Tag: Rooftop garden

Padam Singh

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Padam Singh: Cultivating a Rooftop Oasis of Organic Abundance

In the bustling urban landscape of Basai Darapur, New Delhi, where concrete dominates and green spaces are scarce, Padam Singh’s story emerges as a testament to the extraordinary transformation that passion and dedication can bring about. Born into a family of farmers, Padam always harbored dreams of creating something exceptional for his environment his relentless pursuit of knowledge and unwavering commitment eventually led him to create “The Terrace Garden,” an awe-inspiring organic haven in the heart of the city.

Padam Singh’s journey towards becoming an urban farming pioneer began long before he retired as the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi, in 2021. During his tenure, he would often frequent PUSA, Delhi, India’s National Institute for Agricultural Research, where he immersed himself in the world of home-based farming and agriculture. His maternal grandfather’s orchard provided valuable insights into fruit farming, and he supplemented his learning with extensive online research and videos.

In 2013, Padam Singh took a significant leap by establishing his Organic Farming Kitchen Garden on the rooftop of his home. Spanning 2500 square feet, this rooftop oasis comprises 400 plants and vegetables, showcasing the fruits of 35 different fruit species. Among these species, he mainly nurtures:

∙         Mango
∙         Oranges
∙         Lemon
∙         Sapodilla (Chickoo)
∙         Mulberry (Shahtoot)
∙         Peach (Aadu)

Padam’s childhood inclination toward fruit farming found a perfect outlet in this endeavor. He personally tends to each plant, nurturing them with care and dedication. His passion has sparked the interest of many, with people frequently visiting his home on Saturdays and Sundays to witness his thriving rooftop garden. Inspired by his example, several individuals have embarked on their own home-based farming journeys. Padam Singh extends his influence by visiting other households, sharing his knowledge, and even gifting plants to encourage others to embrace the joys of organic gardening.

One remarkable aspect of Padam Singh’s approach to farming is his commitment to organic practices. He refrains from using chemical fertilizers available in the market and instead creates his own organic manure at home. He learned this skill through extensive online research and by attending relevant classes, emphasizing the importance of sustainability and environmental consciousness in his gardening endeavors.

Padam Singh’s journey is a shining example of self-driven success. Despite lacking formal agricultural training, he relied on keen observations at PUSA and discussions with scientists to chart his path to success. His remarkable achievements include three awards from the Head of the All India Kitchen Garden Association, with two first prizes and one-second prize in recognition of his exceptional plants. Furthermore, his journey has been showcased on television, with appearances on DOORDARSHAN in 2018 and 2021.

Beyond his role as an urban farmer, Padam Singh wears many hats. He is a licensed advocate, a distinction granted by the BAR Council of India, an international table tennis umpire, and a sought-after guest lecturer at various universities and colleges. In his community, Padam takes pride in teaching young children about farming, imparting valuable knowledge to the next generation.

Padam Singh is a devoted father, with two sons who share his curiosity about his unique approach to farming. One of his sons is an IT Engineer, while the other holds a degree in B.Com Honors. They are deeply interested in their father’s agricultural pursuits, potentially ensuring the continuity of his legacy.

Looking to the future, Padam Singh has no intentions of commercializing his agricultural passion. He remains committed to sharing the abundance of his terrace garden with the elderly, children, family, and relatives. His dream is to acquire a substantial piece of land where he can expand his gardening endeavors further, cultivating an even greater variety of fruits and vegetables to share with his community.

Padam Singh’s journey as an urban farming pioneer exemplifies the power of unwavering passion, relentless dedication, and the pursuit of knowledge. In a concrete jungle, he has created a green oasis that not only sustains him but also inspires countless others to embrace the beauty and potential of organic gardening. In his humble rooftop garden, Padam Singh sows the seeds of change, one plant at a time.

Ram Vilas

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The Blooming Terrace

As you can imagine, a beautiful garden is equivalent to a valley full of flowers. Can you imagine the same on a terrace? A terrace which showcases plants and flowers of a varied variety including hibiscus, jasmine, roses, orchids, sunflowers, dahlias, cacti, petunias, bougainvillea, chrysanthemums, dianthus, cineraria, and other types of blooming plants. You have to admit, it is a rather idealistic description.

Ram Vilas of Haryana facilitated the cultivation of tens of thousands of edible and decorative plants on his four-story terrace. Around four thousand buckets, containers, clay pots, cement barrels, and the like are neatly stacked on the green-matted terrace floor, which keeps things cool even when the sun is beating down.

A successful businessman by profession in the construction sector who built his passion for gardening into an inspiration for others. 25 years ago, when he started, it was just 8 pots which have grown to many hundred in numbers.

The humble beginnings

Mr. Ram Vilas spent a great deal of time and effort cultivating a beautiful terrace garden above his home, and he has been proudly displaying it to his guests via a video he filmed. When he finally chose to share them online, he found that they were instantly a hit on YouTube. Because of the positive response to his rooftop garden, he has been asked to make additional gardening-related films, especially instructional ones.

