Veggie Delight at Lal Bagh and More in the City

Lal Bagh in Bangalore came alive with an array of colours, flowers, shops and home-grown veggies in the annual Horticultural show from August 7^th-15^th. The Garden CityFarmers and Organic Terrace Gardeners had their very own stall displaying vegetables and fruits of top urban farmers in the city. There were huge brinjals ripening to gorgeous yellow, sweet chillies making your mouth water (making you imagine hot bhajjis’s), beautiful looking squash, strawberries, Israeli oranges, onions, beetroots, and different tomato species. Fresh herbs like oregano, mint and lemongrass and healthy greens of lettuce and bhindi could be seen. 

This is the first time GCF has participated in the annual horticulture show in Bangalore and they wish to reach out to Bangloreans showing them that they grow their kitchen vegetables at home in an organic manner. Tiny labels were seen on all the veggies and fruit plants identifying each one and OTGians were found chatting about organic food and helping the public out with questions.  GCF also encourage people to join them on their facebook group start their own gardens through inspiring work and enjoy the soul-satisfying and healthy experience of growing vegetables and greens at home 

Bangalore is seeing a whole environmental oriented lot who encourage and educate people about the benefits of fresh veggies, hold workshops and help beginners starting out on their green patch. GCF is an NGO which educates people about kitchen gardening and urges urban folk to grow organic gardens in their home spaces which are chemically-free and also reduce the food miles of what they eat.  

Their upcoming event ‘Oota from your Thota’ (food from your garden) is going to be held on the 25^th of August where most of the city's farmers and veggie lovers are going to be along with loads of stalls selling produce, gardening equipment, compost and encouraging people to somewhere. “We hope that people see that growing is an easy and an engaging hobby and resources are ready if they wish to start” said Laxminarayan a top terrace gardener from GCF.  

Quick lessons on growing –

You can use any container that has 6-8 inches of depth for common veggies    
 like beans, beets, lettuce, tomato, onion, chillies. Herbs will do best in window 
 boxes or plant them in between your veggies! 
 For the soil – An equal mix of vermicompost, compost, red soil and sand is ideal 
 Water your plants everyday and spend time checking them, they will return back the time and effort in the form of delicious produce!
Plant your seeds in ample sunlight – Make sure your veggies get at least 8 hours daily
Most used veggies in the city – Chillies, tomatoes, brinjals, spinach and all kinds of sopu (greens)

Veggies that tastes delicious in food:

Drumsticks in sambhar   
All sopu (greens) go well in dals
Tomatoes are best in chutneys  

Mint and lemongrass can be added to tea

For those who wish to start off you can visit The Nurserymen Cooperative Society, Lalbagh, KH Road Telephone (+91 80 26576733) and get started on your garden and join the OTG group on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OrganicTerraceGardening/  
http://gardencityfarmers.org/