Health conscious Goans start kitchen gardens

PANAJI/MARGAO: There's the lawn and the rose bush, the flowering plants and the fruit trees. Amidst this is a patch of vegetables sprouting in the garden. That's a scene in various gardens as Goans are beginning to grow their own vegetables.
In an age when the use of chemicals in farming is increasing and where exists the possibility of the nutritional value of vegetables declining, health conscious consumers have decided to grow their own.
Growing a variety of fruits and vegetables, Lalitha Shenoy, a Porvorim housewife said, "I read that fruits are injected with chemicals to increase their size and make them attractive. This is when I decided to use the land in my garden to grow fruits and vegetables. It is satisfying to know that the vegetables on your plate are the ones you have grown. I grow pumpkins, sweet potatoes, love apples and various other fruits and vegetables." Shenoy, who recently started a kitchen garden, turns to books to learn more about the finer points involved.
It was for similar reasons that restaurant owner Ayesha Madon of Baga began her kitchen garden a month ago. "A friend who owns a nursery told me how important it is to grow your own fruits and vegetables. Those available in the market are sprayed with pesticides and chemicals. I also learnt recently that enzymes from fruits are beings extracted to be used for other purposes. All this kills the nutritive value of the food."
Madon grows brinjals, bitter gourds and spinach in addition to bananas and papayas. "I find it very fulfilling as I know my family is consuming healthy food," said Madon.
Health is also a reason for some people choosing to grow vegetables in their gardens. Maria Fernandes of Baga, a housewife said, "My husband being a diabetic I have to serve him bitter gourd daily. It's not available in the market always so I began growing it last year. In the process I discovered the joy of gardening and am now trying to grow other fruits and vegetables."
Kitchen farming is not a new concept though, for in the past almost every house had its own vegetable patch. Last year Socorro resident, Savio D'Souza decided to revive the kitchen garden at his ancestral home.
"We had fruit trees planted by my ancestors in our garden. Now I have added coconut trees and a vegetable farm. I grow all kinds of Goan vegetables like lady fingers, gerkins, cluster beans, string beans, brinjals, radish and turnips," said D'Souza.
D'Souza finds gardening a great way to relax. "I find the time I spend in the garden very relaxing. It is amazing how the stress I suffer due to business problems has reduced since I began farming," said D'Souza who seeks farming advice from elderly relatives.
It is not necessary, though, to have a patch of land around your house to start a kitchen garden. Silvia Rodricks, a lecturer resides in a second floor apartment in Margao and has dedicated her six-metre-long balcony to growing herbs and vegetables. "I got pudina, aloe-vera, tomatoes, miniature lemon tree, tulsi, chillies and even a fruit bearing chickoo bonsai," she tells.
If space is not a constraint, then so too time is no hurdle in nurturing a small kitchen garden as in the case of Livea Fernandes, headmistress and counsellor, Manovikas school, Margao, who has a busy day but still finds time for her garden.