The wonders of Panatda's rooftop garden

       "Growing plants is like raising children, you get emotionally attached, when they grow up you feel good. It's even better than children because they never talk back at you.
       Just about everyone finds the idea of having a private garden within the confines of their home very appealing. It's the perfect place to relax.Wouldn't it be great if this garden could provide shade and double as a vegetable garden as well?
       Not only will you be increasing the green area, but you can eat fresh, delicious vegetables too.
       If you don't know what vegetables you'd like to plant, then maybe Panatda Tokiartrungruang, aka Aunty Neng, can give you a few pointers.
       This 54-year-old woman revamped the entire rooftop of her 5-storey shop-house into a most enviable vegetable garden, streaming with variety and vibrant colours.
       Panatda's garden is an award-winning vegetable garden in the rooftop category.She competed in the recent "Vegetable Garden in My House" contest at the National Herbs Exhibition in September.
       Her 30-square-wah shophouse is in the Sathon area of Bangkok. After recovering from heart surgery, her body gradually healed itself and became stronger. From then on she decided that she wanted to take good care of herself.
       Once she was able to walk up the five flights of stairs, Panatda set out to transform her shophouse rooftop into a hydroponic vegetable garden, where the fruits of her labour could be used in the kitchen or sold.
       Alas, the cost of hydroponics was just too high for her.
       Recycled garden
       Panatda previously earned a living in the recycling business, so she knows a thing or two about used materials and how to find them. It just so happened that next to her shophouse was a large recycling business.
       She decided that recycled and discarded materials would be the building blocks of her vegetable garden.
       It was her decision to use recycled materials that won the hearts of the judges at the competition.
       Old electric cable sheaths became a web to support greens and veggies as they become heavy with produce.
       The butterfly pea (anchan)is Panatda's baby: It blooms beautiful blue flowers throughout the floating garden as green beans slither in between.
       "Most people will use a steel frame for the greens to cling on and grow but steel is heavy and a conductor of heat. I don't think vegetables would want to be around a hot frame for support. There are strong winds on the rooftop as well which makes it prone to falling down," Aunty Neng said.
       "But using electric cable sheaths is the perfect solution because it's light-weight and not hot. Just connect them together, crisscross it like a net. If you don't like what you see, just change the pattern. And it's not expensive."
       An old laundry basket, used lanterns and the innards of a washing machine are a few examples of what Panatda has adapted to use as pots for her vegetables. A conventional garden pot might cost about 200 baht but Panatda's used materials cost only a fraction, or about 20-30 baht each.
       Old foam boxes are great garden pots because foam does not absorb heat. They are also perfectly suited for rooftops,because they are lightweight.
       Panatda also uses old clothes hangers, cupboards, old noodle stalls and PVC pipes for greens and flowers to cling to and flourish.
       "Washing pans or the old inner structure of drying machines are usually screened out by recycling shops because they don't have any monetary value, unlike the outer structure of washing machines which are made of steel. However they are ideal because there are holes which serve as a good water drainage system. I'd place a plastic cover inside first and then add soil in order to make watering the plants an easy job. Water drains out of the holes on the sides. It's only a few baht. It saves money and is rather durable," she explained.
       Panatda buys and shares vegetable seeds from her friends. Some blooms are left to mature so she collects the seeds for future
       cultivation. Her main gardening expense is soil:Bags of potting soil cost about 20 baht each.
       Aunty Neng does not use pesticides or chemicals. She plucks out frail or bad-looking leaves.
       If she finds insects that might be harmful then she cuts the branch and waits for new growth to replace it.
       Not only does this save money but the fruits of her labor taste really good,and are in high demand by everyone in the neighbourhood.
       "My house specialty is stir-fried green beans with minced pork, garlic and prik-khi-noo chilies. My green beans are very sweet. When they are ripe the harvest is bountiful which is why I sell some of my produce to nearby shops and somtam vendors. Oh! They love it and don't sell it but eat it themselves. They tell me my vegetables are very delicious and sweet when compared to what they usually buy in the market. My vegetables are really organic. They might not be big but their taste is. No matter how many veggies I have, they always sell out,"Panatda said .
