Urban Farming For Kathmandu

Soil-first agronomy and rooftop design. We read the ground before anything is designed on top of it.

A tomato plant in a terracotta pot, carrying ripe and unripe fruit

What we do

Six ways we work on a site. Each one starts with the soil.

  1. 01

    Soil Analysis

    One site visit. Findings in two weeks.

    What your growing medium is actually doing — structure, biology and drainage, read before anything is planted.

    • On-site assessment of structure and drainage
    • Written diagnosis of what limits the site
    • Amendment and composting plan
  2. 02

    Land & Rooftop Design

    Scoped per site after an assessment visit.

    Load, waterproofing, drainage and beds resolved together, so the garden carries its own weight for decades.

    • Load assessment against the existing slab
    • Waterproofing and root-barrier specification
    • Drainage, bed layout and irrigation design
  3. 03

    Ongoing Advisory

    Retained by the season or the year.

    Seasonal guidance for a system already running, and a direct line for the month a season turns against you.

    • Planting and rotation guidance by season
    • Scheduled reviews through the growing year
    • A direct line when a season turns
  4. 04

    Composting Systems

    Specified alongside a soil analysis.

    A closed loop sized to the household that feeds it, so the soil improves each year instead of being bought again.

    • System sized to your household's waste volume
    • Siting, containment and odour control
    • A feeding and turning routine you can keep
  5. 05

    Irrigation & Drainage

    Designed with the build, retrofitted where needed.

    Water moved deliberately in both directions — monsoon volume out, dry-season supply in, on a schedule.

    • Drainage sized for monsoon peak, not average rainfall
    • Irrigation layout and scheduling for the dry months
    • Storage and reuse where the roof allows it
  6. 06

    Workshops & Training

    Cohorts open by waitlist.

    The method taught in person on a working rooftop, so a system outlasts our involvement in it.

    • Two days hands-on, capped at fifty people
    • Assessment, soil mechanics and system build
    • The seasonal calendar, handed over

Two people,
one method

Strata Agronomy is two people: one who has spent three decades diagnosing ground, and one who builds the structure that sits on top of it.

Most rooftop gardens here fail in their second year. The plants are the symptom; the growing medium is usually the cause.

About us
Years in field agronomy
30+
Engagement types
6
Places per cohort
50
Design horizon
10yr

How a job runs

Each stage depends on the reading taken in the one before it.

  1. 01 Site assessment
  2. 02 Soil diagnosis
  3. 03 Written prescription
  4. 04 Build support
  5. 05 Season monitoring
  6. 06 Handover
The land already knows what it needs. Our role is to listen first.
Nirmal Gadal Lead Agronomist & Founder

Field notes

All notes →

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