LESSON 4014 Mon 28 Jun 2021
Swim Mindfully
Propagate growing vegan and dwarf fruit bearing trees in homes and spread all over the world like Samrat Ashoka did
8800662528 Registration to be part of largest Kushinara NIBBĀNA reclining Awakened One with Awareness Universe for Welfare, Happiness and Peace for all Societies by 3-12-2021 and for them to attain Eternal Bliss as their Final Goal
As per the report by CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) COVID-19 does not spread through water. In fact, the report clearly states that chlorine water is one of the best disinfectants. We have explained the same to the CM and the health minister in our appeal,” he added.
According to the University of Singapore survey/review based on 131 countries. From June 18, world will be 100% free and happy from December 8th. Their predictions about Italy and Spain fit exactly.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:04 AM]
https://youtu.be/FPtZK7jIyDw
free online step by step guide to grow nutritious vegetables and fruits in pots to practice mindful swimming with pictures and videos
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:16 AM]
http://organicterrace.in/blog/learn-to-grow-your-own-organic-food/
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:18 AM]
Learn to Grow Your Own Fresh Organic Food
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Email
Share to Pinterest
Share to More
16
Share to WhatsApp
Long time back when I started this blog I had never imagined that I would be writing this post. I had started my blog to document and share my experience and findings on growing vegetables in container using locally available waste and recycled organic waste. But soon I started getting requests for making specific posts related to organic terrace gardening. While I kept sharing my finding I also started to make posts on readers’ requests. And thus this blog grew into a learning resource for people who wanted to learn to grow organic vegetables in a sustainable manner.
But it had grown in an unplanned and unorganized manner. And that led me to write my book ‘Organic Urban Farming, The Indian Way’, which is a complete and crisp guide for growing your own food at home. But there are a lot of people who are visual learners and do not read books. Hence I have created an online video course titled ‘Organic Container Gardening, The Indian Way’ for all kind of learners to easily lean container gardening.
If you ever wanted to learn how to create you own food garden that is organic and sustainable, you have three options to choose from now. You can learn directly from this blog if you are looking for anything specific. And if you want to learn in a holistic manner about organic container gardening, you can choose between book and video course.
Choose the learning method that suits you and sow the seeds of a healthy, content and joyful life.
Related Posts:
1 Growing These Four Herbs in Your Garden is Super Easy
2 Terrace Gardening Workshop Announcement
Author
Prabal
Posted on
June 21, 2020
Categories
How of Terrace Gardening, Planting Guide, Workshop and Training
Tags
Benefits of Organic Terrace Gardening, Organic Terrace Gardening, organic urban farming training, urban farming book, Urban Farming Course, urban farming training, urban farming workshop
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:18 AM]
Learn to Grow Your Own Fresh Organic Food
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Email
Share to Pinterest
Share to More
16
Share to WhatsApp
Long time back when I started this blog I had never imagined that I would be writing this post. I had started my blog to document and share my experience and findings on growing vegetables in container using locally available waste and recycled organic waste. But soon I started getting requests for making specific posts related to organic terrace gardening. While I kept sharing my finding I also started to make posts on readers’ requests. And thus this blog grew into a learning resource for people who wanted to learn to grow organic vegetables in a sustainable manner.
But it had grown in an unplanned and unorganized manner. And that led me to write my book ‘Organic Urban Farming, The Indian Way’, which is a complete and crisp guide for growing your own food at home. But there are a lot of people who are visual learners and do not read books. Hence I have created an online video course titled ‘Organic Container Gardening, The Indian Way’ for all kind of learners to easily lean container gardening.
If you ever wanted to learn how to create you own food garden that is organic and sustainable, you have three options to choose from now. You can learn directly from this blog if you are looking for anything specific. And if you want to learn in a holistic manner about organic container gardening, you can choose between book and video course.
Choose the learning method that suits you and sow the seeds of a healthy, content and joyful life.
