Active terrace gardeners, Satish and Vibha Charanpahari, a couple who lives in Patna start their day at four in the morning. After taking care of their plants first, they spend some time together among the greens while sipping chai.
As peaceful as this sounds, reaching this point required a lot of effort and planning. Even before they found their new house, the couple had decided to create a charming garden.
"Getting land and starting a farm these days is quite difficult. We had been looking for a place with a large terrace for years to pursue our love of agriculture,” says Vibha.
In 2004, the couple moved into the ideal home they had finally found in Patna.
“Actually, before being married, Vibha had little interest in gardening. I, however, have always loved plants. But over time, she also became interested in helping me out because she always saw me doing so. She was the one who actively looked for a home with a terrace while we were looking for a home so that we could garden,” recalls Satish.
The terrace garden has been separated into two halves by the couple. A flower garden that is 700 square feet in size and a kitchen garden that is 400 square feet in size.
A businessman by profession, Satish claims, "Since 1990, I have grown plants in containers wherever I have lived. But I was only able to grow a few plants because of my limited space. I grew ordinary vegetables like tomatoes, chilies, brinjal, okra, and other things in up to 12-inch pots.”
Organic Fruits fresh from the terrace
While Satish is occupied with his business-related activities, Vibha participates in a club that sponsors several social events and educational programs. In between their busy schedules, they think that gardening is a wonderful opportunity to spend time together.
Satish is fond of different types of fruit plants. Their extensive array of fruit trees, in addition to the regular vegetables and flowers, is the garden's main attraction.
“Our garden has 18 different fruit varieties. Whenever I travel, I either buy new local plants from a nursery or collect them from the area. I brought a Lokat (loquat) fruit plant from my trip to Kashmir and planted it in my garden four years ago,” he claims.
On his trip to Assam, Satish claims to have also brought back fig and peach plants. Now, the plants produce fruit each year. They also grow organic mangoes, cherries, papayas, watermelons, jackfruit, and muskmelon in their garden.
Dry leaves and kitchen waste are used to create compost in the home. The compost soil helps the plants develop more quickly and healthily.
The first plant Vibha cared for after establishing this garden was a three-foot-tall Araucaria plant, also known as a Christmas tree. It is currently about eight feet tall.
In their green space, they have also cultivated a variety of flowers and ornamental plants. According to Satish, he regularly changes out these plants based on the season.
Vegetables are also grown according to the season in a similar way. Vegetables are planted in separate beds, while all other plants are grown in pots.
However, Vibha and Satish didn't just stop at planting. For added beauty, the couple constructed a little fish pond on the terrace. The couple has worked hard to make the house feel countryside, despite its location in the center of a city.
"Occasionally, people come here looking for farming guidance," says Satish. He continues by saying that several of his neighbors have been inspired to start gardening after visiting their terrace.
We ask a gardener who comes by frequently for help, explains Vibha. But the "plant parents" claim that they can only be happy after personally caring for every plant. They are in the garden for around three to four hours every day.
Relaxing in the swing in the middle of the garden is the couple's favorite activity. “It's always calming to be surrounded by greenery. Both the eyes and the mind are soothed. We both find gardening to be relaxing, and we would both love to produce more rare plant kinds in the space that is available,” adds Vibha.
