Thursday, June 15, 2023

Big Chilly (Sambar/Thondan Mulaku in Malayalam)

Big Chilly (Sambar/Thondan Mulaku in Malayalam)
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Big green chilly
Chillies are easy to cultivate in pots in a greenhouse or in a warm sunny place outside after starting indoors. It contains antioxidant vitamins A and C, which aid in the body's detection of invasive germs and boost overall immune function. Peppers also contain capsaicin, a chemical molecule that causes the brain to experience heat or spice and has anti-inflammatory properties. When the Chilli seeds within the fruit Chilli are added to a meal, it gives it a spicy flavour.


Benefits/uses of Big chilli
Chillies include capsaicin, which aids in accelerating metabolism and the burning of calories by raising body temperature and heart rate.
Seeds are known to contain antibacterial qualities that aid in the prevention of skin infections and other illnesses.
Capsaicin, which is found in chilli seeds, has been discovered to aid in the excretion of sweat and lessen the symptoms of the disruptive flu. Spicy meals can also aid in the airway opening, the reduction of sinusitis, and the alleviation of other flu symptoms.

Chilli seeds contain a chemical called capsaicin, which can help eliminate cancer-causing factors and prevent cancer from spreading throughout the body.
As antioxidants, chilli seeds can defend the body from toxic substances and disease seeds.
Capsaicin's capacity to stabilise the neuropeptide substance, a precursor of migraine, has been proven to help with headaches, migraines, and sinusitis.

Sowing big chilli seeds
The ground required for Chilli growing is ploughed 2-3 times and fine-tilled. Gravel, stones, and other undesirable materials are removed from the soil. If the seeds are planted directly in the soil in the grow bags, the process is completed simultaneously as the final ploughing cycle. However, the soil must be sterilised adequately before ploughing to keep plant diseases at bay.

The seeds may take anything from a few days to a few weeks to sprout. Once your Chilli plant seedlings have grown to roughly 5 cm tall and have 5-6 leaves, transplant them to a wider-spaced grow bag. It will keep their roots from becoming tangled. Carefully remove them from the tray. Water the seedlings before removing them to keep the compost from crumbling during the relocation. Fill a grow bag with compost that has a diameter of 7 cm. Water the compost lightly and dig a well in the centre. Fill the space with compost and place a seedling in it gently. As your Chilli plant grows, move it to a larger grow bag. Fill a larger pot partly with compost and create a well in the centre. Gently take out the plant and place it in the larger grow bag, covering its roots with a massive clump of compost. Place your potted Chilli plant near a window or outside to get some sunlight, but remember to bring it inside if the temperature lowers. The amount of light received by the plant determines the rate and size of its growth. In a spot that receives more sunlight in your garden with at least 6-8 hours of sunlight, dig a hole sufficiently to fit the seedling or plant. To promote proper growth, Chilli plants should be placed at least 45 cm apart from other plants. Fill the gap with an even blend of soil and compost and gently place the plant in the hole. If you reside in a hot, sunny climate, you should water your Chilli plant every day. To avoid over-watering, make sure the soil is damp but not soggy. Feed your plants with a general-purpose liquid every two weeks.

Common Problems affecting chilly plants and solutions
Problem: The bacterial plant disease pepper leaf spot can be found all over the world. The most prevalent weather conditions are rainy, humid, and warm. These are the most conducive circumstances for bacteria to multiply. Because leaf spot is a bacteria, it can be passed from person to person, through seeds or the soil. Use clean soil and irrigation to avoid splashing dirt on the leaves or cross-contamination.

Solution: Remove any leaf spot-affected regions of the plant, exactly as you would with virus-infected pepper plants. With the correct nutrients, pepper plants may be able to fight infections. Apply a Neem Oil BioPesticide in the early morning or late evening to help prevent the disease from spreading.

Problem: Another common concern with pepper plants is the mosaic virus. The mosaic virus can infect plants in various ways, and once infected, they cannot be treated. Mosaic viruses are propagated by sap-sucking insects like aphids and can be transmitted through seed or soil. They can also be transferred by coming into contact with diseased plants, and they're especially troublesome in dry weather.

