A home that values environment, prospers and flourishes. Lucknow’s VK Pandey cultivates vegetables in pots that are placed all over his two storeyed building. When the prices of tomatoes surged, he increased his production and distributed his home-grown tomatoes to his relatives and neighbours.
Lucknow: A few weeks ago, when the prices of tomatoes soared, VK Pandey came up with interesting ideas and started growing his own tomatoes. This important vegetable became scarce in households, hotels, restaurants and dhabas. Taking the matter in his own hands, Pandey cultivated an impressive two and a half quintals of tomatoes in pots at his home.
Who is VK Pandey?
VK Pandey is a resident of Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. He works as a General Manager in a pesticide company. He lives with his wife and his children study in Delhi. He has a deep passion for gardening, and due to the limited available space, he grows his plants in pots in his balconies and any tiny nook he can find in his home.
His house is adorned with pots containing various types of vegetables, spread across porch, balcony and terrace. He is kind and willingly shares a large share of the vegetables with his neighbours and distant family members. Pandey shares delightfully that in the past 30 years, he has never bought vegetables from markets and grows his own in his garden.
More than two quintals of tomatoes
The season for cultivation and harvesting of tomatoes lasts from November to June. After the surge in prices, VK Pandey decided to increase the production of tomatoes in his garden. He planted tomatoes in 50-60 pots in his home. He diligently tended to these plants throughout the year, and the result was an impressive yield of approximately two and a half quintals of tomatoes from these pots at his home. VK Pandey distributed these tomatoes to his relatives, friends and neighbours, ensuring to extend his help to others in inflation.
An outstanding house
Due to lush greenery and abundance of vegetables on his plants, his house appears outstanding from a considerable distance. Just by looking at the house, anyone can discern that this is where VK Pandey lives. Besides tomatoes, VK Pandey has cultivated a diverse range of vegetables such as brinjal, cucumber, pumpkin, green chilli, bitter gourd, and lemon. Interestingly, he also grows guava and mango trees in large sized pots.
VK Pandey shares that he has cherished his gardening hobby for the past 30 years. Compromising with the limited space that city apartments offer, he grew plants in his balconies and trees in the park in front of his house. He realizes his responsibility and maintains the cleanliness of his surroundings. This thoughtful practice has earned him the admiration and appreciation of both his neighbours and the entire community.
The maintenance
It is a time-consuming task to water these plants but definitely not exhausting. It takes around two to two and a half hours to water all the plants in his home. He also shares a routine of keeping his plants healthy; he waters the plants in morning and evening, frequently changes the fertilizers, and makes use of medicines whenever there’s a requirement. Insects and worms are a common threat to the quality of the vegetables, so he makes sure to utilize essential measures to keep them away.
There are almost 700 pots in his house. The watering pattern changes as per the change in the season. Despite the time and effort required, the rewarding results keep VK Pandey dedicated to tending to his flourishing garden.
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