Related Posts:
1 Growing These Four Herbs in Your Garden is Super Easy
2 Terrace Gardening Workshop Announcement
Author
Prabal
Posted on
June 21, 2020
Categories
How of Terrace Gardening, Planting Guide, Workshop and Training
Tags
Benefits of Organic Terrace Gardening, Organic Terrace Gardening, organic urban farming training, urban farming book, Urban Farming Course, urban farming training, urban farming workshop
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:21 AM]
How to Preserve Tomatoes in The Most Delicious Way
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Email
Share to Pinterest
Share to More
14
Share to WhatsApp
Tomato is one plant which never disappoints in terms of produce, if basics are done right. In our organic terrace garden tomato is in fact one of the most highly producing plants (here is my earlier post on how to grow tomatoes). Generally we grow around eight to ten regular tomato and four to five cherry tomato plants every winter and we have never had to buy tomatoes from the market. In fact there is a lot of surplus and even after sharing some of it with our neighbors we are still left with lots and lots of fresh and juicy tomatoes. And that is when my sister Smita Mallick who is a budding chef and food blogger comes to rescue. She preserves the tomatoes in various way which makes them even more delicious and I really mean it. She has been kind enough to write the following post on How to Preserve Tomatoes.
Smita Mallick
Though tomato is grown only in winter, we have been enjoying the taste of our own home grown produce throughout the year because of her preserves. I am sure this post will enable you to do the same. Please don’t forget to follow Smita at Instagram and let her know whether you liked the post or not.
Smita Mallick’s Post Starts Here. All images in this post are © Smita Mallick.
There are multiple ways of how to preserve tomatoes for a longer time. The easiest way is to store them is to freeze them in a zip pouch after blanching and taking out skin and seeds. Cherry tomatoes can be directly frozen and stored in a zip pouch. In this post however I am going to show you two step by step methods of preserving tomatoes which do involve a little effort. But in these ways tomatoes can be stored up to a year and also makes the tomatoes even tastier. The first preservation method is making tomato paste and the second one is to sun dry the tomatoes.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:23 AM]
How to Make Sun Dried Tomatoes at Home
Tomatoes need to be de-seeded before drying
For this recipe you can use any type of tomatoes. Working with cherry tomatoes for this recipe can be a little tiresome as each tomato needs to be de-seeded by hand. Hence you can choose to use regular tomatoes for this recipe. Sun dried tomatoes can be used directly in pasta and other dishes. To use them in salads you need to soak them in warm water for 3 to 4 minutes before use. You need now throw away the seeds. They can be stored for the next season.
Ingredients
1 Fresh Tomatoes – 1 kg
2 Olive oil – 2 tbsp
3 Dried mixed herbs – 1 tbsp
4 Salt to taste
Process
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:25 AM]
Process
Arrange the tomatoes skin side down
1 Wash the tomatoes and pat dry with kitchen towel.
2 Cut them into two halves and take out all the seeds and the juice.
3 Add dried mix Italian herb, salt and olive oil to the tomatoes and mix well.
4 Grease any plate or tray with olive oil and put the tomatoes skin side down.
5 Arrange the tomatoes such that each individual piece is separated. This way all pieces will get access to sunlight.
6 Sun dry it for 4 to 5 days or till the moisture evaporates. Sun rays not only help evaporate the moisture, they also help in killing bacteria.
7 Store the sun dried tomatoes in an air tight jar and keep it in refrigerator.
8 These can be stored up to a year
Sun dried Tomatoes
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:27 AM]
How to Make Tomato Paste at Home
Cut Tomatoes into halves
For this recipe you can use any kind of tomatoes. Tomatoes are not de-seeded individually; hence cherry tomatoes can also be used without much fuss. Tomato paste is typically used in stews, soups, pilaf, pasta etc. The flavors are concentrated and hence just one spoons can change the flavor profile of your dish completely; in a good way of course.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:27 AM]
Ingredients
Arrange tomatoes skin side down in the baking tray
1 Fresh tomatoes – 1 kg
2 Dried Italian Herbs – 1 tbps
3 Vinegar – 1 tsp
4 Olive Oil – 1 tsp for baking and 3 tbsp for cooking
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:28 AM]
Process
1
2 Strain the seeds and skin out
Wash the tomatoes and pat dry with kitchen towel. Cut them into two halves.
3 Add dried Italian herb mix and drizzle olive oil. Don’t add much Olive oil; it is just to coat the herbs.
4 Grease baking tray with olive oil and arrange the tomatoes skin side down. You can add some fresh herbs (optional) at this point. Here we added some fresh Italian basil from our organic terrace garden.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:29 AM]
1 Add more herbs before reducing the paste
2 Bake the tomatoes for 30 to 40 mins on 180-200 degree centigrade and then take out the tomatoes from the oven and cool.
