Introduction To Urban Organic Garden Workshop
On Saturday, 2nd of December 2018, AuroKrishi organized its first training workshop on Urban Organic Garden at the Sharanam center.
The aim of the workshop was to introduce the participants to the concept of growing their own small-scale organic garden on rooftops, terraces, kitchen, or in community spaces available around their homes. The half-day event from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm had 15 enthusiastic participants interested to learn about the ways of shifting to organic food in an urban setting. The day began with Gramonnati founder Ved Prakash Sharma talking about AuroKrishi and the various activities to those who had come to attend the workshop.
The first session by Raja Ganesh aimed at explaining the basic concepts behind urban gardens and their various designs. Next, our trainer Parthasarathy talked about suitable greens, vegetables, and fruits which can be successfully planted and maintained in any kind of an urban garden setting.
After the theoretical part of the workshop, the participants had a hands-on practice on how to plant their own seedlings. Our experts discussed in great details the methods to plant and maintain small seedlings in Aurokrishi’s organic jute bags which were given as complimentary to each participant.
In the penultimate session, there was a short introduction to herbs and herbal gardens conducted by Parvathy from Pichandikulam forest in Auroville. Parvathy spoke about how organic raw food and herbal recipes are important in maintaining the constitutional balance of the body. She also prepared for the participants a simple raw organic lunch – a mix of salads, raw vegetables, juices, and a smoothie.
The day ended at 14:30 with the participants leaving Sharanam satisfied; each carrying their first planted seedling. It was an educative and fulfilling workshop that gave a comprehensive introduction into the world of urban gardening and created an opportunity to experience the joy of working with the soil and nature. This event was the first of many that will be held each Sunday at Sharanam facility.