People have found that vegetables, fruits, and herbs grown in this super-charged environment are healthier, mature faster, are superior in flavour and have longer shelf life compared to conventional and even organically grown produce.

Homa gardening is 100% organic and can complement any natural organic system. For example, there are many Homa gardeners that combine permaculture or biodynamic practices with Agnihotra. However, fertilizers or preparations that are derived from animal parts are not recommended.

Anyone can start a Homa garden, whether you have only a  square meter of ground for a raised bed, or a balcony or rooftop space where plants can be grown in containers. The main requirements are that Agnihotra should be performed daily and that no artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides be used whatsoever. Then there are additional applications that are specific to Homa gardening such as the use of Agnihotra ash.

Agnihotra Ash in Homa Gardening:

The ash from each Agnihotra fire can be stored in a ceramic or glass container for use in the garden. Do not use any metal except copper or gold! It’s best to leave the ash in the copper pyramid until the following Agnihotra time. Gardeners and farmers have experienced amazing improvement in their crops by using the Agnihotra ash in the following ways:

• When planting a seed always add Agnihotra ash over the seed and soil to increase and strengthen germination. In transplanting a seedling add ash to the plant base, roots and area where it will be transplanted. This will make the seedling stronger and ease the shock of transplanting.

• During bed or potting soil preparation sprinkle Agnihotra ash over the soil to increase the content of water soluble phosphorus, carbon and trace minerals.  The healing vibration of the ash also energizes the soil.

• If you have a large area and only a little ash then you can make Agnihotra Ash Solution and spray that over the ground. This means that a little ash can go a long way. Agnihotra Ash Solution is made by adding about 60 grams Agnihotra ash to 50 litres of water and leaving it for minimum 24 hours. This can be filtered through cloth before spraying or the ash will clog the sprayer. It should be applied to plants and soil once a week. Apply more regularly to diseased or weak plants.

•  Add Agnihotra ash to the different layers of compost. This will create super-charged compost.

• Regularly sprinkle Agnihotra Ash to any diseased plants and dig it lightly into the soil around trees.

• When saving your seeds add Agnihotra ash to improve quality and preservation.

Vermicompost

Worms are the gardener’s friend and you will see them multiply in the Homa garden. But another wonderful gift of the worm is that it will digest garden cuttings, compost and manure to produce nutrient rich worm castings that can be used around plants and added to potting soils. Worm bins with specific types of wrigglers can be made for this purpose.

Even if you only have a balcony space you can have a small worm composter to which you add vegetable and fruit scraps from the kitchen. You can then make fertilizer tea by filling 1/3 of a container with worm castings and Agnihotra ash and adding 2/3 water. Then let the mixture sit for minimum 24 hours. You can water or spray plants with a diluted solution of about 1 part worm compost tea to 10 parts water. The resulting solution should be a pale amber colour. If it is darker then dilute it further.

After a plant has been in a new pot for 10-12 weeks you can give them a weekly water of this diluted liquid fertilizer.

Moon Planting

Vedic wisdom recommends planting according to the phases of the moon. As a general rule plants that produce crops above ground should be seeded when the moon is waxing, and root crops should be planted during a waning moon.

Optional Treatments

Homa gardening is an ideal venture for any person who performs Agnihotra. However, if you have a farm then there are additional fires and practices that will supplement in a powerful way the effects of Agnihotra on a larger area of land. For the average gardener the additional fires can be difficult to implement unless you have communal gardens where they can be shared among a group. Other practices specific to Homa Farming, but which the gardener may be interested in, are Vedic seed treatments and Biosol liquid fertilizer. You can find out more about Homa Organic Farming and the amazing stories of farmers around the world here.(link)

When you perform Agnihotra in a garden the quality of the vegetable or fruit improves and food once again becomes medicine. If you grow and use medicinal herbs in a Homa atmosphere you will be surprised how potent they are. Horticulturalists can grow superb blooms and cut flowers last days longer.

Homa gardens are special places where we can connect to the magic of nature, to the seasons and natural cycles of the earth. We work the soil, care for the plants and gratefully reap her bounty. By performing Agnihotra we are able to give back to Mother Nature something special in return for all her gifts.

At Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya we have a beautiful vegetable garden with concentric circular garden beds and a magical spiral herb garden where we grow potent medicinal Homa herbs.

In the growing season we welcome volunteers to our community who wish to gain practical experience in Homa organic gardening/farming. Please visit the volunteer webpage if you are interested.