Therefore, the flowers he had planted began to spread to other gardens throughout the world. He started handing away his organic fertilisers in response to audience requests after they had failed to get the same results in their own gardens. As a result, a company was founded, and its product is today known as “Grace of God Organic.” In the year 2020, he established this label.

To this day, Ram Vilas ji may look across the world with pride knowing that he has assisted around twenty to thirty lakh individuals in reforesting the planet.

He really wants to help people through his platform to get quick results, practical solutions, and prompt replies, which are highly valued by individuals turning to the internet for home gardening advice.

Using his channel on YouTube, he teaches people about organic gardening and shows them how effective those methods can be.

He has been an inspiration to many amateur gardeners with his terrace garden, which has more than four thousand pots. He hopes to motivate and assist others through the presentation of his gardening methods’ successes.

He is able to cultivate a wide variety of edible plants. Rather than selling finished produce from his terrace garden, he offers consumers the chance to cultivate their own produce by purchasing plant seeds and young saplings.

Ram Vilas’s garden is home to a wide variety of plants and flowers, including seeds and saplings for all kinds of summer and winter flowers; seeds and saplings for all kinds of summer and winter vegetables; buds for all kinds of summer and winter flowers; and small trees for nearly every imaginable fruit and vegetable.

Ram Vilas himself cultivates all of the seedlings using only natural fertilisers. Chemical fertilisers are something he really opposes.

Total square footage of the land: 13,500

Ram Vilas has a YouTube channel with over 3 million followers where he discusses gardening and other topics of interest to his audience. Over the course of the previous two years, he has taught online gardening lessons to well over a hundred pupils.

His favourite leisure of gardening has deepened his enthusiasm and interest. A passion, which did not grow through the internet, videos, or learning. In fact, a skill which sharpened by giving consistent efforts and dedicated time to see the prosperity of results. People from nearby states like Maharashtra, UP, and Uttrakhand have shown keen interest apart from England and France who have paid a visit to his garden and learned from the actions undertaken.

From an early age, he had a passion for gardening that has only grown stronger over time. In particular, flowers of all hues captivated him. After seeing a field of bright blooms, he longed for the day when he could bring home a seedling and nurture it into maturity. This was the original inspiration for his outdoor patio. Tree and plant populations gradually grew in his small garden. For the past few years, he has also introduced a large number of common fruit and vegetable plants.

These blossoms maintain a healthy garden aesthetic while also lowering the air pollution Level. Even though Karnal is a much-polluted city, this terrace garden maintains its natural beauty and purity throughout the whole year.

Cabbage, beets, beans, cauliflower, zucchini, tomato, white brinjal, lemon, mushroom, radish, chilli, snake gourd, and ash gourd are only a few of the crops cultivated by Ram Vilas. Spinach, coriander leaves, mint leaves, basil, ashwagandha (winter cherry), strawberry, guava, dragon fruit, papaya, peach, mango, banana, plum, and strawberry are just some of the leafy greens and fruits he cultivates on his terrace.

Ram Vilas claims to collect five different kinds of them every day.

He uses handmade compost and fertiliser to grow all of his plants organically. There will be a short-lived increase in agricultural yield due to the use of chemical fertilisers he believes.

Mr. Ram Vilas’s cultivation is vast, but he does not consider gardening as his source of income. He is very happy to share his harvest with his friends, family and his neighbors but monetary sales is a strict no for him. “Sometimes people ask for a certain plant sapling which is also given for free unless they are any rare plants,” he says.

He states, “All the saplings are collected from garden nurseries and experienced gardeners from Haryana. I also have a habit of bringing plants after trips and visits made to various parts of the world.”

Ram Vilas especially believes for the motto of gardening is happiness and self-satisfaction. What is equivalent to the pleasure of seeing a new flower in a sapling that you planted? This is the only reason why he manages a garden despite his busy schedule.

Mr. Ram Vilas plans to add many more varieties to his already existing vast collection in the coming years in the hopes of inspiring people to grow their plants, which will also help in improving the air quality index of the city. “Despite the degrading air quality, my family at home manages to breathe better air. Mr. Ram Vilas hopes that people realise the importance of having greenery around them and put together a small garden,” he concludes.

He states, “When it comes to home gardening, people prioritize getting results and receiving practical solutions and quick responses when seeking online help. This is where we strive to excel”.

VISION

Ram Vilas wants to continue helping billions of people in building their dream gardens and ultimately bringing back the greenery and cleanliness of nature to where it was.

His viewers have been his biggest supporters, and this motivates him to generate and create more content to educate people about terrace farming. Ram Vilas never forces anyone to buy his products; he aims to provide people with organic solutions for their gardens.

Message for farmers

Ram Vilas firmly believes chemicals, which are cheaper, are the convenient option to follow, and should be replaced with organic manure as they have overall benefits for the betterment of society and the environment.