A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2007 Hello from India !

Hey, Stumbled onto this site while surfing the net for gardening forums . I am a member at a few other forums and they are really delpful ppl out there. I'm hoping to enjoying my stay here as well and hope to be able to contribute in some way ...

A lil about myself ... I am from India as u must have noticed from the Sebject . I live in the Northern state of Himachal Pradesh and its a mountainous area ( Himalayas ) and my family has been growing apples for the last 80-90 yrs. I graduated in 1997 with a major in Marketing from Cyprus but instead of pursuing the corporate world I decided to head back to India and start farming as well , SHOCKED myparents with that decision . I wasn't allowed home and I worked for 3 yrs till 2000 and finally was allowed to settle down into farming.

At the point I went home I had no clue about farming except how to pluck an apple and BITE into it . But slowly and steadily with the help from dad and the internet I started learning. Then I realised that apples though being a very lucrative crop didn't stimulate me enuff as I had loads and loads of free time on my hands. We had this [piece of land that had been lying vacant so we started growing vegetables for the local market -- brinjal, cucumbers, etc. That again got me bored as the first crop got hit by a hail storm and wiped us clean in about 10 mins flat, so to avoid such a situation I started reading about green houses . Things moved on and I progresed and then finally in 2004 I staretd planting Broccoli, Cherry tomatoes, Ice Berg lettuce, etc . And i planted a few thousand plants of each ... they did well and in the season just gone by I planted the following

Cherry Tomato -- 15000 plants
Zuccini -- about 7000 plants
Ice berg -- 3 acres
lettuce -- half acre or so
Broccoli --- 50000 plants

and a few other things but on a trial level . I suffered a loss in lettuce and broccoli as the temps in the summers go real high and I didnt produce as much as I shud have. Though I still managed breaking even and a bit more to cover for my week end drinks at a bar ..lol

This year to counter the high temp I am covering my Broccoli, Ice berg, Lettuce and Chinese cabbage fields under shade nets ( 50% ) !! Also setting up huge misting fans and Ishud not face the same problems as ;ast year.

I hope I havn't put u to sleep by now , but if u still awake then I'll end now. Basically I'm growing at a comemrcial level and looking to try new varieties from abroad.

As hobbies I luv motor racing and photography !!

See u guys around teh forum and I hope I find answers to my questions .

Happy growing

khaadu...very impressive. I hope you'll keep us posted. I think you'll really enjoy all the folks you'll meet here. Check out the Banter Hall if you get a chance.
Is English your first language? If I didn't know you were from India, I would have thought you were from the U.S.
I have a similar problem with cool season crops...I've not had a good harvest of broccoli yet...I may try setting some out extremely early this year, as it always gets too hot here in early summer, and the crowns flower out.
Please post some of your photos...if you're not familiar with doing that, a lot of us use a site called Photobucket, and there are some posts here about posting pics, as well.
Welcome!

khaadu to the forum from Texas. I live just across the state line a little ways from peppereater. We enjoy same weather for the most part. Your operation sounds interesting While I have no interest in growing broccoli your other projects sound good. Have you tried growing Hot peppers? I know there are a lot of peppers in your area. I would liek to see about some seed trades if our respective Governments would alllow it. would love to have some pepper or what ever seeds from India. I raise mostly Hibiscus and peppers.
Jimmy

Welcome to the forum khaadu. That is quite an impressive bit of gardening you do. I would love to see a picture of all the greenhouses you are using.

I am a mom of 6 living in the State of Washington and grow flowers as well as tomatoes and peppers on a MUCH smaller scale. Hope to see you around.

Hey, thanx for the Welcome !! I will start posting pics of my farm, etc shortly and is it ok if I use Imageshack to host them or is there a difference between the two ???

Peppereater -- Hi.. Actually the national language is called Hindi but we have been brought up with English as our first language. A lot of people have this wrong notion about Indians but over here almost the whole of the country does understand English, the litterate class.

