Dubai family is growing strong after turning city home into thriving farm amid pandemic
An enterprising Dubai family is reaping the rewards of self-sufficiency after building a thriving farm at their own home.
Praveen Kottavathil, who lives with his wife and two children, has transformed their Al Quoz villa and its grounds into a 280-square-metre ecosystem where fruit and vegetables are grown, beehives provide a plentiful supply of honey, and rabbits, hens, parrots and fish are among the fauna.
The agricultural expertise of Mr Kottavathil, an administrator by day, and his family has greatly cut down on supermarket trips and minimised their risk of exposure to Covid-19.
The family harvests brinjal (aubergine), tindly (ivy gourd), tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, coriander leaves, spinach, beans, curry leaves, chillies, watermelons, tapioca and sugarcane.
“The vegetables are fresh, healthy and pesticide-free,” Mr Kottavathil said.
“In the last few months of the pandemic, we have only purchased onions, garlic and ginger from the supermarket. Every other vegetable and fruit we ate grew in our home.
“We don’t have to step out of our house and go to crowded places to buy groceries. We stay at home and avoid any exposure to the virus.”
The farming family man is from the southern state of Kerala in India where he grew up amid lush green farms owned by his father and grandfather.
He wanted to recreate the experience for his children in Dubai and that’s what inspired him to build the farm.
When the pandemic started, the family put their shoulders to the wheel to harvest homegrown vegetables. Most of the produce was picked between December and April. This month they had watermelons, sweet melons, three varieties of spinach, chillies, curry leaves and beans.
“My kids participate in the farming. They help to water the plants, dig the soil, make the compost and feed the animals. The compost is made from our kitchen waste,” he said. “The benefit of having rabbits and other animals is that their dung can be added to the compost as fertiliser. The animals are not for our consumption – they are our pets. We consume only the hens’ eggs.”
The farm has a pond adorned with lotus flowers where they breed three types of fish – tilapia, guppies and koi carp.
Mr Kottavathil said he hoped more people would take inspiration from their home-grown success, especially during the pandemic.
“Even in a balcony, we can easily grow spinach, curry leaves, coriander leaves, mint and a few other vegetables.
“Almost all kinds of seeds are now available in the UAE’s nurseries. We should all do farming at home, especially for our kitchens.”
We don’t have to step out of our house and go to crowded places to buy groceries. We avoid exposure to the virus
PRAVEEN KOTTAVATHIL Administrator and urban farmer