Lyla's Amazing kitchen garden
After a very good response from you'all on my previous post of a dear friends garden tour ,bringing to you one more veggie garden of my another lovely friend, which is just AAA aamazing !!!
Simply because you should see it ,to believe it ...she knows A-Z of gardening that's for sure and to add a proof to it you can check below images of her garden , which speak in itself.
Without wasting any more time ,Over to Lyla in her own words :-
Hello Everyone ! My name is - LYLA VIPINRAJ, currently living a peaceful life in a quite cozy suburbs of Illinois.
Gardening is nostalgic , brings back so many countless memories of childhood. One such memory is watching and helping my parents to garden. Being a good listener & helper has always helped me to pick up & learn those tips & tricks which you might not find on internet or books . I believe its never too early or late for anyone to acquire any skills. If you have been planning a garden for a while now, trust me it will be great to start small and put your thoughts & ideas into action asap.
It been amazing 9 years of trial and error kind of learning experience & each year ,there is something different and unique i get to learn , at times from my own trial and error; at times through others.
My husband have been the strongest support & all the perfection that you can see in the garden , now you know where that comes from. A helping hand with same passion, is like cherry on the cake OR may be.. icing on the cake ;)
It is very important to build & plan out a proper garden , especially if you grow a lot of veggies. Many times if there is no proper structure , the whole plant can just collapse and its very difficult to get into the harvest & if there is any rotten fruit or veggie, that is a sure call for many plant disease and bugs.
Theses days with tons of ideas available online and at store to create a perfect garden, you cant go wrong with option to choose from. Whether it is to choose from your traditional structures , like bamboo sticks, jute & plastic ties available Or go completely modern from versatile stacking ladders ,metal supports in various shapes and sizes , vertical trellis etc
We try our best to grow as many different varieties as we can & stick to mostly Indian veggies. Also make sure we utilize every bit of garden harvest & nothing go waste . . And yes, it always has to be Organic !
Sure, Friends and neighbors tops the list to enjoy our hard-work as well, sharing with others doubles our happiness, there is no better way to receive an honest encouragement through compliments.
Nothing taste as sweet & best as "Home Grown".The food taste way different & tastier ,than you cook than that of store brought. And once you self realize that, you will be unstoppable to take gardening to the next level !
Below are few veggies we try and grow :-
SNAKE GOURD, BITTER GOURD, INDIAN CUCUMBER, SALAD CUCUMBER, LONG BEANS, BUSH BEANS, KENTUCKY BEANS, CLUSTER BEANS, SWORD BEANS, OKRA, CHILLI, PEPPER, 3 VARIETY OF TOMATO, 5 VARIETY OF EGGPLANT, BEETROOT & KOVAKKA & the list keeps growing and changing.
We are not by any means call ourself expert & have done few mistakes as humans ,but yes there are these 2 veggies -
CAULIFLOWER, CABBAGE " which we tried our hands on but never got success. I am hoping one day we can proudly say we grow them as well . Fingers crossed !
You tube videos have been a boon, there is very less chance of anyone going wrong . As there are so many information on each topic , all you have to is simply google or watch videos & have an answer to any query in a jiffy .
personal favorite has been # ASIANGARDEN2TABLE . Similar to gardening , freezing your harvest yet is another topic which needs a good know how.
What you put in the ground is equally important & the first & foremost thing to be taken care of .
Good organic compost & soil we usually buy from local LANDSCAPE AND RECYCLING CENTER . And it have worked out very good for our garden.
I usually get questions from the beginners like what is the best time to water your plants in summer , i would say depending about the weather 7 & 8 PM works for us. ( due to late sunset ) Otherwise it would be early mornings OR anytime between 5-7 Pm.
During winters , some of my Indian plants like Curry Leaf plant, Kovakkaa plant & Drumsticks they get a chance to remain indoor.
* Images from my garden attached for your reference
My beautiful Snake Gourd & Chinese Long beans . And as you can see it is so important to plan and add proper structure to your garden . This way its easy to find the harvest without any hassle.
We freeze our extra harvest , as here in states due to brutal winter, the growing period is very limited and hence the main aim to start a vegetable garden is basically to eat organic for a whole year. As even in stores the fresh veggies are difficult to find.
