CHENNAI : Age is never a barrier that stops you from pursuing your passion. It was after retirement that Krishnankutty Kartha realised whether his retirement is a boon or bane. Later, he realised that terrace gardening would be the best way to do something fruitful. Kartha says that anyone having an accommodation with a roof top can afford to start a roof garden. It could be a vegetable garden, a flowering garden or both.
Kartha was working in the chemical laboratory of Geological Survey of India, Trivandrum. It was a Malayalam movie that inspired him to take up terrace gardening. “I retired from the busy schedule of analytical work on April 30, 2014. To me, the past four years passed by like four seconds due to the activity I was engaged in during these years. It was the movie How Old Are You? which had Manju Warrier playing the lead, and my father, who was also a farmer, that motivated me to decide my future plan.”
At the age of 60, he decided to start a roof top garden with only vegetables. “I started growing vegetables that would be required for our small family, such as ladies finger, brinjal, long beans, bitter gourd, snake gourd, tomato, pumpkin, spinach and chilli.” Eventually, he also started planting flowering plants such as rose, jasmine, hibiscus, bougainvillea and 10 o’clock plant.Kartha says that being fond of greenery he is not partial to any plants. “Though I don’t have any favourites, my wife is very much fond of orchids and bonsai plants, so you can see a lot of them in my garden.”
After flowers and vegetables, Kartha shifted to fruits and thereafter, his passion towards gardening grew bigger. “We began with fruit giving plants such as orange, dragon fruit and guava. We grow pepper plant, lemon plant, curry leaves plant and two mango trees on our terrace.”Kartha began on the terrace and now the area around the house has been utilised for different gardening activities. “Almost the entire space around my house (total 5 cents including house building) is utilised for gardening activity without any congestion.”
Managing so many plants in the limited space was just his systematic approach to the necessity. “The huge investment I made for developing the basic amenities for my gardening activity is negligible compared to the pleasure derived from the activity,” he says. Kartha realised that only a systematic and patient approach could make it successful.The garden is owned by Kartha and his wife. with no help from outside, they themselves have experimented and learned. “The garden is maintained exclusively by me and my wife, she retired recently as a Science teacher. There are no gardeners to help us.”
It’s only the gardening books and magazines which guide them at each step. “Mainly, we put our own ideas and logic in all activities and go ahead without getting disheartened by any shortcoming. Our success comes from hard work and involvement only.”Again, they use very clean methods of gardening and chemical fertilizers have no place in their garden. “We never use any chemical fertilizers or insecticides. We use only organic manures such as vermin compost, cow dung, deer dung, chicken dung, neem cake, bone meal and other such manures. Organic insecticides are used too, such as pseudomonas, trichoderma, Tobacco leaf pesticide verticillium and neem oil,” he adds.
The need of the hour pushed Kartha to start vegetable gardening, later it became his passion.
Kartha’s wife says, “Initially, we started the gardening out of necessity to have poison free vegetables for our daily use. But this is how he ensures we have a busy, happy, active and healthy retired life for the both of us.”He has also started plantain and tapioca cultivation in a nearby plot owned by his friend.