JOIN USIt was a gardeners’ day out. The All India Kitchen Garden Association (AIKGA) – a group of Delhi-based gardening enthusiasts recently organised the Udyan Mela – a gardening festival at the Gulmohar Park Club.
Members of the group put up their wares – potted plants of different kinds on sale and nature lovers had a field time. Also available were seeds of various plants, literature on gardening, gardening tools and pickles and jams made of home-grown organic produce.
This is the 45th year of the Udyan Mela in the Capital. The convenor of AIKGA, Bella Gupta informed us, “This group was formed way back in 1967 when India was undergoing a food crisis and the then PM Lal Bahadur Shastri gave the call Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan. A group of conscientious women, headed by Mrs. Shastri herself, decided to grow all the grain and vegetables they could in and around their homes and contribute to the nation’s economy. That’s how AIKGA was born.”
“Over the years, at least 6000 gardening enthusiasts have joined us and we provide them training of basic gardening, advanced gardening, Bonsai, Ikebana, vegetable carving and food preservation. The idea is to grow your own vegetables, fruits etc. in an organic way and become self-sufficient. In this age of inflation and pesticide grown produce, to be able to do so is nothing less than a boon.”
True to Bella’s words, at least 100 members of the group not only brought their plants to the fair for sale but also enthusiastically demonstrated how to pot and maintain them. There were also live demos of water gardening, bottle gardening, tray gardening, pocket gardening and even preparing vermicompost.
The stall of the Vasant Kunj unit of AIKGA, which attracted the maximum visitors, had plants grown in use-and-throw coffee cups, waste bottles, baskets, bamboo sticks and even khangar (burnt rock pieces). Its in-charge Meena Prasad, a housewife, explained, “The theme of our stall is gardening in waste containers. You can grow flowering plants, useful medicinal plants, succulents and even pretty ferns in these. Most people think that gardening requires big, expensive pots and is cumbersome. The truth is all that it requires is an initiative.”
Sanjeev Suri of Defence Colony, who confessed to be a passionate gardener from 5 to 9 and an engineer from 9 to 5, had brought his collection of bonsais. These included Jade, Peepal, Hibiscus and Adenium (Desert rose) trimmed to perfection. “Making bonsais is an art,” he shared. “It requires training but if you choose low maintenance plants, then they are hardly a hassle. Bonsais are beautiful. Having them is like bringing nature’s beauty home.”
Nandita Chaturvedi of Greater Kailash spent the day demonstrating tray, bottle and water gardening to visitors. A shallow bowl of water with water grass, water bamboo, hyacinth, water lilies and beautiful landscaping caught everyone’s attention. A big plant in a bottle with a small neck was a wonder to behold. She explained, “These days in multi-storey apartments, one hardly has the space to do elaborate gardening. So one can easily do gardening in trays, bottles and water bowls.
They lend a green touch to your home, absorb harmful gases and are also known to bring down tension levels. Besides, you’ll have the pleasure of creating something yourself to beautify your home.”