthus (dantu, keerai), coriander (dhaniya, kothambari),
gourds like pumpkin, ash gourd (boodu kumbala), bitter gourd (hagalakai),
cucumber, little gourd (thondekai), watermelon (kallangadi hannu) and root
vegetables such as carrot, beetroot, onion, garlic, ginger and other vegetables
such as cabbage, cauliflower, capsicum, chillies, and brinjal.

METHODS ADOPTED:

preparation of the soil for cultivation:

Plants need nutrition to grow. Its not just soil. Mix the following ingredients in
certain proportions and the potting media, is ready.

Cocopeat: Cocopeat from coconut husks has absolutely no nutrition in it, but has
excellent water retention capacity. It is added so that the container retains more
moisture for the plants and it reduces the weight on the terrace.

Red soil: Get the red soil from the nearest nursery.

Cow dung: Use dried cow dung directly.

Goat dung also can be used as it is rich in nutrients. But use with caution and
guidance.

Neem oil/ powder/ cake: Neem oil, combined with water, is used to protect plants
from insects. After the oil is extracted from the seeds, the leftover is the cake.
This cake is later converted into a powder form. Use the powder while preparing
the potting mix, as it helps to avoid root based infections.

Sand: The sand used in construction, also referred to as river sand, sieved to get
rid of larger pieces. Adding sand prevents the potting mix from becoming too
clayey, and helps the mix to be well drained.

Make sure the container has drainage at the bottom, as it is very important that
there is no water stagnation.

Preparation of seeds for cultivation:

Germination: Invest in a seeding tray. When you see about 5 leaves, you can
differentiate between the first set of leaves and the true leaves. Once you get
about 5-6 true leaves, its time to transplant.
Sapling: When you are transplanting from the seedling tray to the final
destination container, make sure you are not doing it under direct sun.

Insect/pest management:

First use a jet spray of water and get rid of all the insects from the plant. Use our
fingers if needed. Usually the bottle spray is not useful here. Instead use the
water hose directly. Give the plant a complete wash. Wait for 1-2 days and see if
they come back. Give a second wash if necessary.

Chilly/garlic/ginger: Many folks make a paste of either one or a combination of

chilly/garlic/ginger, dilute it with water and spray them on the plants. Crush 1
chilly and 1 garlic pod, mix it with 100 ml water, and leave it over night. Filter out
the water, then mix this in about 5 liters of water and spray only on one plant or
one portion of the plant. Wait for a day or two. See if it has any bad affects.
Change the proportions accordingly.

ANALYSIS AND INTREPRETATION OF DATA

Terrace garden is new trend for having surrounded by nature. Over use of
chemicals and pesticides created many health problems in humans. Eg: cancer,
respiratory diseases, allergies, genetic disorders as in case of Endosulfan. These
minds paves the idea of terrace vegetable garden which is now common in most
parts of the world.

The vegetables which I yielded from my terrace garden are following:

Ladies Bottle Bitter Ridge

Gourd Gourd
 Tomato Long bean
Amaranthus

From my garden I was able to enjoy the fresh beauty and taste of the nature. By having our
own kitchen garden we need not to worry about our health to a great extent. The initial work
or input needs a little hardwork.

CONCLUSION

Terrace Garden helps the people to utilize terraces to set up an organic vegetable garden, so
they can make use of under-used spaces and ample sunlight to create diverse and amazingly
productive vegetable gardens.

Farming daily required vegetable in our garden is the best way to achieve food security.
Healthy food, mental relaxation, physical fitness, satisfaction in our heart etc are its by
products. Above all the children will develop to love the plants and the terrace gardens and
kitchen gardens provide them a practical field to learn their biology lessons.

REFERENCES

www.indiawaterportal.org
Cdmconstruction.wordpress.com
Books.google.co.in (Jonathan Buckley, Sarah Raven-2013)
www.cityfarmer.info
 Muralistterracegarden.blogspot.com
Iasir.net/AIJRHASS papers/AIJRHASS15-348.pdf
www.ebay.com/the only 12-tools-you need to start a vegetable garden
Blog.khatti.org/green.investment-hoe-to-start-organicterrace-garden