With the rapid growth of cities and urban population around the world, there is enormous demand on urban food supply. Growing greener cities is the road ahead, says the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). To repair our ecological foundations, reduce temperatures and strengthen a city’s resilience to climate change.
Kitchen gardening is something all of us can do to make our cities greener. It’s a garden where you grow your own food— herbs, vegetables, fruits. What’s more, it gives city dwellers a chance to produce their own food—fresher, healthier—and learn in the process about local varieties. Fruits and vegetables grown in your own garden will promote health, because they will be rich in nutrients, especially phytochemicals, antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin A and folate, without the risk of adulteration and pesticides. Radish, broad leaf mustard, chilli, beans, pumpkins, mint, coriander, peas, tomatoes—your kitchen garden can be as ambitious as your imagination allows it to be. This is how you stand to gain by growing your own kitchen garden:
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1.Clean air: Your balcony, terrace or courtyard can become your green lungs amidst the dust and dirt around you. The more you plant, the more fresh air with good oxygen you get.
2.Herbs detox: Herbs are quite essential in our food which helps in detoxifying and healing properties in our body. Few herbs and plants that are easy to maintain in kitchen garden are: lemon grass, coriander, cilantro, mint, tulsi, celery, fenugreek, spinach.
3.Aesthetics matter: Plants make your home greener, more peaceful, uplift your mood and make you feel more positive.
4. Stay grounded: Modernisation uproots us from the mother earth. As the ancient sages say, our body is made of five components that includes earth, water, ether, air and fire. So it is very important to stay connected with earth.
5.Organic vegetables: Growing own fruits and vegetables can offer the opportunity to reduce the amount of pesticides that are used commercially, making them healthier
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6. Compost your waste: Plant fertilisers, made by decaying organic materials, like kitchen wastes, will help your plants grow faster, while helping you to get rid of your garbage
7.Cheap and easy: Kitchen gardens can help you grow things at home and bring down the need to buy from the market, hence, save money on food purchase.
8.Recycle and use: You can recycle vegetables in your kitchen garden. For example, you can collect your unwanted vegetables and make compost for it and use it again for compost, growing new vegetables and herbs.
10. Health friendly: It is a great way to engage the whole family in physical activity. Gardening is known to reduce levels of stress hormones.
