Growing More Than 50 Vegetables & Fruits At Home, Chennai Woman Makes Her Own Organic Soaps

Anju Agarwal has been fond of gardening from her childhood days. She grew up seeing her parents working in the kitchen garden of their bungalow in Mumbai.

Speaking to The Better India, she says, “There was never a need for us to purchase vegetables from the market as my parents grew anything and everything. From bottle gourds and beans to even capsicum, everything was grown here organically. So, I think that is where it all began,” she says.

In 1993, she got married and moved to Chennai. Caught amid all her responsibilities, Anju hardly had any free time to invest in gardening or even consider the thought seriously.

Finally in 2008 the need to pursue the hobby returned to her life unexpectedly.

“Both my in-laws had taken ill and needed constant attention. It was a very stressful time, and I decided to take up gardening, as it was the only thing in the world that gave me utmost joy,” she recalls.

Today, Anju has a sprawling terrace garden of her own at her home, where she nurtures over 50 different varieties of vegetable and fruit-bearing plants as well as herbs. From spinach, tomatoes, beetroot, carrots, spring onions to cabbage, cauliflowers, papaya, bananas, guava, lemons and sweet potatoes, she has it all.

She even grows turmeric, which goes straight to her masala box in the kitchen!

Eight years later, Anju and her friends, Raghu Kumar and Shobha went on to establish The Organic Garden Foundation, an online forum that not only shares gardening hacks and solutions but also arranges terrace visits for enthusiasts, so that they can learn directly.

Besides meeting the culinary needs of her family, the garden produce also serves another purpose for Anju—she uses it to prepare organic soaps, and makes the essential oils herself!

“These are naturally made handcrafted soaps from produces from my garden. Doing a little personal research, I learnt how to make these and here too, my husband pushed me to pursue it. From roses and calamine and aloe and turmeric, we have a range of organic soaps that you can purchase through Facebook,” she adds.

If you wish to purchase something, you can check out their Facebook page