“When I was a little girl, biology captivated me. But I didn’t realize how joyful harvesting your own food is until I started observing how my aunts and grandmothers carefully selected fresh vegetables from their home gardens and fields and prepared it for meals on the same day,” says Madhavi Guttikonda (43), a gardener who manages up to 500 plants out of her two-storeyed terrace garden in Visakhapatnam.
Madhavi has successfully grown a variety of flowers, fruits, and vegetables over the last ten years. Furthermore, she has made organic farming a household name in Andhra Pradesh by uploading over 300 instructional videos to her YouTube channel, “Mad Garden,” which has 5,59,000 subscribers.
“I didn’t have much confidence in my abilities when I started ‘Mad Gardener’ in 2018, and the only goal was to share my experiences. However, as the first Telugu channel to feature horticulture, we were able to attract a huge audience in just one month. People sent comments pushing me to publish as frequently as possible on all of my social media accounts. I’m now able to claim with pride that I’ve motivated thousands of people to start gardening. Although some of them may be limited by time and space, they nonetheless say that they love watching my videos. They share how their dream house would have a terrace garden like mine,” she adds.
Grows seasonal crops
Madhavi’s specialty is growing seasonal crops with short harvest cycles, such as capsicum, tomato, cauliflower, chilly, potatoes, cabbage, and heirloom gourds and beans. She does have a section of her garden dedicated to flowering trees such as roses, hibiscus, and chrysanthemums. Bananas, sugarcane, mulberries, sweet limes, cherries, dragon fruit, papaya, and papaya are all part of her 1,800-square-foot green haven. “I also grow turmeric, as well as vegetables like carrots, radish, beetroots, and mushrooms that are scarce in my neighbourhood,” she says.
She also mentions that she frequently gives half of her harvest to domestic workers, friends, and neighbours.
According to Madhavi, her son and daughter created a YouTube channel for her. “They used to help me shoot and edit my videos in the beginning, but I eventually learned to do it all by myself,” she explains.
Videos on organic farming
While the majority of Madhavi’s videos are “how-tos” on organic farming techniques for growing a variety of crops, she also offers advice on how to use natural fertilisers and manage pests.
“I have been planting around half of my vegetables over compost bins for the past two years. To do this, I fill the bin to the brim with soil, dried leaves, and twigs, then put leftover vegetable and fruit scraps on top. If done correctly, this not only nourishes the plant but also helps in the combat against fruit flies, maggots, and other dangerous insects, the expert claims. Although I occasionally use store-bought manure and Epsom salt, compost contains the majority of the micronutrients that plants require.”
She received recognition from an esteemed publication that educates farmers on cutting-edge organic farming techniques, in the field of terrace gardening.
“Getting an award from the Vice President of India was such an honor. But for me, the highlight of the evening was getting to stand next to other state farmers. What we produce in terrace gardens or little settings is insignificant to what they consistently achieve,” says Madhavi.
