Northwest Arkansas · USDA Zone 7b/8a · अमेरिका

Desi sabzi,
American mitti.

Bhindi, lauki, karela, barbatti — India’s vegetables, grown in an American backyard and cooked the way maa taught. No theory, no “plant parent” talk — techniques with real numbers, tested in real soil.

Watch on Instagram ↗ Read the tips

garden se garv tak

Millionsof views on Instagram
25+desi vegetables grown in the US
Zone 7b/8afrost Apr 5 · Nov 5 — hum yahin ugaate hain
हिंदीbecause gardening sounds better in it
Chandani with the Manhattan skyline across the water behind her

The story · कहानी

An Indian kitchen garden, 8,000 miles from home

I’m Chandani Singh. When we moved to Northwest Arkansas, everyone said the same thing — “yahan desi sabzi nahi milti.” The bhindi at the store was limp, the karela was nowhere, and the lauki… let’s not talk about the lauki.

So we grew our own. First one raised bed, then the fence line, then the whole backyard. American soil, American squirrels, American frost dates — and Indian seeds, Indian jugaad, Indian swaad. Now the garden feeds the kitchen, the kitchen feeds the family, and the whole journey goes on Instagram in Hindi.

This site is the notebook behind those Reels — every technique that actually worked, written down with the exact numbers, so your first bel doesn’t have to fail the way our first three did.

What we do · तीन काम

Ugao. Pakao. Jiyo.

🌿

Ugao · Grow

Desi vegetables in American conditions — which beej to start indoors, what survives zone 7b frost, how to hand-pollinate lauki when the bees don’t recognise it, and what to do about squirrels (spoiler: harvest earlier).

🍳

Pakao · Cook

From bel to thali the same day. Kurkuri bhindi with zero slime, barbatti that stays green and crunchy, chutneys from tomatoes the sun almost ruined — home-style Hindi recipes built around one non-negotiable number each.

🏡

Jiyo · Live

The part nobody plans: kids learning where sabzi comes from, phone calls to maa about whose bhindi is better, and the quiet garv of serving your family food you grew yourself — in a country where nobody thought it would grow.

Tips & Tricks · आज़माए हुए नुस्खे

Techniques that earned their place

Every tip here has one specific number — a ratio, a timing, a day count — because “thoda sa daal do” never grew anything. Updated as the garden teaches us new ones.