There are so many endless recipes for these veggie , but stir fry with little coconut oil tempering & little amount spice , without too much masalas have been our favorite. And if you get bored with any one type of recipes, you know where to turn to . Thanks to you tube videos & blogs.
We usually start our seeds indoor ,much ahead of spring season , that way we have more time to enjoy the harvest.
There are biodegradable netting, nearly invisible netting , strong bamboo which can be added as frame & garden clips , foam twist tie , trellis support etc all can add to the sturdiness of any structure ,so your veggies grow properly without over crowding .
* GRAPES :-
Have beeen my absolute favorite . At first we were little hesitant to try, thinking what if ?? oh well you can see how great they do if you provide them with proper manure , compost , trellis structure and water at the right amount and at the time. And the great thing is they survive the winter .The fruits and leaves fall off , but the branches they remain & go in a kind of hibernation process.
The harvest bring so much beauty to any garden. They take around 2 years to get established & grow to get full fledged harvest . If you live in states ,you can find Grape plant (sapling) nearly all local garden centers eg :- #lowes #homedepot #Mernards #walmart & they are perennial , so you don't have to worry about it surviving in winter . They do pretty good .
And yes ! Bugs would be a issue later on, so you should be prepared with all the organic pesticides and gather as much as knowledge possible to prevent them.
*TOMATOES :- To grow tomatoes are a must, at least for my family it is. Because i tend to use them in my everyday cooking . Curry's without tomatoes, doesn't do very well. In the market there endless varieties of list of tomato that you can grow . The tomato home grown and tomatoes store brought, there is a huge difference , in terms of overall texture and taste. Grow it and you have to see it to believe it .
Freezing tomatoes are easy , simply wash and throw them in deep freezer and thaw them as and when needed OR juice them and deep freeze in small containers and thaw as needed . This way you will never waste your harvest & never run out of your organic veggies.
We pretty much use every piece of our extra space & container to grow .
* Lack of sunlight can be a bummer, when it comes to grow tomatoes, you definitely need 5-6 hrs of direct sunlight minimum .
* Over watering tomatoes, again leads to disease, so keep an note on that .
* Provide good manure.
* Tomato plant can get very tall and to grow in its full size and keep them upright ,very important to provide them with great support , like making use of stackable ladders ,so you can fix them the way you like it Or there are Sturdy cages instead .
* Give them support & set it right and no need to bother later on.
* Mulching a plant is proven to boost fruits production.
* Providing good organic fertilizer is very essential, especially if you growing in a container. But if you don't have that much time, you can buy ready mix of potting soil which includes fertilizer.
* Tomatoes can be grown from seeds or get a sapling from store.
* Pots/ containers, Raised Beds or directly in the ground anything works well.
* Don't give up if you have tried growing tomatoes and it didn't do quite well the first time.
* Try to grow in a much bigger container and do all the right things needed , hopefully it will work this time.
* WATER MELON
We love growing as many different kind of fruits and veggies as much as possible. And to your surprise watermelon grow quite beautifully. You can start simply by seeds or by saplings from garden store (the packing on them comes with all the instructions you need to grow) and give them proper nutrition what is needed and you will get to enjoy the juiciest and most sweetest watermelon you ever had.
Grow them as near to your fence or wall as much possible, so they wont take that much space of your yard .
*SWORD BEANS :-
These contain extremely high nutritional benefits & the beans are sold as dietary supplements for functioning of nervous system. These energy boosters beans are even used to make various drinks & oils and creams as well. Anti cancerous & supports bone health , along with various other benefits.
The pods are used in many recipes, including stir fry or toss it on a salad & mainly used in various Asian and African recipes.
The plant can be easily grown with seeds and often considered to be perennial, but at times depending upon plant to plant they might not survive brutal winter where it snows.
The plant if grown in a pot , can be carried easily indoor and can survive .
They can grow as a vine and turn bushy as well.
* EGG PLANT :-
There are 3 different varieties of egg plant pics attached below :-
Egg plants they grow wonderfully by themselves. We make use of 1 gallon buckets or large container available at local hardware stores and they do great in any of those. Egg plant do need strong support as they are laden with heavy, ripening fruits which are prone to toppling, breaking the steam and damaging the crop.
* These have been grown from seeds.
* I start my seeds indoor ahead of spring season & the seed packet contains the information on each seeds about how many weeks ahead they can be grown indoor.