       Butterfly pea the star of the garden
       Most of the space on Panatda's rooftop garden is dominated by butterfly pea flowers.There are butterfly pea blooms in a fresh blue variety, light blue and white colours.Some butterfly peas cling to the walls while others snuggle their way up into a makeshift archway that provides shade and shelter for an afternoon nap.
       Panatda explained that her fondness of the butterfly pea plant comes from the fact that it is easy to cultivate, grows fast, and is an epicurean's dream in the kitchen. The flower can be boiled and served as a healthy drink, and is a tasty snack when eaten fresh.It can be used as a seasoning, such as a side dish for chili paste (namprik), dipped in egg and fried, or mixed into fried scrambled eggs, to name just a few delights.
       Hence, Panatda selected the butterfly pea flower to be the star of her garden. She says drinking butterfly pea juice daily keeps her in good health: She feels strong and her joints and muscles do not feel weary.
       Every morning from 6am till 11am Panatda is working under the shade of her rooftop garden, with her radio to keep her company.
       Her chores include watering the plants,tilling the soil and taking care of her plants.But her core responsibility is to harvest the abundant butterfly pea flower. She has more than she can eat herself, so she sells the extra flowers.
       "I never thought of selling butterfly pea flowers as a serious profit-making scheme.I shared with my friends at first but some ate the flowers daily and they felt it would be appropriate if they paid for it instead. Now I sell fresh flowers and bottled butterfly pea juice at 10-15 baht per bottle," she said.
       "I collect the flowers and put them in the fridge for a week, then I sell them. At 20 baht per bag I sell about 10 bags a week for about 200 baht. Sometimes I boil butterfly pea juice and make merit. I have so many flowers I have to sell them at the market. At 20 baht per bloom I get a considerable amount."
       Secret to growing many greens and flowers in one pot
       The vegetable garden of Panatda is characterised by its rich variety. There are vegetables and then there are flowers and decorative plants, more than 50 species. She has planted basil, mint, green beans, garden pea, hot chilies, yellow chilies, water bamboo grass (ya-pai-nam), papaya, cassava, bananas,moringa, grenadine, pandanus, jasmine,sweet oleander, common lime and hibiscus:The list just goes on and on.
       Panatda said that she has always had a fondness for planting flowers and recalls someone telling her that growing flowers and vegetables together will reduce insect problems because they will pay attention to the flowers instead of the greens.
       "At first I didn't know much. I liked flowers so that's all I planted. But then an expert recommended I mix in vegetables. Each pot contains a mixture of flowers and vegetables,so they can help each other. Plants which are left to grow alone do not survive, but once I put them beside other pots they can benefit from the shade and reach maturity.
       "For example I put the aloe vera with butterfly pea, or the green beans with papaya and when they mature I can single them out in separate pots."
       Having a garden on a rooftop that is exposed to extremely hot temperatures calls for heavy morning watering.
       Panatda recommends that you water your plants generously until the water seeps out onto the base of the pot. Watering once in the morning is sufficient.
       Gardening and good health
       It's been two years since Panatda underwent heart surgery. She's transformed herself into a full-time rooftop gardener with the love and support of her husband and children.
       She used to rest in between the flights of stairs but now Aunty Neng casually makes it up and down the five-storey shophouse with no problem at all.
       Sometimes she carries a bag of earth on her way up, or she'll come down with a basket full of vegetables.
       "Each day is full of happiness for me when I come up here alone. My health has improved tremendously. I don't tire easily, unlike before.When I am in the garden, time flies and there is shade and small birds that fly in frequently,"Panatda said.
       "Being with plants keeps me fresh. I am thinking of building a small room in the corner at the back with a built-in bathroom so I don't have walk down to use the toilet.Growing plants is like raising children, you get emotionally attached, when they grow up you feel good. It's even better than children because they never talk back at you," she said, laughing.
       "But plants are emotionally fragile because if you forget to water them once, they droop and sag: So you need to take good care of them." she added.
       Before bidding goodbye, Panatda made sure mylife took home hundreds of butterfly pea seeds and a number of plants."It's not hard to grow. Once the plants grow you can eat it and reduce global warming as well."