With the use of chemicals by vegetable farmers becoming a health hazard, many have started to grow their own gardens.

A garden growing gourd is designed on top of a house

And a hanging garden growing white radish

Fresh pinach is grown in a plastic basin

And here is fresh basil

In densely populated cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, owning a garden may seem beyond the dreams of many families however, it is becoming an economical reality for many.

With increasing worries about the bad quality of vegetables from the markets, people have turned to growing their greens at home.

Visiting a garden on top of Phan An Kim’s house on Giai Phong Street, Thanh Xuan District, we can see tomatoes, cabbage, kohlrabi, red pepper, and many kinds of herbs growing.

Kim said that he started growing vegetables six months ago when he heard about the overuse of insecticide and chemical fertilizers on vegetables sold at the markets. His wife suggested growing vegetables at home, using cartons to have clean, safe food as well as to keep the house cool.

“Recently we’ve heard about so many cases of food poisoning related to eating vegetables,” said Kim’s wife. “Many farmers do not follow instructions when using insecticide and especially chemical fertilizers. They only think about profit and do not care about people’s health which is being threatened by their produce. We’d rather protect ourselves with this garden.”

Her words highlight a recent burning issue. Many others are also choosing this path to protect themselves.

With a population of over 6 million, the capital city of Hanoi consumes nearly 3 tonnes of vegetables every day. The city has some 11,650 hectares of land for growing vegetables. However, only 2,105 hectares are under the supervision of Hanoi’s Government. Surrounding provinces such as Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, and Hung Yen are also contributing a significant amount of greens to Hanoi’s markets and the city cannot control the quality of these sources.

Many families feel the best solution at the moment is “a garden at home.”

Kim’s family no longer has to worry about vegetables, an essential component of any Vietnamese meal. Now they can harvest their own vegetables every 5-6 days.

“We have more delicious meals just because we feel safe,” Kim smiled.

To create his home garden, Kim just need some cartons, some seeds, a special soil made from sawdust, coconut fiber and some special solutions to water their vegetables.

This form of garden was the idea of Associate Professor Ho Huu An at the Hanoi University of Agriculture. The advantage of this method is that people can grow indoors with a limited space. Watering is done by an automatic dripping system.

With this method, “You can have an ideal vegetable garden taking up only 1 square metre,” as An suggested.

Using a 60 square centimetre carton, it needs 15 grams of seeds and 525 grams of soil. To save space, a person can arrange each kind of vegetable on separate layers of a shelf.

Taller plants should be on the top layer and the smallest on the bottom. Each layer should have 10-30 centimeters of space.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Dao, Director of Nguyen Nong Co. Ltd., which supplies seeds and materials for growing vegetables at home, people only need to invest VNĐ 30,000 – 60,000 for a 1 square metre garden, including carton, seeds, and soil.

Vegetables can be grown around the year anywhere in the house including the balcony, terrace, front yard or back yard. With a 30 to 40 square centimetre carton, you can produce 1 kilogram of vegetables per week once the plants have reached maturity.

Seeds and materials for growing vegetables at home are available at the Agriculture Department, Hanoi University of Agriculture or Nguyen Nong Co,. Ltd. (146/6A Vo Thi Sau, D3, HCMC).