3 Blend the tomatoes using a food processor or blender. Make sure that you do not add any water to it.
4 Strain the tomato paste using a strainer and put the pureed tomato in a deep pan with a thick base. Add some more dried herbs at this point if you need more flavor.
5 Add vinegar to the tomato paste at this point.
6 Cook it in a low-med heat till about 90% of the water evaporates.Keep
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:30 AM]
1 Keep stirring the tomato paste to avoid burning
stirring in between so that the paste does not burn at the bottom.
2 Add olive (3tbsp) oil to it. Cook for another 10 min in a low heat while stirring.
3 Switch of the flame, when the oil separates from the paste.
4 Let it cool. Tomato paste is now ready to be stored.
5 Transfer to an air tight glass jar and label the jar with date.
6 Store it in refrigerator. You can store it for a year.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:35 AM]
Ready to harvest coriander
After coriander seeds have germinated all you need to do is to water them as needed. You can water with Amrut Jal every 10-15 days for better growth of the plant; but its not absolutely necessary. To harvest you can cut the mature stalks and leave the rest of the plant in place. When coriander plant starts flowering or a little before it you can harvest the whole plant. All parts including the roots can be used in cooking.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:36 AM]
How to Grow Mint in Container
Mint growing in a six inch container
Of all the herbs mentioned in this blog, mint is probably the easiest to grow. Though seeds are available in the market you don’t really need them. Just take a few mature stalk from a mint plant, remove the leaves except 2-4 top leaves and bury the lower part of the stalk in your pot. Water to make the soil moist and in about 10-12 days the stalk would have taken roots. Yes it is as simple as that.
Mint grows like a weed. You’ll see mint spreading everywhere in your pot even from a single stalk. In about 30-40 days after your plant has taken root you can start harvesting. To harvest just nip the mature stalks at the bottom. You can use the leaves and stalks in salads, soups, tea and other beverages
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:37 AM]
How to Grow Basil in Container
Basil can be started in seed trays
Basil has become a much sought after herb now a days. Stores are stocking it up in their shelves, but it is expensive and also not fresh most of the time. Ironically what most people are not aware is that it can be easily grown at home even by a five year old kid. All you need is good quality seeds which are available in most online stores.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:39 AM]
How to Grow Dill in Container
Two dill plants planted in a ten liter pot
Dill is not as popular as other three herbs I have listed in this post, but once you get used to its subtle flavor, you just cant do without it. Dill belongs to the carrot family and is grown from seeds and just like basil you can choose to grow it directly in the soil or start it indoors in a seed tray depending on the temperature. Dill can take a long time to germinate; so you need to be patient.
In case you have started the seeds in a seed tray, transfer it to a container after 10-15 days after germination. Dill grows well in a ten liter container, but anything around 7 liter will also work out fine. You can even plant two plants in a ten liter pot. In 40-50 days after germination you can start harvesting the leaves. The stems and leaves are edible parts of the plant. Even the flower is eaten and is often used as decorative garnish. The root is eaten too, though we have never used it in cooking yet.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:51 AM]
Garden Yoga by Vinita Mitra
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:52 AM]
Containers lined up
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:53 AM]
Seed Sowing in Progress
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:54 AM]
Kids receiving certificates
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:55 AM]
When kids talk everyone listens
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:55 AM]
Green Ninja Group Pic
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:58 AM]
http://organicterrace.in/blog/organic-farming-for-mitigating-climate-change/
Organic Farming for Mitigating Climate Change
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Email
Share to Pinterest
Share to More
12
Share to WhatsApp
Thanks to Greta Thunberg, people around the world have been woken up to climate change crisis. Some critics have already termed it as just a passing fad and some have also harshly criticized the demands of climate strike group as lop sided and even French media has warned that her radical ways could end up depressing a generation. Despite the criticism, we can not ignore the passion and effort of a young 16 year old, which for sure has brought about a much needed disruption in the collective slumber of the world.