JV -- Hey, Ill be happy to send you anything that you might want from here, as for the govt restrictions u'll have to figure that out. I just got a whole lot of tomato seeds from JOhnnys in the US but I asked a friend to carry them when she travelled so no Govt hassles there. Also peppers is a very confusing term for me , when u say peppers we picturise the ' Bell pepper' .. but I'm sure u mean the Hot Chillies !! I've been really wanting to grow those inorder to make some home made Tobasco ( Chilli sauce ) .. Pls advice which variety and from which company -- also the growing practises for that like temp, soil type, any other secrets that u mite like to share with me.

Triss, Hi.. Very shortly I will definitely put up some pics !! Also I still consider my garden very small coz I'm still looking to increase my acreage with newer and different vegetables --

Cheers

Well my 15 tomatoes and peppers combined is a lot less than yours. Of course I am not farming as you are. I am still very impressed with your successes in such a short amount of time.

Yes, the peppers Jimmy and I are talking of are the hot chili's. He grows a lot more than I do but I am hoping to catch up to him soon. I bet you have some great varieties available to you there.

Hi Triss, God grace I have been pretty successful in a short period of time but I owe a lot to the internet and the data that I have managed accumulating from here. Though I feel that I still may not be producing as much per plant as a lot of you out there are and thats one reason why I'm hanging around on a lot of these forums trying to get an answer ---

Hot peppers are not much of a rage here yet but maybe I need to start producing and seeing how the market will respond .. Actually in India its very tough if not impossible to get to a buyer directly . The reason as you might be wondering is due to the society here .. the vegetables that I grow are not consumed by the masses and its only for the hotels and the rich . And the rich don't go to a farmers market as the farmer market here is like a fish market ... lol !! You only find the regular vegetables in the farmers market and truthfully even I don't go to the farmers market . I grow and have whole salers who buy it from me .... I get a premium as I'm producing during the summer months hwen no other part of India is producing vegetables due to the high temperatures and the hills thats thetime when we grow.. eg -- Today the wholesale price are as follows --

Cherry tomato -- .50 cents/kg
Iceberg lettuce -- 5 cents per piece
Zucchin -- 10 cents/kg
Broccoli -- 25 cents/kg

whereas in summers the lowest I get is

Cherry Tomato -- $1.25-$3/kg
Iceberg lettuce -- $1-$1.50/kg
Zucchini -- 50 cents-$2.5/kg
Broccoli-- $2.5-$4/kg

So its summer time for me and in winters i spend what I earn ..lol !!! Th eprices may not seem a lot to you but then here the cost of labor is much lower, cost of everything is lower I guess. Plus I have no taxes to pay .. in any form so its pretty lucrative.

Pls advise me on pepper varieties, also do you know anyone who is a commercial tomato grower !! I need help with beef tomatoes as I wanna grow them this coming season but still havnt decided which one to plant , or I'll simply try a few 1000 plants of each ..maybe 4-5 varieties !! and then see hwta gives me gud results ..

I'm starting to enjoy myself here ..

Cheers

PS-- MERRY X-MAS to you and ur family !!!

khaadu Good morning had a lot ready to post everything poofed on my end. Will try again. I raise the regular jalapeno,Caribbean chili,Thai Chili, Habanero among others. Also for just about any info you need is right here on this forum in search type in chili pepeprs you will get a ton of info. Regarding your Tabasco sauce it is made from Cayene Chili's for info on them in search type in Tabasco.com. Hope this helps. right now I don't have many seeds what I do have is being stratified now as the seeds needs some cold to bring them out. I will probably soak and plant them in February. I don't know about your growing season right now here it is winter. although I live in the soutern part of the country it is still cold here. Our temps can run from below zero in winter(which does not happen often) to well labout 100 in the summer of course there is a heat index to go with it depending on the humidity. Hope this helps you some. Will check on Govt. regulations between our coutries. What state or province are you in? I have a lady friend was a missionary to India she speaks some Hindi although I am not sure how much.
Jimmy

