Shahnaz lost her front teeth when she was twenty one... not that thats relevant... but she's still beautiful at this day and age. Or maybe i think so because she provided me with so much help and company. She's a regular mother hen and treats her garden like her child... she used to be a landscape artist and loves her flowers as much as she does her tomatoes.

She has an amazing library of books based on organic gardening in India and Bangalore, never thought i'd get such volumes of practical information all at one place. a

Notes on Gardening in Bangalore - H.C Javaraya, Director of Horticulture in Mysore.

-The climate and soil conditions in Bangalore make it possible to grow almost anything.
-Plan your Garden before starting.
-The front yards is usally ornamental and the Vegetable and fruits are grown in the backyard.
-For people in apartments, almost about everything can be grown in pots.
- Create a good drainage system.
- Parts of a garden -

• Lawns
  
• Shrubs
  
• Flower beds
  
• Rockeries
• Rosaries
• Shade garden
• Pot garden
• Plant house
• Orchid house
• Water garden

Use mulch, manure and compost and dig deep and well.

Navzer grunts at most of my questions and says that Fukuoka is one of the few people who makes sense. Plants can take care of themselves better that we can.




These bush vegetables csn be planted directly into the soil- ;


Beans - can be potted or planted on a bed - give 6 inches of space, One can simply dry the beans and extract the seeds from there itself. Namdhari's is a great source for organic vegetables. - give the plants plenty of sun and grows well in places with moderate winters.

Okra and Peas as well.

These need to be grown in trays till saplings bear a few true leaves: (bush)

Tomatoes - The saplings are grown in shade and then shifted to pots/ beds. The trays are filled with with cocopeat and then shifted to a clay pot 1 ft in diameter, given a stake for support and the pots should be filled with cocopeat, leaf mould and course sand and no garden soil.
Brinjals, Capsicum, Chillies and Celery are other bush vegetable which needs transplanting from trays to pots/ beds.
The ideal time to make this shift would be when the plant is 4 - 6'' high.

Creepers - Directly into the ground, build a support for the creepers to grow on - Ridgegourd, Bottlegourd, Bittergourd - these are annuals.

Roots - Beetroots, Radishes, Carrots - Planted directily into the respective beds/ pots.

Potatoes - cut a sprouting potatoe eye and plants into the soil - same with sweet potatoes.

Leafies and Herbs garden -
Spinach, Methi, Parsley, Coriander and Curry leaves tree.

Vegetables require plently of sun. Most of these seeds can be acquired from the vegetable itself.
Its a good idea to label your garden.
The cavity for trees needs to 3feet*3feet*3feet minimum.



The Lalbagh nursery is an amazing source for most gardening equipment- bio fertilizers, pots, toold and medicines.
Indo - American seeds
Vital plant products - gowrishankar Estate,
Association of People with Disabalities - Horticulture Training - Cocopeat and Herbs.
Namshari's - seeds and herbs.
Medicinal plants - Ehtno Medicinal Garden and Nursery.

Shahnaz gives me an insight into flowers that one should grow around the house -
The tiny plants
Impatiens - perrinial, grows well in shade.
Candy tufts - annuals and require plenty of sunlight
Chrysanthemums - perrinials and require sunlight.
Marigolds - Annuals and require sunlight.
Cosmos - Annuals and require sunlight
Dahlia (bulbs) - Perrinials and require sunlight.

Taller plants:

Hollyhocks - common and hardy, annuals.

Small bushes -
zinias - annual, sunlight
Nasturtiums - annual, sunlight (low) - ideal for rockeries and hanging pots.
Salvia - annuals, sunlight
Petunias - ideal for rockeries or hanging pots



Creeper flowers -
Bouganvillea - perrinials, sunlight
Jackmontia - pretty blue flowers

Bushes-
Poinsettia
Hibiscus - fountain, hawiian hybrid, Oleandar
Heleconias

Ornamental plants -

Travelling Jew - ground creeper

Aromatic Flowers-

Chameli
Raat ki rani
Jasmine
Rangoon creeper

Shahnaz and I work on creating a set of things to grow for a big house... with raised beds or dug up garden soil, Shahnaz brought in her landscaping skills:

• trees, bushes, creepers and pots.
• Vegetables, herbs and fruits.
• Grow spice in a lot of shade - cardomom, all spice and pepper are nice choices.
• Pumpkins, beans, tomatoes, onions, brinjals, okra, avocadoes, mango - for shade and fruit, drumsticks, pomegranade, banana/palm - for shade , papaya - buy fruit and dry the seeds... grow first in nursery, then pot and finally in the bed.