With rising population, decreasing agricultural productions and heavy use of chemicals in farming, access to fresh, safe and nutritious vegetables and fruits is getting harder by the day; especially so in urban areas. This has led to more and more people growing their own fresh produce at their homes in a worldwide movement known as ‘grow your own’. A number of books also have been published on urban farming, but hardly any of them for Indian conditions and context. This book is a direct response to this knowledge gap.
It starts with a discussion on current food situation around the world and establishes the context for and the importance of sustainable urban agriculture. Then the author takes the reader through various considerations one needs to make before starting one’s own food garden. These considerations are important for planning and designing one’s garden and are often ignored by inexperienced gardeners leading to monumental failures. In the next section all methods starting from container and potting mix preparation to soil maintenance and pest management are discussed with clear instructions. These methods and procedures have been tailor made for urban and semi urban areas and urban life style. In the end the author also gives ways to solve common problems in the garden with ingredients directly from the kitchen shelf. This book discusses all aspects of organic urban farming in India in a clear and direct way with plenty of pictorial references and hence is a must have for everyone who wants to start or is already ‘growing one’s own’.