Along with climate activists there has also been the rise of climate change deniers. In fact the deniers claim that the earth is actually in the middle of a cooling period. Though it is suspected that these groups are backed by fossil fuel companies to spread misinformation based on fringe science, the climate change data is also not without it share of suspicion. There are claims cthat the Global Warming data has actually been faked by NASA to aid politically vested interests. Such contradictory reports can be very confusing and its very difficult to really understand the truth. But we can always look around and see how things have changed around us. We need also to understand both Global Warming/Cooling and Climate Change independently even though they are linked.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:59 AM]
Devastation caused by Cyclonic Storm Fani in May 2019
Climate Change can be defined as unexpected and unpredictable change in weather pattern. It can be either in the direction of cooling or warming. Agriculture, economy, cultures and societies are dependent very heavily on predictability of climatic conditions. When weather pattern is disrupted on a continuous basis it leads to break down of societies and civilization irrespective of whether we are cooling or warming. From the data of past few years it can be seen that there has been unexpected changes in climatic conditions and weather stability has been an issue. Closer home monsoons have become irregular. The agricultural system of India is largely dependent on the predictability of monsoons. But with errant maze of downpours and droughts the agrarian crisis has gone from bad to worse in the last decade. Sea level rise has inundated villages in the coastline and at few places entire village has been abandoned. There has been unprecedented rise in temperature even in what are supposed to be cooler months. Cyclonic storms have become very common and stronger. Ground and surface water availability has become a big issue. Our oceans are becoming poisonous and ecosystems around us are failing. All these facts tell us that there is a definite change in weather cycle and also rise in over all temperature. Greenhouse gasses and deforestation have been found to be a major cause of these changes. It really does not matter what different groups are saying about the temperature of the earth; climate is surely changing and we need to be concerned about it.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 2:00 AM]
Agriculture and Climate Change
GHG Emission per Economic Sector (Source EPA-IPCC-2014)
The demands of the climate strike group focus on reducing emission in transport and electricity production sectors and rightly so. But there is little focus on another significant contributor to global greenhouse gasses which is the Agriculture sector. According to IPCC data in 2014 Agriculture is a close second to Electricity and heat production sector in effecting climate change (Some latest statistics also suggest that GHG emission from agricultural sector is now at 29% as opposed to 24% according to 2010 data) . To some it may come as a shock; after all we are growing plants in farming and how can that contribute to climate change! It sounds so counter intuitive. But the fact is that modern industrial agriculture is one of the biggest culprits of increasing global green house gasses. And this is how it happens.
1 According to a 50 year long study by university of Illinois carbon loss from soil is accelerated when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is used. Average carbon loss in fields where synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied is 10,000 kg per hectare which is 36,700 kg of CO2 per hectare.
2 Intensive industrial agriculture practices such as tilling, mono cropping and removing crop residue expose the carbon soil to oxygen which combines with the carbon to become atmospheric carbon dioxide. In fact it is estimated that some 25-40% of the excess carbon in air is due to destruction of soil organic matter.
3 Intensive agriculture practices are used for growing animal feed and cash crops. About 90% of the soy and 50% of the grain of the world is actually used as animal feed to grow meat and dairy. In addition industrial animal husbandry by itself it a huge contributor of green house gasses especially methane.
4 Forests are being destroyed for agriculture. About half of forest land in the world has been converted into croplands and pastures. The cooling effect caused by moisture transpired from plants and trees is hence gone. This causes compounded warming along with the greenhouse effect.
5 Heavy usage of fossil fuels in industrial farming causes further GHG emission.
6 Last but not the least, the carbon footprint of making and transporting chemical fertilizers and pesticides also contributes to the over all role of organic farming for mitigating climate change.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 2:02 AM]
Soil Carbon and the Carbon Cycle
Agricultural Productivity Impact of Climate Change (Source-UNCTAD-2013)
The graphics here released by United Nations show the predicted agricultural productivity loss due to climate change. But we now know that modern agriculture is not just an innocent victim of climate change, but is a major contributor to it too. But unlike other sectors Agriculture also has the ability to become a solution to mitigate climate change. According to FAO (Food and Agriculture organization of the UN) – “Agriculture not only suffers from the effect of climate change, it is also responsible for 14% of greenhouse gas emission. But agriculture has the potential to be an important part of the solution through mitigation – reducing and/or removing a large part of global emissions.” To understand this we need to understand how carbon is stored in the soil by nature.
