GO GREEN!!!

Various types of vegetables should form half the quantity of the daily food consumed by any human being. However, due to rise in prices of vegetables and growing urbanization people are unable to procure or cultivate enough vegetables to fulfil for their need. But seldom people realize that they can cultivate enough vegetables even in the urban areas in pots or beds placed or constructed on the terraced roof of their houses. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Terrace Garden:-

Terrace gardening for ornamental plant is quite common in the urban and rural areas. Most people would like to have few pots of ornamental plants some of which may be creepers, bushes, flowering plants or plants with bright colour leaves, etc. If all or most of these plants are vegetables one can easily imagine the economic benefit to the family" The advantages can be enumerated as follows.

1. We can produce all. the vegetables required for the home and need not depend on the market vegetables. Self sufficiency in vegetables means not only the saving of the money but also ensurance of proper health which again means saving of the hard earned money.
2. We can have fresh vegetables. From the nutritional point of view fresh vegetables are necessary for maintaining proper health. Many a time the vegetables sold in the market are not fresh as they have to be transported over long distances from one part of the country to the other.
3. There is less danger of consuming pesticides and other agrochemicals through the vegetables bought from the market. Vegetable growing these days have become an economic activity or rather it has become a business. In order to obtain higher income the cultivators use excessive chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Most of the cultivators being illiterate are unable to calculate the exact amount of fertilizers and pesticides needed to make the solution for the application. They simply apply fertilizers and pesticides; in any amount thinking that the more the better. As a result most of the vegetables sold in the market are containing the poisonous substances from the pesticides. Whereas home made vegetables will be free from such chemicals.
4.  We can have the leafy, root and fruit vegetables in a balanced and required proportion as per requirement of the ICMR recommendation. When we depend on the market at times we do not get all these three kinds of vegetables throughout the year anyone of them may be too costly. Because cultivators are cultivating for greater profit and not for fulfilling the nutritional requirements of the people.
5. We can have a useful and a profitable hobby in cultivating the vegetables. After the usual work in the offices and institutions etc. doing some work in the terrace garden is very helpful to get the mind refreshed and the body exercised. We can have these by going for a walk, going to clubs, gymnasium etc. But terrace vegetable gardening will give not only freshness of mind, exercise to body but also fresh and luscious vegetables. Further it will also save the hard earned money. The money saved thus every month can be deposited in the bank on a cumulative deposit basis and after some years we can 'have a substantial saving.
6. We can easily recycle all the household and kitchen waste into manure and use them for growing vegetables, Normally these wastes are thrown around the house or on the road polluting very badly the environment and encouraging breeding of mosquitoes and flies. Whereas if all the house manage their own waste by composting it and using it for vegetable gardening we can easily imagine how much clean and healthy the environment will be and how much and how much saving of human labour, money and time. The environment of the whole residential complex can be easily made clean, healthy and beautiful just by following the principle: "Each family manage its own waste."
7. We can also use all the liquid waste from the house such as bathing room and scullary water for the growing of the vegetables provided too much soap or detergents is not used. Normal use of detergents will be neutralized by the fat and oil used or present in the left over food or sticking to the vessels, etc. Each family can have a collection tank for the wastewater and use it for growing vegetables. At present the liquid wastes are allowed to flow through the road or open gutters into some open space. Such conditions make the environment very bad.
8. A good roof garden enhances the beauty of the house. Vegetables grown in an orderly manner, standing in each bed at various stages of growth is as beautiful as any ornamental garden. At present people think that for beautifying the house with plants only ornamental are suitable. A well maintained vegetable garden can replace the usual ornamental garden.
9. It gives a chances for all the family members to get involved in a common household engagement. Often the family member do different things during most of the day time and come back in the evening. No doubt sitting together over a cup of tea and chit-chatting or going to a park etc. is relaxing. But it can be equally relaxing as well as economically useful for all the family people to engage themselves in the vegetable gardening. Such practices are quite common in European .countries where there was a custom of each family growing its own vegetables and fruits and storing them for winter season. In our country may be a cultural change is required for the people to do such things together.
10. In summer the roof vegetable garden helps in keeping the house cool and comfortable. It is very common that in the summer the terraces get heated up and house becomes unbearably hot to live. Growing vegetables on the roof will drastically reduce the chance of the terrace getting heated up.
11. This is one of the best ways of converting otherwise wasted human labour and time into economically useful items. Often people spend a lot of time in gossiping and doing nothing. A roof terrace garden will help them to convert these unused or under utilized human labour and time into very valuable food items.
12. DISADVANTAGE:-The main disadvantage of having a roof garden is that all the family members cannot go away for a few days locking up the house. The plants require constant and every day care. The family will be tied down to attend the plants. This can be overcome by taking terns in going out. At least one person will have to be at home.