Gardening

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments - Janet Kilburn Philips

General guidelines

Water the plants only if you find the top soil dry. If it is moist or wet then delay watering.

Sunlight exposure is mandatory for most plants. Read, learn and adapt based on plant needs.

Journal – Keep a notebook to keep track of your seeding charts, timelines and harvest dates.

Motivation

Though i have been trying my hands in farming for nearly two decades now, have not really managed to do even 10% what i aspired to do. The failure to do a good job in the small garden around our home in Pondicherry however doesn’t have any excuse whatsoever. It’s almost two years since my Son suggested me put my energy and focus entirely on our garden first. He explained the size is quite ideal for me to manage it entirely through my own physical effort. He also added that as i gain more experience with our garden, probably my farming practices will improve based both on my improved strength and knowledge. Despite the passage of time, i did not really act on his advice.

My friend Mr Marimuthu has also commented along the same lines on his offer of assistance to plant a lot of trees to fill the near empty garden. My standard excuse has always been that i don’t want to rush in planting trees without proper forethought.

In early June'26, hired an elderly lady farmhand to weed the garden for ₹700. Things changed for the better when my daughter started urging me to plant trees in the entire garden so there will be no place for weeds. This time however, after delaying her suggestion for over a fortnight blaming the extreme weather, finally went ahead.

Fruit trees

We bought 25 saplings from Isha Nursery↗ on 2026-06-26 at a subsidized rate of ₹10. My daughter messaged and spoke to the Villupuram Isha Nursery on the timing and availability of saplings. She also came with me all the way to choose the saplings and we returned by late noon. She also prepared the planting layout .

The total cost of the saplings was ₹340, which included two Avocado saplings which cost ₹50 each. There were 5 guava, 4 each of Lemon and Star gooseberry, 2 each of Jack fruit, nutmeg, custard apple, Indian Gooseberry and Pomegranate saplings in total. Even though i paid ₹30 for one nutmeg, one extra sapling was provided as the quality was poor.

Twelve of the saplings were planted on the same evening from 4pm to 7pm and the remaining was planted next morning between 7:30 am and 11 am. My daughter not only gave me words of encouragement and support, she also put in the physical work. She removed the soil dug by me, collected and put the coconut husk in, applied back the dug out soil, planted and watered the saplings. She also helped move around the buckets, tools and supplied nourishment during the work. Even though the planting work was tiring, both of us felt overjoyed on completing the work. She watered the plants daily until she left for her college on 2026-07-08.

Tree layout

Explanation:

• side South of the house plot along a narrow land of 3 ft*60ft
• back West of the house plot along a narrow land of 5 ft*40ft. This already had two 5 year old shenbagam trees, one year old jackfruit.
• front a small garden of size 10ft*10ft which already has some trees like banana, curry leaf, and moringa trees

The following rows are on the north side of the house with the size of around 30ft on the east, 20 ft on the west and 60 ft east-west.

• near house is around 4 ft from the house structure. The remaining area is used for underground sump in the east and sceptic tank in the west.
• lemon row originaly had a lemon tree which died during a cyclonic storm in 2024. This is around 10 ft from house. A coconut tries lies on the eastern most corner.
• Jack row had a jackfruit planted last year in the middle of the garden with two mango trees on it’s sides and a flowering plant at the western corner.
• near compound is the row right along the northern compound wall - may be 2 feat from the compound. There are also 3 coconut trees around 5ft this compound along with banana trees on the eastern end.

Monthly update

2026-07-26

All the saplings are still alive. Most of the saplings are thriving i.e grown a lot of leaf except the following:

New leaf has appeared only today in both nutmeg plants.

Container gardening

Some of the notes in this section are from a 5 page booklet Home Gardening 101 – For Beginners from Kalpavriksha Farm’s↗ site.

Containers

The size is determined by the plant. “Grow Bags”, “Pots”, “Planters” are the terms to search for them.

Ensure there are drain holes at the bottom of your containers to drain any excess water without rotting the roots.