Plants pull out carbon dioxide from atmosphere and then convert the carbon to stems leaves etc. They do give some of the carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere through respiration, but it is smaller comparable to what they absorb from the atmosphere. When plants die they decompose and turn into soil carbon. Some amount of carbon dioxide is also released during the decomposition process and microbes break down plant matter into their food. When this decomposed plant matter stabilizes as humus (well decomposed organic matter) it stays in the soil for hundreds of years. I guess now we are beginning to see how soil can become a good sink for atmospheric carbon.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 2:03 AM]
Soil is the key to climate change mitigation
Currently soil stores more than three times the amount of carbon in atmosphere. But there has been a significant loss in soil carbon in post industrial era. Soil have lost 50-70% of their carbon according to studies. But that also tells us that there is a potential of removing atmospheric carbon and returning the lost carbon back to soil and thus help fight climate change. The process of returning carbon to soil is known as carbon sequestration of soil and according to a study in 2017 it was found that global croplands can store up to 1.85 giga tonnes of carbon per year. This process could continue upto 40 years till soil becomes saturated. According to an GRAIN (NFO) soil organic matter could be restored to pre-industrial cultivation era in roughly 50 years offsetting approx 30% of current global GHG emission. It is these numbers of soil carbon sequestration which makes organic agriculture a front line candidate for mitigating climate change.
Organic Agriculture for Mitigation of Climate Change
Organic agriculture most of the time is referred to as replacing chemical inputs with natural ones in the current industrial mode of agriculture. But that is a huge mislead. In spirit organic farming is a different practice of agriculture which runs in sync with nature and natural conditions. Though the practices vary slightly with geography as it should, in approach it remains same and is based on the core philosophy of regeneration, nutrient cycling and balance. Some of the features of organic farming are
1 Integrated approach (trees, animals and croplands) for better nutrient recycling
2 Closed loop agriculture with locally available inputs and resources
3 Soil regeneration through composting and ground covers
4 Use of locally adapted sturdy varieties and seed saving
5 Bio-diverse agriculture
6 Efficient nutrient and water management
7 Integrated with larger social and cultural systems and managed by local small scale farmers
The following sections examine how Organic Farming practices can be used to offset green house gasses and also combat climate change issues.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:35 AM]
How to Grow Coriander in Container
Young coriander plants
Coriander is grown from seeds; but you don’t need to get coriander seeds from your gardening store. Just grab some whole coriander seeds from your kitchen shelf and you are good to go. For faster germination you can soak the seeds for 12-15 hours in water or Amrut Jal. For the container you do not really need a deep one as coriander has shallow roots. And shallow container is ideal for growing coriander. Just fill the container with potting mix. Spread the seeds all over the container and top it with quarter inch of potting mix. Then water carefully so as not to disturb the seeds. To keep the soil moist check everyday and water if necessary. In a few days time you should see coriander seedlings bursting out of the soil. Sometimes. it can take up to 20 days for coriander seeds to germinate. So you need to be patient and wait if the seeds do not germinate early.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:40 AM]
End Note
Ready to harvest basil
Herbs are sold in bunches in the stores and even by your friendly neighborhood vegetable vendor. Most often than not we use a part of the bunch and rest of the bunch is left in the refrigerator to rot. Instead of buying not so fresh bunches of your favorite herb and then leaving it to rot, it is always a better idea to grow your own fresh herb at home and use them as needed. Herbs are the easiest to grow and they can be grown almost everywhere; even on your windowsill. And if you are a gardening enthusiast, but don’t know where to start, you can always start by growing herbs.
So get up your ath and grow some herbs..
