In the Portuguese days of old, Goa was hugely Agricultural. We fed ourselves by growing and consuming from our personal and communal lands. With Indian Statehood, Tourism, Mining, lack of employment for our youth and mass exodus of Goans abroad in search of work, our motivation to work in the fields waned significantly and the import of produce/fish/flesh from adjoining States flourished. With rising inflation these imports are much too expensive and through Government Policy and focus and the need to survive we are heading back to the fields and organic farming. Terrace & Balcony Gardening is a ‘back to the field’ in miniature.

We have a 16 x 16 square foot terrace which overlooks the Botanical Gardens and is presently used in the summer to dry home grown coconut cakes, grain, spices and such; it will be ideally suited to this endeavour.

Presently, we offer a lecture-with-live-demo, to visiting students on a field-trip. The subject is all-encompassing and covers Nature and how we grow and maintain our Gardens. The entrance tariff includes this instruction and is one way we invest in our Community.

Our intention is to do similarly with a lecture-with-live-demo to adults on utilizing their vacant urban spaces to economize on food costs and encourage having a pleasant hobby in proximate gardenIng.

Urban dwelling guests to our Botanical Gardens ask to purchase our potted plants or shoots of plants or cuttings of stems and are quite miffed when we do not, as we cannot meet the replacement and retrenchment needs of our gardens, as it is.

There always follows a strong suggestion to teach visitors.

The lecture-cum-demo is included in the visit and day spent in the Botanical Garden, but seating restrictions will dictate attendance without pre-booking. Rs.200 per adult is the garden Entrance Fee.

WE ARE NOWHERE NEAR ACHIEVING THE ABOVE. WE HAVE IDENTFIED THE LOCATION AND PLOTTED THE SPACE ALLOCATION. THERE IS A LOT MORE TO DO, LEARN, PLANT AND GROW BEFORE WE CAN INVITE GUESTS AND STUDENTS.