Soil mix

All the following must be in equal proportion

• red soil
• manure (cow dung manure)
• compost/vermicompost
• coco peat

To the above, add 2-3 tsp of neem powder / neem cake powder

Mix all the above together and fill the pots.

Why coco peat

• Adds humus content to keep the soil mix well aerated and drained
• Compared to soil, coco peat is very light weight and that takes care of the load-bearing issue

Seeds

Always start with crops that are seasonal and native because they grow well without much resistance. Please DO NOT try to grow exotic varieties to start with as it’s a sure shot way to failure.

List of plants

The vegetables suggested below are common, productive plants that are relatively easy to grow. Change according to your region, season, availability etc.

• Tomatoes
• Chillies
• Brinjal (Eggplant)
• Lady’s Finger (Okra)
• Radish / Carrot
• Leafy greens
• Bean varieties
• Gourds (if in season)
• Herbs – Mint, Coriander/cilantro, Curry leaves, Basil
• Marigolds to discourage pests and add some color! You could add Tulsi, garlic etc as biological pest control methods too.

Composting

This section is based on 5 page Home Composting 101 guide from Kalpavriksha Farm’s↗ site.

Container composting

Materials required:

• a perforated container.
• Brown matter (for carbon):Dried leaves, cardboard pieces, saw dust, coco peat, dry soil, sand, peanut shells, rice husk etc.
• Green matter(for nitrogen):Fresh vegetable peels and fruit peels (Avoid strong acidic peels like citrus, lemon, garlic and ginger)

Do’s and Dont’s

• Peels must be chopped evenly before adding it to the compost. This helps quicken the process of breakdown of the organic matter.
• Eggshells can be added by crushing it before adding them to the compost.
• Coffee grounds, tea powder works well with composting too.
• Never add cooked food, dairy products, meat and bones.
• One may add white papers but not printed papers or heavily coated paper as they may contain lead.
• Adding ash to compost enrich the quality of the compost, maintains alkalinity.
• Charcoal from Ironing shops acts like sponge absorbing extra moisture also has the ability to store nutrients and release them slowly when added to the soil.
• Sprinkling sour buttermilk improves and increases the microbial thus increases the rate of composting.

Procedure

• Put a layer of carbon/brown matter (twigs, coconut fibers etc.) to form the bottom most layer of the perforated container.
• To the wet kitchen waste (that is drained of all excess water), add half its volume of ‘browns’. Mix well and make sure that the resulting matter is moist but not soggy.
• Add this to the container and cover with thin layer of browns and close the lid. This layer prevents flies and other insects from visiting the pile.
• Repeat the previous two steps every time kitchen waste is added.
• Maintain the moisture level of the compost and do check it every day.
• Stir the pile as often as you can to allow a lot of air.

It might take 2 to 3 months for the compost to get ready. When it is fully ready, one can see black powdery matter. Sieve the contents and add the big pieces that need to break down further to the next batch of waste for composting.

Container rotation

• When the first container gets full, start in a new container and follow the same procedure.
• Keep stirring the compost pile in the first container throughout the process. The pile will become hot in its initial phase.
• By the time the second container becomes full, it is possible that the first pile cools down and the contents look dark and half composted.
• The partly composted matter can be transferred into a jute sack/rice sack for further composting making the container available for a fresh batch.
• If there are more containers to spare, keep using newer ones to start the process and retain the compost in the bin until all of it is completely done.

Pit composting

• Dig a pit or a trench in the corner of the garden.
• Start dumping kitchen waste (veg scraps, fruit peels etc) , garden waste (dried leaves, twigs, grass cuttings), animal waste (cow dung, cow urine etc)
• Sprinkle enough garden soil to cover the waste.
• Repeat previous two steps and keep repeating the process till the pit is full.
• Sprinkle a little water to keep the pile moist aiding the microbes to work their magic.
• Gently stir the pile periodically to aerate.

Basically dump garden waste, sprinkle soil and repeat. Sprinkle water if needed and stir the pile periodically.

Green wall

I have been thinking of creating a green wall structure in our first floor balcony mainly to prevent entry of dust. Earlier i almost decided on Shankhupushpam . However decided to begin with Avarai due to seed availability.