What do you usually do with a pile of dry leaves after sweeping your terrace or garden? For most of us, they go straight into the bin. But C V Varghese, a vegetable farmer from Wayanad, Kerala, found a way to put them to work.

Instead of needing a large patch of soil, he grows potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, and other vegetables in tall mesh towers. His method uses layers of dry leaves, cow dung, goat dung, neem cake, and a little organic soil mix, allowing him to grow several plants upwards in a small space.

The idea could work well for home gardeners with a terrace, backyard, or another limited growing area. And if you have plenty of fallen leaves around, you already have one of the main ingredients.

Here is how Varghese builds his potato-growing tower.

1. Build a five-foot tower with mesh

Start with a metal mesh wire with two-inch gaps and a height of five feet.

Cut the mesh to one and a half metres in width, then bend it into a cylinder. Bring the two ends together and secure them with plastic zip ties. You can paint the mesh if you wish.

The finished structure should be stable enough to hold several layers of growing material.

2. Place a watering pipe in the middle

Before filling the tower, prepare a PVC pipe measuring 0.75 inches in diameter and five feet in length.

Make holes in the pipe at intervals of three and a half inches. Place it upright in the centre of the mesh tower.

The pipe helps distribute water through the........

© The Better India