FLAT ROOF, LOTS OF WARMTH – IDEAL GREENHOUSE CONDITIONS!
The large rooftop area at the station in Kathmandu-Tilganga was empty for a long time – until Marianne Grosspietsch had the great idea to start a rooftop garden there.
That way, vegetables, cabbage and lettuce could be grown on-site, because Shanti could never have enough to keep every person full.
Some of the vegetables are grown outdoors in large terra cotta troughs, and the more tender varieties are grown in the greenhouses protected by plastic sheeting.
They protect delicate tomato plants from the alternating weather conditions.
PROTECTION FOR PLANTS AND PEOPLE
What's more, they also provide both of the gardeners and their families, who take care of the plants, a warm and dry home.
One of them suffered from leprosy, and the other one has a club foot. Neither of them could hope for normal employment in Nepal.
Up to now, the sturdy sheeting has withstood all of the storms. And there are plenty of those in Kathmandu during the winter months and especially during the monsoon months!
The warm, humid climate in the Kathmandu Valley provides the ideal growing conditions. Three times each year, the gardeners harvest tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce and other vegetables.