JOIN USIn an effort to promote urban farming and organic terrace gardening, a day-long event called ‘Oota from your Thota’ was organised in the City by Garden City Farmers (GCF) and held at Kuvempu Rangamandira in Girinagar.
Some of the demonstrations included waste segregation and home-composting, vertical gardening, window farming, solar lighting, irrigation and rain-water harvesting.
With the tagline ‘Eat what you grow and grow what you eat’, the event also had workshops to generate an interest among urban dwellers about gardening and growing their own food.
Saikiran BC, trustee of Garden City Farmers, said, “These days, all the products are filled with pesticides. That’s why we are trying to promote terrace gardening. These are simple methods that can be adopted at home. At least people can start off in a small way. And we are here to help them out by giving them the materials.”
Pointing out that they were delighted with the overwhelming response, Saikiran added, “We have organised it in South Bangalore this time because this part of the City is very clean and green. And we were pleased to see many showing an interest in what we had to offer.”
Anupa was selling trinkets and the proceeds from this were going towards the fisherwomen affected by the tsunami.
“We are hoping to collect as much as possible today so that it helps the affected fisherwomen,” she said.
Vani Murthy and Claire Rao from ‘We Care For Malleswaram’, who were demonstrating how to segregate dry and wet waste at home, said, “We are glad to see so many people showing an interest to grow their own vegetables. And we are even more surprised to see the number of people who have come from different parts of the City just for this.”
Many were seen making an enquiry about the possibilities of terrace gardening.
“I have attended this programme previously and love the enthusiasm and energy here. It’s good to see many coming out to do something instead of just talking about what can be done. Every time I come here, I learn something new,” said Prakash, a visitor.
Kirthi, another visitor, pointed out that organic products are worth it though they are highly priced.
“But most of us here are looking at the benefits rather than the cost. There is nothing more important than our health,” she said.