Khaadu...the reason I was curious about your english is that you write very much in the American style.
As you might guessm from my log-in name I am very fond of peppers, although my efforts so far have just been a few plants each of several varieties. peppers are all the rage here in the States, and varieties from all parts of the world are available as seed. I suggest you look into some of the peppers called Anaheim or New Mexico chiles, and a type called Poblano. These are slighlty hotter than bell peppers, but with very distinct, delicious flavor. They are simply excellent for cooking with, and both of these varieties are often stuffed with cheese or meat.
Tell us what you like to eat! We love to cook and eat, you'll find, and we love to hear about others' cooking. There are vegetarians here, people who eat only Kosher foods, etc, and it makes for a very interesting range of foods.

peppereater here are the regulations for lake Texhoma for both sides.

In Lake Texoma, a person may fish in the respective Texas and Oklahoma waters with the appropriate license from the respective state, or may fish the entire lake with a Lake Texoma fishing license as explained below.
Lake Texoma License (Type 208): $12 – With this license, which is valid until December 31st following the date of issuance, a person may fish in both the Texas and Oklahoma waters of Lake Texoma without any additional Texas or Oklahoma fishing licenses. Holders of this license are exempt from freshwater fishing stamp endorsement requirements for the purpose of fishing on Lake Texoma.
Sounds like a cheap rate to me but well worth it if only used once or twice.
Jimmy

Hey Khaadu and welcome to our family. Woooow, that's what I call a garden!! :>0 I can't wait to see pics of it!

I hope you enjoy your stay here with us. I'm still relatively new to this forum and am a member of a couple of other forums too. But, I think I can pretty well guarantee that you won't find friendlier people than those here!

Since Christmas is over with, I'll simply wish you and your family a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Robert

HEY, JUST A FEW PICS OF MY FARM - !! they are a mix lot !!



green house pics -- Fabricated ourselves - made of wood !! Cost = $20 per sq mtr !! Anyone interested ??? lol



i hope I didn't bore u guys .... wud luv to hear about what u think !!

Cheers

hey,Some more pics --

a few pics of myself !



My tongue -- my wife with me ( blue ) and my best friends who are settled in LA ( USA )



Finally , this is what I do in my psare time .. Rally cars !! I luv the thrill of sliding around those corners when I'm free from my farm



Cheers

And one last one that I forgot to post ...

Duke ( dog ) with his pet ( the lil kitten )



view from my balcony ..



Sorry if I made too many posts but didn't know that there was a limit of 8 pics per post !! Not very comfortable with photobucket yet ..

Cheers

Very nice, khaadu, thanks for the pics. You have a very pretty wife! Please keep us updated on your growing operation, and everything else.

Khaadu love your pics. I am very interested in you rGreen House they look huge. You can't pos ttoo many pic's we all like to see pic's of everyones plants and green houses. Go to plants and flower forum and post you will find a lot of good people there.
Jimmy

khaadu, thank you for sharing your pics with us. I am very impressed with your operation! And as peppereater said, you have a very pretty wife. I also love the sunset scene from your balcony. It looks like you live in a very pretty area.

Robert

Welcome khaadu! I loved looking at your pictures they are all great.

Love the pics! I have to say I am quite impressed with your gardening operation. And the racing cars is way cool too! Something I also enjoy watching, not doing, in my spare time.

Great pictures khaadu
Welcome to the forum
Nice to meet you.

Hey, Thanx for the warm welcome !! I hope to hang around here for quiet some time ...

Cheers

Hiya, Havn't signed in for quiet some time as I was at the farm and unable to connect to the Net. My preparations for the next season have started and have put out a few seeds .. should be ready for transplanting by end March by when the cold wave finishes..

I'm sure a lot of you as well are getting ready to start preparations for your gardens. I'm planting on a much bigger scale this year with a few new products added as well.

What r u ppl upto ??

Cheers

Hi there,

thanks for sharing your pictures with us.
you have found the right place for all of your gardening needs and questions

Welcome Penny

Hi Khaadu, that's really impressive. You'll have to keep us posted on how the crops are for you this year.

I definitely will keep everyone posted .. with loads of pics