Rooting for benefits

Having a kitchen garden or any semblance of green in an urban space such as ours is more often than not, a luxury — one that is the prerogative of people with a backyard or a palatial house with a big balcony. Thanks to the concept of vertical garden that is soon growing popular among the city’s garden enthusiasts, this idea can now flourish in your home sans balconies too. As long as you have a blank wall, you can tend to edible and ornamental plants in your vertical garden.

Vertical gardening, as the name suggests, is gardening in pots stacked on top of each other. Altifarm, an urban farming platform helps urban dwellers to grow fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits.

“The idea was to make gardening accessible to people living in constrained spaces in cities,” says Arun Raj, founder of Altifarm. The 31-year-old design engineer figured that there was some ignorance about gardening and wanted to do his bit to shrug it off. “When one thinks of gardening, we just assume it is dirty and messy. But, once you get to know more about it, it is extremely rewarding,” he says.

Nikhil Barde, who has invested in a similar garden, strongly recommends the idea to everyone. “I was not at all good at gardening. In fact, I still am not, but I have always been fond of plants and wanted some in my house. My mother loves gardening too and this vertical garden of ours gives us the liberty to grow our plants in a very small space,” he says. Enlisting the benefits he says, “Since we got it home, we have grown a variety of plants in this. From growing ornamental plants and coriander leaves to chillies, oregano saplings, basil and tomatoes, we are giving everything a chance.”

An Altifarm instalment takes as much as a medium-sized chair and is self-sustained. The instalment comes with a self-watering system that functions like a water table in the soil. “Every tier contains water pockets that takes care of watering the plants — one needn’t worry about pouring water every day. Once you fill the asked amount, the system is sustainable enough to work well for four to five days,” explains Arun.

The system’s sustainability is one big reason why even Nikhil opted for it. “It requires minimal maintenance. In traditional gardening, we used to decide how much water plants would need. Here, the plants decide how much water they need and soak in accordingly. But that apart, it is very peaceful engaging with the plants, trimming them. A few days ago I plucked my first tomato — it was truly an unforgettable experience” he recalls.

The system also has ‘grow light’ installed, that promotes easier and faster growth of plants. “It is only in India and Africa that farming in open spaces is pertinent. Europe farms in greenhouse and uses special wavelength LEDs — that we have used in Altifarm,” Arun informs.

As for Arun, he has another very big reward. “My five-year-old understands how food is made, how much effort goes into the making of a fruit or vegetable. And now, he doesn’t even like wasting his food!” concludes Arun.