* Always put in energy and effort to grow what you really are going to consume.
* Few herbs they have dual purpose , so even if you don't consume they can add up to your garden look or can put to some other use. But if you grow veggies, always grow what you going to consume.
Baigan Bharta , Kathirikka varuthathu /stir fry , Upperi or simply barbeque or bake with little Olive oil and salt -pepper..and so many styles different regional curries made up of eggplant can be tried.
For ANY plant, you definitely need an good organic pesticide once in 2 weeks ,to keep them away from bugs.
PURPLE LONG BRINJAL / EGG PLANT, are great for curries & stir fry. They cook in no time.
Egg plants can grow in abundance . They do great both in warm weather as well in late fall .
The whole purpose & Idea of growing, is to Feed your kids and family organic home grown food, as much as possible.
Even though you are a working person and have thoughts about how to take care of veggies and their watering ??? trust me it would hardly take 10-15 mins if you have small garden and 30 mins for bigger...
Eventually every year and every time , you keep learning something new and do better each time. Grow small to begin with .
The home grown plants also needs lots of organic manure and organic pesticide , you can teach yourself about it from different groups and pages on Fb, you tube videos on internet and also try to attend local seminars or workshops which can teach you the basic. The best would also be to catch hold of a friend who knows all of this.
The below egg plant are hardy and favorite of all .They do extremely great with maximum sunlight they receive.
I have grown them in 1 gallon bucket which are very sturdy and last longer comparatively of any other containers. If you planning to grown them , you need to drill 4-5 hole for proper drainage and don't forget to supply them with plant food once in 2 weeks and regular watering .
*CHILLIES :-
* One definitely need not be an expert to grow chillies, anybody can grow chillies and any where. Even if you have single or couple of chilly plant, you can get tons of chillies. The below picture says it all.
* You can start the plant with seeds ,grab some dry red chillies flakes OR if you have no time ,you can get plants from your local nursery.
* Chillies and Pepper they do great even at the minimum sunlight .
* Harvested chillies - > grind them into paste, store them in freezer and use it as and when required.
* You can try to grow different varieties available , as per your spice level in take.
*PEPPER:
Chillies and pepper do great even at the very end of fall season and can even thrive at the early winters.
* They are easy to grow , once you plant them ,you basically can forget them all together , except watering them .
* A good manure can double the crop and make them healthy. As per the space availability ,Peppers and chillies basically can grow anywhere , you can make use of smallest to largest container whichever is available.
* Watering in summer can be done ,once or twice a day regularly. Avoid over watering.
* In order to Save the seeds for next year, all you have to do is let few of the Harvest mature on the plant and dry completely. And this way when they are completely dry , you can pluck them and store in containers or zip locks with proper name tag.
* CHINESE LONG BEANS/ PAYAR :-
Favorite of all the asians , infact to be precise favorite of all the malayali people.
The vertical trellis structure helps to keep the plant upright as shown in the below pic.
You can look for seeds online or amazon.
Chinese Long beans grow only annually ,so everywhere one have to re start with seeds.
If you are someone who live in states, end of march would be good time to start your seeds indoor, so between summer to fall , you can enjoy maximum of your harvest.
Watering the plant should be done on regular basis, along with providing good amount manure.
Chinese long beans stir- fry have been my all time favorite.
* CUCUMBER / VELLARIKKA
Cucumber is a creeper and definitely need a some kind of support , especially if you have limited space in your garden. The fruit will be heavy as seen in the pic.
Some of health benefits of Cucumbers are :- it contains lots of water ,which helps prevent dehydration, known to help detox and get rid of toxin from the body, Rich in fiber, lowers cholesterol , improves immunity, revitalize skin, controls puffiness around the eyes, helps reduce dark circles..etc etc ..
> An annual plant, need to start with the seeds every year.
>Does not survive winter.
>Healthy & easy to grow.
>Need direct sunlight for minimum 5 hrs.
Thank you for being patient and spending sometime reading through my journey .
Would like to extend my best wishes to all the beginners and gardeners . Gardening is fun when whole family come together and do their part to take care of it & no one man show.
It will help kids to learn and know about the food they eat ,acquire the skills of gardening so to take it to next level & can also be passed on in future. And learn to respect the nature and contribute to do their part in saving the environment .
Thank you @simplelivingwithreks for this opportunity !
