Why I Decided To Grow Vegetables in the Office

However, it is very important for me and my team to understand the challenges of a home gardener who is trying to grow these seeds in a balcony or terrace using a few commonly available pots. This is the primary reason we decided to start a small kitchen garden with a few pots and raised beds in the office.

We have a sunny balcony next to our seed packing area which gets about 6–8 hours of direct sunlight every day. Remember, this is key when you decide on the location for your vegetable garden.

The next task was, of course, selecting the right pots. While selecting pots, it’s important to understand the season and the type of seeds you will be planting for your family in your balcony garden. Since it has already started to feel like summer in Chandigarh, we selected vegetable seeds like okra, brinjal/eggplant, beans, gourds, squashes, pumpkin, coriander, lettuce, tomatoes and chillies.

Except for the seven varieties of tomatoes that we started in seed starting trays, the rest of the seeds were directly sown in the pots.

Smaller pots of 7–10 inches in diameter suit leafy greens and herbs like basil, lettuce or spinach, allowing 3–4 plants per container for compact growth. Medium-sized pots of 10–12 inches work well for root vegetables such as onions, potatoes and radishes, providing enough depth for bulb development while fitting limited spaces.

Larger pots of 12–16 inches or more are ideal for fruiting plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or zucchini, supporting expansive roots and better fruiting.

We bought a few large pots from nurseries around here, but they came without drainage holes. So naturally, the next task was to make drainage holes in them with the help of my very resourceful team.

Once that was done, we mixed some good-quality potting soil with the garden soil from our farm and filled each pot and fabric raised bed with it.

Then came sowing day!

Our whole team came together and carefully sowed each seed. Let me remind you yet again that knowing the correct sowing depth of each seed is very important. Random sowing can lead to poor germination, weak seedlings or complete failure.

For example, tiny seeds like lettuce or carrots should be sown shallowly at about ¼ inch to prevent them from being buried too deep and unable to sprout, whereas larger seeds such as beans or peas thrive at about 1–2 inches for better root establishment and stability.

The work of getting the best quality seeds to your homes and helping home gardeners grow their seeds successfully keeps my team busy all day. Still, in the past few weeks, each one of us has been going to check on these planted seeds at the office.

They have become a part of our daily office routine, and it brings immense joy to all of us every time one of these seeds sprouts. Our office WhatsApp group is bombarded with fresh updates each morning,  and no one is complaining!

That is the real appeal of gardening, which I realised long ago. Once you grow something with your own hands, you can never go back.

This balcony garden will not only give us more insights into the challenges our home gardeners face, but it is also adding a lot more meaning to our daily lives.

Cheers, until the next update from the garden!