Urban Gardening in Visakhapatnam: a Community-Driven Movement for Sustainability and Seed Preservation

A Aruna Begins Her Day with a Quiet Hour Among Her Plants at Her Terrace Garden in Muralinagar. Over the Years, She Has Cultivated more than fifty varieties of fruit and vegetable plants that fill heroftop. Dragonfruit and Passionfruit Vines Grow AlongSide Star Fruit and Clove Beans. The garden is a reflection of aruna’s long-standing interest in food, grown at home and without chemicals. “For more than a decade now, my home kitchen has depended almost entryly on Vegetables Grown on My Terrace,” She Says. In addition to growing produces, she also maintains a seed bank, now Housing fifty-one varieties, most of them sourced from farmer who grow them without synthetic inputs. In the recent past, aruna has noticed a risk in public interest Around Growing Vegetables at home. She says questions have changed. Earlier, people would ask if this was possible at all. Now, they have questions about Soil Texture, Seed Quality, Pest Control and Container Management. With this shift in awareness and a significant knowledge gap, aruna, along with two other experienced terrace gardeners Sarita Malla and N Jyothi, Establled Vanama.

A View of a Miniature Garden at the Workshop by Vanamali, City Terrace Garden and Mana Vegetable Garden Groups Held in Visakhapatnam to Encourage terrace Gardening in City. , Photo Credit: Kr Deepak

Their goal was to support City Residents Who Wishd To Grow Food on Their Rooftops Using Natural Inputs and Regional adapted seeds. Today, Vanamaali has more than 3,000 members. It is a city-wide network, coordinated through Sixteen Area in-Charges, Each of Whom Provides on-Ground Assistant in their respective locals. Each month, the group organies meetings where participants discruits SPSS Specific Topics, Such as Composting with Kitchen Waste, Creating Pest Repellents Using Neem and Garlicts Or Balancing Nutriangtr In Soil without relaying on Commercial Mixes. These sessions are not lectures; They are discusses among people who are trying to address the same challenges in slightly different home environments. The Group’s Seed Bank, Houseed In Muralinagar, is an integral part of its operations. It contains 51 varieties at present, all of which are distrused to members based on their requirements and feasibility. “These seeds are contributed mostly by farm owners and Senior gardeners who still use traditional millivation practices,” Aruna explains. “We Only Pass Along seeds that are untred, open-pollinated and proven to adapt well to urban containers.”

Members of Vanamali, City Terrace Garden and Mana Vegetable Garden Groups at the workshop help in visakhapatnam to encourage terrace gardening in City. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Vanamaali is one of three active and collaborative groups currently shaping the future of domestic gardening in visakhapatnam. City Terrace Garden and Mana Vegetable Garden are the other two that have their own followings, but often work together on Outreach events and seed preservation drives. Mana Vegetable Garden, In Particular, is one of the oldest collectives of its kind in the city. It has been peroritised Native Seed Conservation and Direct Assistant to Urban Gardeners. According to JV Ratnam, Co-Founder of the Group, They Distributed Over 30,000 seeds and Saplings in the Past Year Alone. These inclined brinjal in 27 varieties, 19 varieties of lady’s finger, five types of amranthus, and four kinds of ridege gourd. The seeds are selected for their adaptability, taste, and lineage. “We want people to reconnect with varieties their grandparents once grew,” ratnam say. Earlier this week, vanamaali, mana vegetable garden and City terrace garden jointly organized a citywide gathering at the kalabharati auditorium colony. The event showed some miniature models of terrace gardens, bonsai forms and also served as an annual met that broughht together more than 1,000 residence from accounting Visakhapatnam who has taken up. Long tables were lineded with containers of seeds, gardening books and small tools, while the corridors buzzed with exchanges between Attendes. Thousands of Fruit Plant Saplings and seeds was distributed among visitors, each person receiving varieties suitable to their microclimate and rooftop orientation.

Dr K Vijaylaxmi at her stall of miniature gardens at the workshop by Vanamali, City Terrace Garden and Mana Vegetable Garden Garden Garden Groups Held in Visakhapatnam to Encourage Terrace Gardening in right. , Photo Credit: Kr Deepak

Among the participants was dr k vijayalaxmi, a gynaecologist who has been involved with plant millivation since childhood. “In Warangal, My Childhood Home Stood on Six Accres. I began gardening when I was there 10,” She Recalls. After relocating to visakhapatnam and facing spatial Limitations, She Turned to Miniature Gardening and Bonsai. She Now Grows An Extensive Collection of Miniature Plants, Many of Them Arranged in Handcrafted Containers. Recently, She Donated 78 Miniature Gardens to a Temple Trust in Mysuru. The movements also champions the idea that you don’t need vast lands to grow your own food. N jyothi, who co-founded vanamaali along with aruna and sarita, grows vegetables at her home at nad Junction at a terrace garden that Occupies only 50 Square feet. Yet she has managed to grow a year-round supply of leafy vegetables. “For the past four years, I have not purchased any greens from outside,” She says. In small recycled containers, she grows red gongura and red amaranthus, variatis not commonly found in markets. “Unlike a common notion that we need large spaces to cultivate vegetables, it is more about consistency and observation,” She adds. These groups have built a quint a quint and structured alternative to conventional food systems. There is little emphasis on novelty. INTEAD, The Work Center on reclaiming Lost Practices, Preserving Non-Commercial seeds and MainTaining Steady Dialogue Among Gardners.

To join the group, contact 77949 30439, 81213 82753 or 9618325625.