close
Friday March 29, 2024

Healthy, refreshing horticulture show

Islamabad A two-day exhibition organised by the Islamabad Club in its lawn with the collaboration of the National Agricultural Research Council (NARC) was a refreshing and healthy experience for club members and their friends. Refreshing as it was held in the midst of rains giving fresh look to the metropolis

By Rasheed Khalid
February 15, 2015
Islamabad
A two-day exhibition organised by the Islamabad Club in its lawn with the collaboration of the National Agricultural Research Council (NARC) was a refreshing and healthy experience for club members and their friends.
Refreshing as it was held in the midst of rains giving fresh look to the metropolis after a long spell of dry weather and healthy as it stressed the need to grow one’s own vegetables and fruits which not only saves money, but also provides you your very own produce with real-time freshness while protecting you from the harmful effects of fertilizers and pesticides which you get with market products.
Overall, the show was a big success as it gave new ideas
to the visitors coming in
large numbers whether
they implement the ideas
or not. Using used material
is a popular theme for environmentalist these days which reduces the production of garbage and is economical also.
Recycling white painted old ‘parnala’ plastic pipes for growing small kitchen items like celery, parsley, spinach, coriander, mint, strawberry and different types of salads arranged horizontally in rows on iron bars
or vertically saves a lot of space and one can grow
fresh herbs at lawns, terraces, rooftops, balconies, porches, even verandas.
If horizontal pipe is fitted with wheels, after thoroughly cleaning with sprayed fresh water, one can take the greens up to the dining table, a novel idea. Using packing boxes of thermocol for growing cabbage, cauliflower or tomatoes is another option.
Oranges in pots with two pieces of fully ripened fruit could also be used in drawing/dining rooms for special occasions though different concrete areas can serve as their permanent abode. If planted in the soil, the tree will give full production.
The easy-to-peel Chinese garlic is very popular in cooks and housewives but here one could spot even double the size, a variety brought from a village between Abbottabad and Mansehra.
Honey bottles and lemon-aloe vera juice was one of the few saleable commodities. The juice is expected to be very popular if NARC succeeds in mass production. Aloe-vera is very popular among people thanks to TV ads unless
told that it is another name for ‘kanwar-gandal’ or “ghee-kumar.” No doubt, it has numerous medicinal and dietary qualities. Its 'halv'a and curry with potato are very delicious, I can bet.
Last but not the least, mushrooms, artichoke and
asparagus plants were available which are attractions for those who indulge in culinary activities.