If you’ve been inclined to having your own vegetable garden and didn’t know where to begin, this workshop might be a good place to start. A large backyard is welcome but not a necessity to grow your own vegetables. A portion of the terrace or balcony will do. Even a window sill can hold small pots in which you can grow some herbs.
‘Urban garden – the self-sufficient way’ by Baag Studio and Kalaachakra is a one-day workshop open to limited number of participants. Here, get to know the sowing and harvesting cycles of local produce and how indigenous methods, which now fall into the ambit of permaculture, can be used. Potter Akila Chungi, also a permaculture enthusiast, explains that the technique incorporates methods that have been used by our ancestors. For instance, she remembers how her grandmother would sprinkle sugar on the soil where she wanted to sow some seeds. Ants would feed on the soil and in the process, till them. The next day the soil was ready to receive the seeds. For beginners, she suggests growing tomatoes and brinjals: “These are easy to tend to; one can gradually add other vegetables to their garden,” she suggests.
Akila Chungi at Kalaachakra
The workshop will touch upon storage of food grains and seeds in earthenware. The focus will also be on growing seasonal local produce. If you like broccoli, the session will help you look for local alternatives that will give you the health benefits of broccoli.
Among the many dos and don’ts, pay attention to nurturing soil health. Akila equates the treatment the soil requires for optimum health with that of diligent skincare. Mulching by using vegetable peels, egg shells or fallen leaves helps enhance soil quality and protects it from the harsh rays of the sun and pollution.
James Clark
The workshop is designed to help participants get a holistic perspective of urban gardening, in harmony with water, shelter and energy in urban spaces. Architect and ecologist Aditi Veena Gupta who founded the Goa-based BAAG Ecological Research and Design Studio and James Clark, an ecologist and a diver, will highlight what goes into achieving this delicate balance.
Apart from the how-to of kitchen gardening, learn tips and tricks to enhance an eco-conscious way of living by conserving natural resources. Akila cites an example, “Water that’s dispelled from the RO purifier can be re-used for flowering/ornamental plants. We will discuss several ways in which water can be used.”
(The workshop will be held at Kalaachakra, Road no.10, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, on March 24, 9.30am to 5.30pm. Fee ₹2500. Call 8766355419.)
