A space to cherish
Abundant with flowers and veggies, Vipul Sanghavi's terrace garden in Sion is a luscious sight, says Shilpa Sachdev
In a span of only three months, Sion resident Vipul Sanghavi has managed to grow a sunflower right on his own terrace. It is indeed thrilling to see the mustard colour floral beauty swaying in the Mumbai air. Not just flowers; Vipul's terrace garden is also blooming with a variety of vegetables, which must have halved his grocery bills already. Be it wheat, beet root, green onions, coriander, bajra, methi, pudina or palak, there is nothing you cannot find. But a lot of hard work has gone behind to make this terrace farm a reality.
It all began in October 2010, when Vipul heard about a group of people assembling at the Maharashtra Nature Park every week to grow their own food. Since the park was close to where he lived, Vipul one day decided to pay a visit to see the work done by the members of Urban Leaves. The interaction continued for a long time as Vipul began regularly volunteering with the group for their Sunday activity. After gaining a thorough hands-on experience over some months, Vipul began harbouring a desire of creating his own terrace garden and with the help of friends at Urban Leaves, the process was slowly put into action.
After putting his terrace through a serious waterproofing check, Vipul started with making the mitti in summers last year. He says, "Amrut Mitti is the most important part of the entire activity and it takes a good three months for it to be ready. Once it is ready, the mitti can last up to a good 50 years."
Preparing the mitti involves activities like soaking, followed with heap making, first composting, greening, and finally second composting. Vipul explains, "I began with collecting around 1200 bags of dry leaves from all over and soaked it in amrut jal, which is made of cow urine and organic jaggery diluted with water. The next step was to create the beds for greening the soil to get used to all types of seeds. This is followed with composting to make the soil rich in nutrients. It is a 100-day cycle after which the Amrut Mitti is finally ready to use."
Due to the monsoons, Vipul could not start sowing seeds and had to wait until the winters to start working on his terrace farm. "Till December 2011, the entire terrace was flat. But in just three months, the mitti has given magical results." One simply has to agree because the terrace is flourishing with all kinds of flowers and vegetables.
Not just that, Vipul's garden has an interesting flow of design too, which has enhanced the working of the garden. Vipul shares, "While the mitti was getting ready, the volunteers at Urban Leaves sat with me to create a flowchart of the design of my urban garden. It is believed that the garden should have more curves than straight lines as this helps to generate the right environment for the plants to grow by fostering the growth of the organisms. It also facilitates a proper walkway to water the plants at ease. It also spaces out the
garden very well so in the broader sections you can have more variety and the narrow portions can contain single plants. The movement of sun is an equally important factor in the design as the arrangement of the plants to be sown is made accordingly."
Mulching is another step not to be missed, advises Vipul. "Plants require the right amount of moisture and sunlight. Mulching helps the soil in retaining the desired moisture and allows a suitable environment for the organisms to grow."
Vipul has already harvested cauliflower, tomatoes and spinach and also planted seeds for the next season. He says, "Every plant has its own season and cycle. However, it is advisable to also grow flowers along with fruits and vegetables to enhance the bio-diversity so that all types of organisms are attracted."
Vipul’s consistent efforts have finally paid off in the form of a blooming terrace garden and as it leaves you enchanted, it also inspires you to create your own urban farm space.
- published in Times Property on August 16, 2012
Abundant with flowers and veggies, Vipul Sanghavi's terrace garden in Sion is a luscious sight, says Shilpa Sachdev
In a span of only three months, Sion resident Vipul Sanghavi has managed to grow a sunflower right on his own terrace. It is indeed thrilling to see the mustard colour floral beauty swaying in the Mumbai air. Not just flowers; Vipul's terrace garden is also blooming with a variety of vegetables, which must have halved his grocery bills already. Be it wheat, beet root, green onions, coriander, bajra, methi, pudina or palak, there is nothing you cannot find. But a lot of hard work has gone behind to make this terrace farm a reality. 
It all began in October 2010, when Vipul heard about a group of people assembling at the Maharashtra Nature Park every week to grow their own food. Since the park was close to where he lived, Vipul one day decided to pay a visit to see the work done by the members of Urban Leaves. The interaction continued for a long time as Vipul began regularly volunteering with the group for their Sunday activity. After gaining a thorough hands-on experience over some months, Vipul began harbouring a desire of creating his own terrace garden and with the help of friends at Urban Leaves, the process was slowly put into action.
After putting his terrace through a serious waterproofing check, Vipul started with making the mitti in summers last year. He says, "Amrut Mitti is the most important part of the entire activity and it takes a good three months for it to be ready. Once it is ready, the mitti can last up to a good 50 years."
Preparing the mitti involves activities like soaking, followed with heap making, first composting, greening, and finally second composting. Vipul explains, "I began with collecting around 1200 bags of dry leaves from all over and soaked it in amrut jal, which is made of cow urine and organic jaggery diluted with water. The next step was to create the beds for greening the soil to get used to all types of seeds. This is followed with composting to make the soil rich in nutrients. It is a 100-day cycle after which the Amrut Mitti is finally ready to use."
Due to the monsoons, Vipul could not start sowing seeds and had to wait until the winters to start working on his terrace farm. "Till December 2011, the entire terrace was flat. But in just three months, the mitti has given magical results." One simply has to agree because the terrace is flourishing with all kinds of flowers and vegetables.
Not just that, Vipul's garden has an interesting flow of design too, which has enhanced the working of the garden. Vipul shares, "While the mitti was getting ready, the volunteers at Urban Leaves sat with me to create a flowchart of the design of my urban garden. It is believed that the garden should have more curves than straight lines as this helps to generate the right environment for the plants to grow by fostering the growth of the organisms. It also facilitates a proper walkway to water the plants at ease. It also spaces out the
garden very well so in the broader sections you can have more variety and the narrow portions can contain single plants. The movement of sun is an equally important factor in the design as the arrangement of the plants to be sown is made accordingly."
Mulching is another step not to be missed, advises Vipul. "Plants require the right amount of moisture and sunlight. Mulching helps the soil in retaining the desired moisture and allows a suitable environment for the organisms to grow."
Vipul has already harvested cauliflower, tomatoes and spinach and also planted seeds for the next season. He says, "Every plant has its own season and cycle. However, it is advisable to also grow flowers along with fruits and vegetables to enhance the bio-diversity so that all types of organisms are attracted."
Vipul’s consistent efforts have finally paid off in the form of a blooming terrace garden and as it leaves you enchanted, it also inspires you to create your own urban farm space.
- published in Times Property on August 16, 2012