Solution: There are no effective treatments for viruses. If a mosaic virus is detected, remove the pepper plants from the garden and destroy them if possible. To keep weeds at bay, use a ground cover or, at the least, a weeding hoe. Using your hands, you can spread viral diseases from one plant to another; hence keep your hands clean before and after gardening.






Thursday, December 13, 2018

Honey beehive colony splitting along with Queen egg.



Honey beehive colony splitting along with Queen egg.


To perform Beehive split, remove the top brood box from the beehive colony box and place it aside on the ground. Now pick one hive (rack) wigh the comb and the bees and place it in a new brood box/colony and close it.Make sure that the removed hive shall not have the queen bee.
For the new hive placed in a new brood box we need to place a Queen egg manually.


Place 2–3 of capped queen cells into new hive along with the appropriate amounts of honey and pollen.
they should be left alone for one month to allow the queens to finish developing and complete their breeding flights.


Types of bees








Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Rain water Channeling and Harvesting

Rain water harvesting
Rainwater harvesting is one of the simplest and oldest methods of self-supply of water for   households, having been used in South Asia and other countries for many thousands of years. Installations can be designed for different scales including households, neighborhoods and communities and can also be designed to serve institutions such as schools, hospitals and other public facilities.
Its uses include watering gardens, livestock, irrigation, domestic use with proper treatment, and domestic heating. The harvested water can also be committed to longer-term storage or groundwater recharge.
The main purpose of the rainwater harvesting is to use the locally available rainwater to meet water requirements throughout the year without the need of huge capital expenditure. This would facilitate the availability of uncontaminated water for domestic, industrial, and irrigation needs.






Images on growing Winged beans on land

Winged beans

Winged Beans supported by horizontal net on farm land

Winged beans


Organic winged beans farm land



Monday, July 31, 2017

Growing shallot or small onion (Cheryia ulli)

In South India shallots are known as small onion (cheriya ulli in Malayalam). In my terrace I grew this verity in a medium size container/pot. They are formed in clusters and ready for harvest in 100 days from the day of planting the cloves. There are seeds available in market which can be used to grow seedlings.

More details...would be published soon......




Experimenting Maize (Corn) Plantation

Honey bee farming/Beekeeping / Apiculture

Diversified farming based on season.- Beekeeping (Theneecha krishi in Malayalam language)
While reading a few articles on diversified farming and season based farming, I realized and planned to start as an experiment with 10 boxes/colonies. To start with as a new business opting 10 colonies was not appropriate as it is not easy to manage beekeeping when we are new to this farming. However end of the season with the help of my father we managed to extract Honey worth 15 Kg from 5 productive boxes. To start this as a hobby it is better to start with 2 colonies and it helps in learning and understanding the nature of this farming and also learn the behaviors of Bee.

Honeycomb extracted from the honey chamber from the box also called - Super
Comb is built by female bee who are also know as worker bee.
With in the box each racks/frames that support in holding the honeycomb vertically.

End of the season, each of the rack/frames should be taken out from the super (not from the Brood- bottom most box) one by one and then place the frame(s) into centrifugal extractor and process it to extract honey which is collected at the bottom of the extractor. Replace the frame with wax/comb bac to the Super and close the box.

How to feed bees 

Smoker is used while handling the racks in the colony , as it helps and protect us from bee stings. The equipment is filled with coconut husk and will be lighted to pump smoke on top of the beehive when it is opened.

Honey processing mechanisms. Raw honey is rich in nutireis and can be consumed directly and no harm in it, however ensure that it is filtered properly from the extractor and other equipments used are clean.
If you want you can process it while placing the half filled honey container (I used Steel) on top of a larger container with warm water not more than 40 degree Celsius. If you notice a thin layer of foam appearing on top of it, not to worry as I heard that they are the air bubbles from the raw honey.


Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Papaya plantation

Papaya fruit is largely available on South America, Mexico, Africa, Indonesia and India. In India, production of papaya is 5.5 millions of tons (Source: United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, FAOSTAT)


Papaya health benefits

1. Contains Papain, a digestive enzyme and helps in breaking down proteins
2. Anticancer, fruit is being used in medicines and improves cardiovascular health and protect agaist colon cancer.
3. Papain is good for skin diseases as it kills dead cells and purifies the skin.
4. Inner bark of the tree is good for toothaches
5. Good for weigh loss. A bowl full of papaya can be consumed daily.
6. As this fruit generates heat in the body, that helps in stimulating estrogen hormone which helps in normalizing in irregularity in periodic cycle (Mensuration).
7. Effective against rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis
8. Flowers and the roots are good for curing Jaundice, Bronchitis.

Side effects and when to avoid

1. For pregnant women or an expected mother papaya is harmful.
2. Latex present in papaya causes uterine contractions which may lead to abortions.






Friday, August 12, 2016

Vegetable plantation on raised beds

Raised bed layout is one of the techniques that helps in deep root on loosened soil. This method is more productive and efficient  when compared to growing directly on soil or even in grow-bags.I have setup a few raised bed with different dimensions and soil combination to learn and understand  the most suitable one for each category of plants.
Bed was filled with a composition of the following;
1. Soil
2. Rotting wood, branches, coconut husk and leaves.
3. Compost prepared from decayed plants after harvesting.
4. Animal wastes or cow dung.



 Planted egg plants and green chilly on the raised bed, used coconut husk along the boundary to protect the bed when it rains. Coconut is also used as one of the composition for preparing the bed.
Planted okra in another raised bed, since the soil with the compost is well loosened, proper supports were provided. Have a close look on the image. 
Bed was raised to 30 Cm in height. 
This raised bed is supported by stone pillars on its boundaries. Bed was raised to 20 Cm. Below image is a closeup of white radish grown on this bed.


 White radish plants aligned in rows. Root crops require loose and light soil for good growth of the roots, which includes; carrot, radish, beatroot and others.
The outer boundary of the bed helps and support in holding the compost or soil. Poly sheets beneath the bed helps retaining the moisture and restrict water to flow out. 
This is a South Indian variety leafy vegetable.


Turnip lined up on the bed. usage of compost soil, the bed contains lots of pores which retain water and oxygen.

Green chilies on raised bed.

How to setup a low cost  bed for vegetable plantation. 

1. Identify a location where the plants would get air and better sunlight.
2. Dig a pit measuring 15 inch/0.5 meters deep.
3. Apply a layer of coconut husk or any other material that helps in retaining moisture.(5-7 inches)
4. On top of husk apply decayed and rotten wood chips, Vegetable and plant wastes. (5-7 inches)
5. Apply compost which contributes another 5 more inches to the Pit.
6. Now that the pit is almost filled, spread a final layer of soil mixed with compost. This will add another 5 inches of height to the raised bed...More...

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Growing Ginger on farm land - Adarak (Hindi) Ingi (Malyalam)

Ginger/Adarak/Ingi
Botanical Name:- Zingiber Officinale
Family:- Zingiberaceae
Prepare Plant Rhizomes/ ginger seeds
Seeds are available at markets, otherwise collect rhizomes from the Ginger that you buy from market. 
Preparation of soil bed
Prepare the land by ploughing or digging so that the loosened soil could let the ginger root to penetrate deep into the soil. Prepare beds of convenient length. Provide channels between two arrays of soil bed that will help protect from rain water.
Planting method
The best time for planting ginger is during the first fortnight of April, after receipt of pre-monsoon showers.

My Experience 
Planted 100 rhizomes in flat beds, plant started growing in 3 weeks and showed up healthy germination from rhizomes.
My son enjoying the site.
Below image was taken 4 months after plantation.
Don'ts
  • Never plant on waterlogged soil, rhizomes may get decayed.
  • Too much of direct sun is not preferable and supports filtered sunlight.
  • Hard soil and dry climate should be avoided
  • Reduse the usage of fertilizers.
  • Never grow ginger in the same land year after year.

Harvest
Towards the end of the summer, leaves start getting dried. Avoid watering the bed and let the ground dry out. This helps the plant to form rhizomes and will be ready for harvesting.