Related Posts:
1 How to Grow Cluster Beans in Containers
Author
Prabal
Posted on
December 28, 2019
Categories
Herbs, How of Terrace Gardening, Planting Guide
Tags
basil, cilantro, container gardening, coriander, dill, grow herbs, herbs, herbs in pots, italian basil, mint, organic terrace, Organic Terrace Garden, pudina, Urban Farming
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:46 AM]
http://organicterrace.in/blog/green-ninja-the-urban-farming-workshop-for-kids/
Green Ninja – The Urban Farming Workshop for Kids
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Email
Share to Pinterest
Share to More
2
Share to WhatsApp
Green Ninja – The Urban Farming Workshop for Kids
Date – 24.11.2019, Venue – Aikyam
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:47 AM]
Green Ninjas fooling around
I am very excited about this post. A few days earlier I got an opportunity to conduct my very first Organic Urban Farming Workshop for kids. The workshop was organized by Aikyam located in Old Town area of Bhubaneswar. Surrounded by canopies of different trees of varying shades of green, the open terrace of Aikyam provided the ideal setting for the workshop. But having never conducted any programs for children earlier I was nowhere near being the ideal instructor. So I really had to prepare well. There were multiple iterations on the content of the workshop, but finally I knew what I had to deliver. But the biggest challenge of the workshop was not what, but how it had to be delivered.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:33 AM]
http://organicterrace.in/blog/growing-these-four-herbs-in-your-garden-is-super-easy/
Growing These Four Herbs in Your Garden is Super Easy
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Email
Share to Pinterest
Share to More
25
Share to WhatsApp
Sometime earlier I got a request from one of my readers to write a post on how to grow coriander from seeds. I was a little surprised that I had not made a post on it already. And when I checked I found out that I have not made any post on growing any herb whatsoever. Herbs are integral part of a terrace vegetable garden; not only they are easy to grow and pack loads of flavors for your food, but also because they act as pest repellents and thus help in pest management of your garden organically. So I thought of doing a post on how to grow different herbs. In this post I am going to show you how you can grow coriander, mint, basil and dill easily in your container garden.
Growing Condition for Herbs
Item
Coriander
Mint
Basil
Dill
Growing Temperature
15 – 30 °C
15 – 25 °C
10 – 25 °C
15 – 25 °C
Germination Temperature
20-22 °C
20-22 °C
20-22 °C
20-22 °C
Germination Time
5-20 days
7-15 days
3-10 days
7-15 days
Soil pH
6 to 7
6.5 to 7.5
5.5 to 6.5
5.5 to 6.5
Sunlight Need
4-8 hours per day
4-8 hours per day
6-8 hours per day
6-8 hours per day
Preferred Planting Method
Direct sowing
Direct sowing/From Cutting
Direct sowing/ Transplanting
Direct sowing/ Transplanting
Container type/size
6-8 inch deep Broad container
4-6 inch deep broad container
10 liter
10 liter
Time to Harvest from germination
25 days
40 days
40 days
40 days
Harvest Period
10-15 days
30-50 days
30-40 days
40-50 days
Edible Parts
Whole Plant
Leaves
Leaves
Leaves, stem, Flowers
Typical Pests
None observed
None observed
None observed
None observed
Typical Diseases
Leaf spot
Leaf spot, Rust
Wilting
Powdery Mildew
Best season to grow in India
November to March
November to February
November to February
November to February
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:31 AM]
Label the jar with date
I hope this post on how to preserve tomatoes will be useful for you and if you use these recipes to make sun dried tomatoes of tomato paste, don’t forget to post the pics and tag me on instagram.
Related Posts:
1 Growing These Four Herbs in Your Garden is Super Easy
Author
Prabal
Posted on
March 13, 2020
Categories
How of Terrace Gardening, Recipe, Tomato and Eggplant Family
Tags
Food Preservation, How to Preserve Tomatoes, Organic Terrace Garden, Preserving Tomatoes, Sun Dried Tomato, Sun Drying Tomatoes, Tomato Paste Recipe
Planting Cluster Beans
Cluster Bean Seeds
Cluster bean has a tap root as it is a drought tolerant crop and hence needs a container that is at least ten inches deep. Our standard potting mix works well for cluster beans. In case you are planting on the ground make sure that the soil is enriched with some organic manure. Cluster bean grows well in warm conditions. Hence March to September are good months to grow them. But they do not do well in places experiencing heavy monsoons. For such areas the best months to sow your seeds are March to May and then you can harvest up to August.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:49 AM]
Making the perfect potting mix
Finally the day of the workshop arrived and it was time for action. The workshop started with Vinita Mitra of Aikyam teaching ‘Garden Yoga’ to the kids, which was not only enjoyed, but performed extremely well by them. Next was a awareness quiz which was conducted by me. It was heartening to see the awareness level of the children who answered 9/10 questions correctly. By this time the children were already involved in the workshop. And then for the next one hour through animations, rhymes, songs and stories they learned about the features of good soil, vermicompost, neem cake and how to make a good potting mix. A short muffin and milkshake break later they did some seed identification and then it was time to get their hands dirty. All of them followed the potting mix recipe to the T, prepared their own pots, planted seeds in their containers and watered them.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:50 AM]
Getting their hands dirty
After a super energetic four hours, the workshop concluded with feedback sessions from the children and distribution of certificates. They were also handed over a plant care instruction card each. As the kids proudly carried away their own containers now filled with potting mix and seeds sown in it and waiting in anticipation for them to germinate, I felt contentment, joyful and a sense of achievement.
