Kitchen69: My Garden

My garden

My early years were spent in Calcutta, which can easily be described as a concrete jungle, but luckily for me my mum grew various ornamental plants on our roof top garden - she even had a little glass greenhouse. During one of my school breaks she put some potato tubers in a large pot, and I spent many afternoons watching the plants grow and mature. I still remember the excitement I felt, when she finally harvested the potatoes - she uprooted the plant and underneath were a bunch of the most beautiful potatoes I had ever seen. I think that’s when my love for growing my own produce was born and it encompasses everything from growing herbs, vegetables and fruits. Now that I have the luxury of a backyard, I endeavour to utilise every inch of available space to grow my own produce. Over the past few years, I have stuck to a few stables like tomatoes, egg plants, potatoes etc. but have also experimented with growing garlic, ginger, turmeric, fenugreek and mustard greens… In a nut shell if I can lay my hands on the seeds or seedlings, I definitely try it out for a season or two. In fact, I have also grown vegetables like zucchini and pumpkins, which I detested as a child and also avoided as an adult. I felt that if I grew them myself I would be more inclined to eat them and to be honest it does work. You do not want to waste anything that you grow and I think this is a fantastic way to introduce vegetables to your child’s diet - involve them in the growing and cooking process and watch them eat their vegetables with pride and joy.

I am no horticulturist, but I guess that is the very point that I am trying to make, anyone with a little effort and research can have a bountiful garden, and my aim is to share my tips and tricks with you and encourage as many people as I can to grow some produce. Growing your own is not only better for the environment and the hip pocket but organically grown, fresh produce is also packed full of flavour.

Tomato