CHENNAI : Seventy-six-year old Anu-suya S Sharma, noticed her green thumb as a child, which she cultivated further over the years. Now, she spends at least two to three hours tending to her garden on a daily basis, and has little time to twiddle her thumbs.Luckily for Anusuya, her husband turned out to be a plant lover, too. And despite the numerous transfers they had owing to her husband’s central government job, they managed to dedicate a small patch of land to gardening in each of their homes. “In Bengaluru, I have been maintaining a terrace garden for over 25 years now. It was quite a shift from having a garden on the ground. When we moved back to the city, due to so many high rises, the sunlight did not fall on the ground anymore. Hence, we moved our plants upstairs and grow them in containers,” says Anusuya, a resident of Sanjayanagar.
In her garden, Anusuya has 350 varieties of plants including greens, coriander, lettuce, ladies finger, radish, brinjal, marigold, hibiscus, roses, jasmine, creepers including winged beans, double beans, bitter gourd, ornamental and medicinal plants. “The garden needs constant care and attention. I remove the weeds, make my own organic compost, add them to the soil, water plants, make herbal sprays by boiling marigold flowers and making a decoction of it, to prevent pests. I am self-sufficient even when it comes to seeds,” says the freelance writer and translator.
She points out that ornamental and flowering plants don’t need as much attention as vegetables do. However, it is worth the time as she can pluck any vegetable of her choice for the day’s meal from her garden. Even fresh flowers come in handy for poojas. “Food is so much more tastier when grown in your own garden when compared to the market produce. The difference is clear. I even use medicinal plants for better health. For example, Centella asiatica, which are said to improve memory, can be used to make chutneys and raitas. Some weeds can be added to greens like palak or methi, to increase haemoglobin content in blood,” she explains.
Workshops and training
sessions at Lalbagh and University of Agricultural Sciences have helped her gain in-depth knowledge on the subject.She admits that though she finds it challenging to maintain her garden, it has given her much solace every since the passing of her husband, two years ago. “My passion for gardening will only die with me,” she says.