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan, [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:48 AM]
Container Prep demo in progress
The children for the workshop were going to be aged between 7 and 12. So I knew I had to capture their attentions right from the word go and then keep them interested for a good four hours after that. I researched a little on what cartoon characters, activities, nursery rhymes kids are familiar with and used them to set the flow of the workshop. I even wrote funny rhymes and songs that the children could sing along and learn. The measurements of the potting mix recipe also had to change so that kids could easily do it. It took me a good 7-8 days to get prepared for the workshop. Then a few iterations later I was ready with the presentation and flow of the workshop. Yet I was nervous.
http://organicterrace.in/blog/how-to-grow-cluster-beans-in-containers/
How to Grow Cluster Beans in Containers
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Email
Share to Pinterest
Share to More
23
Share to WhatsApp
Cluster beans is something that I never liked eating. It has a mild bitter taste which takes a little bit of getting used to. But when you acquire the taste it can become one of your favorites. For me the taste was never a problem. It was the texture which I disliked. The cluster beans that you typically get in market are a little hard in texture and the two sides of the bean has a string like hardness to it. Hence I never ate cluster beans though it is one of my sister’s favorite. It took me years of persuasion by my sister to grow cluster beans in our garden. After the first harvest I tried cluster beans just to check if they taste any different from the ones available in market (also because I had grown them 
). And now they are something for which my sister and I fight on the dining table. Read on to find out why and also to learn How to Grow Cluster Beans in Containers.
Quick Reference Table to Grow Cluster Beans in Containers
Item
Value
Growing Temperature
30 – 40 °C
Germination Temperature
30-35 °C Ideal
Germination Time
2-6 days
Soil pH
6.5 to 7.5
Sunlight Need
6-8 hours per day
Preferred Planting Method
Direct sowing
Container size
10 liter
Time to Harvest
60-70 days from germination
Harvest Period
50-60 days
Pollination
Self Pollinating
Typical Pests
Pod borers
Typical Diseases
Leaf spot
Best season to grow in India
March to September (In case of heavy monsoons March to June)
Growing Cluster Beans in Containers
Beautiful flowers of Cluster Bean Plant
When cluster bean young plants are approximately 4 inch tall, nip off the weaker plants keeping the strongest plant intact. As this is a warm season crop water will tend to evaporate quickly from the soil. Hence mulching becomes a must especially when you grow cluster beans in containers. Soil can have a thin layer of organic mulch at the time of sowing the seeds. When plants have grown to a size of around 6 inches the mulch can be supplemented so that it is around 4 inches thick.
Cluster bean plant need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. They do not do well in shaded areas. The daytime temperature also needs to be in the thirties for the plant to grow well. Though cluster bean plants can tolerate high temperature, they tend to giver lower yield when temperature starts going beyond 40 degrees Celsius.
Immature Cluster Bean Pods
Summers are quite windy in this part of the world. Hence young cluster bean plants need support in the form of staking. But under normal wind conditions it is not really needed. Cluster bean plants grow up to 3-5 feet when grown in containers. First sign of flowers can be seen in about 50-60 days after germination. This is the time when you must supply the plant with some organic manure like vermicompost. Till then routine irrigation with Amrut Jal, Jeevamrut or any other organic soil conditioners once every 12-15 days is enough. Cluster bean plants are not heavy eaters hence you don’t really have to supplement the soil with compost till they start flowering.
Harvesting Cluster Beans
Cluster beans like all other beans should be harvested with a pair of garden scissors. Pulling by hand damages the plant and other young pods and flowers on the branch.
Harvested Cluster Beans Grown in Containers
But unlike the more popular french beans or long beans the flower to pod maturing time for cluster beans is higher. It takes about 10-15 days for pods to mature. But I accidentally discovered that marginally immature pods taste much better than fully mature pods. When harvested 2-3 days earlier the cluster bean pods were much softer and the strings on the sides were also very soft. Ever since then cluster bean grown in our garden has become one of my favorites too. In