On May 5th, 2022, the Nepal Seattle Society organized a Gardening 101 class to learn the basics of gardening in the pacific northwest region. Our respected community leader and organic gardener, Nil Tilija conducted the class and gave us a tour of his garden. Even though the evening started with some rain; our host Nil Tilija started up a fire pit and served us some warm tea with organic mint and honey from his garden. He started the class by sharing some benefits and background of how he began his journey to become an organic gardener.
Benefits of Gardening
With several benefits from gardening, Nil mentioned some from his own experiences. For instance:
- Gardening as meditation and stress reliever; a relief of mind, body, and soul.
- One can be as close as possible to nature.
- A great form of physical activity; pulling plant roots, digging soils, reaching to various tools and plants, twisting and bending your body helps strengthen muscles, and build flexibility.
- Eat what you grow, healthy and nutrients from your own hard work.
- Cost efficient and pesticides free organic food.
Process of Growing your Vegetables
As a beginner for gardening, an individual should have some basic knowledge and familiarize themselves with what kind of planting zone they belong to such as timing and seasons best for each vegetable, consideration of exposure to lights, water, soil, fertilizers, and insects. To start with, we do not require a big yard to start. One can start from their patio or a small backyard where there is better exposure to light.
Timing is one crucial part in gardening that every individual should be aware of and which season is best for which kind of vegetables. There were varieties of vegetables and herbs that were planted and explained which vegetables are best according to seasons. He gave a brief explanation about vegetables that are suitable for summer, spring, fall and winter seasons. The best growing season in the pacific northwest region is from May 10 to October 5 (5/10 to 10/5) , but there are certain vegetables that can be grown in winter such as: garlic, leeks, potatoes, kale, chards, mustard green (Rayo Saag), and other root vegetables such as carrots, beets, turnips, parsnip etc.
In addition, an individual should have knowledge on what kind of nutrients are required for the plants. Another crucial ingredient for the initial stage of gardening is soil and light. He also mentioned that using organic compost is a good nutrient for the plants and better for the environment. Nil makes his own organic compost which is very beneficial to the plants and soil health. He collects vegetable waste from his kitchen including eggshells and coffee grind in a worm bin to make the organic compost by feeding earthworms in order to expedite the fertilization process. Earthworm casting is the source of organic fertilizer that is full of microorganisms. This process is beneficial for the growth of the healthy plant. Furthermore, he also mentioned that without pollinators we can not grow vegetables and fruits. Bees, hummingbirds, and other forms of insects and flies are the best pollinators.
The final step after planting is proper irrigation. It is another crucial process for growing healthy vegetables. The best way to water plants is with the help of a sprinkler system. We can also water plants with a hose and make sure that the water reaches the root of the compost by feeding earthworms in order to expedite the fertilization process. Earthworm casting is the source of organic fertilizer that is full of microorganisms. This process is beneficial for the growth of the healthy plant. Furthermore, he also mentioned that without pollinators we can not grow vegetables and fruits. Bees, hummingbirds, and other forms of insects and flies are the best pollinators. The final step after planting is proper irrigation. It is another crucial process for growing healthy vegetables. The best way to water plants is with the help of a sprinkler system. We can also water plants with a hose
and make sure that the water reaches the root of the plants without overflowing our plants.
He then took us inside to his first phases of gardening where he explained how to start the seeding process and how to take care of seeds at an early age and when to transfer them outside.
For the initial stage of seeding, one should be prepared with seeds, potting mix, and seed starter kit which are easily available in the market during the season. The most informative part of the seeding process is that it depends on the size of the seed and how deep we need to plant the seed. The early stage of seeding needs heat and light. As we live in the pacific northwest, heat and
light are the things to be concerned about. Nil mentioned that in this kind of weather like the pacific northwest, we can put the seed starter by the window for light and provide them with additional grow light and heat pad. Once the plants are a few inches tall from the starter kit, it can be transferred outside for further growth. Another takeaway note was, not to transfer the seed starter if the weather is not consistent. The plant needs consistent heat and light and the weather should not be frosty, which will kill the plants.
Lastly, as a participation appreciation, the participants received various seeds which Nil Tilija
had harvested in his garden and distributed to the group. It was an informative gardening
session for beginners as well as medium gardeners. There were positive responses from the
participants and Nepal Seattle Society is looking forward to conducting this kind of event again
in the future.