The Organic Diaries- Step 13: Pack Up Time!

We may have been off to a slow start because of the, may we say, ‘belligerent’ weather (For those who didn’t follow the diaries, yes, the weather was actually dead against us), but we were successful in the end. A section of our summer plants fared very well and our winter plants made us proud.

However, our real pride was the students of Turia Middle School. They showed responsibility and organisation one often doesn’t see in middle school students. We looked at the organic gardening project as a way to instill not only knowledge of organic cultivation but also of cooperation, team work and patience for mutual benefits.

To bid goodbye until we return with our diaries in the next academic year, we’d like to revisit some memories of our enjoyable yet very educational experience. Here are some of the photos that capture the pith of our organic experience.

Our initial July setback.

During our first sowing, the girls show the sole boy how it’s done!

Some post sowing fun with 7th graders. (Image: Ankit Pogula)

And, Ankit Pogula, one of the facilitators in July joins in (Image: Pulkita Pasai)!

Our organic expert and facilitator for the July workshop and sowing, Pulkita Parsai and our E-Base Program manager, Pooja Choksi breathing a sigh of relief after the sowing (Image: Ankit Pogula).

We can’t thank everyone who helped us with this project enough. This is a post sowing photo taken in July. Our Pench Coordinator, Subhash Bhawre (extreme left) with the team for the July sowing.

Environmental Conservation has many facets and is to be done at many levels- going organic and keeping our water and soil in pristine conditions is only one area of work. Through these micro level projects such as the organic garden, we hope to impart this understanding through the most practical manner. We have faith that our students will go ahead to make some environmentally and ecologically sustainable decisions in the future.

Students tending to their respective patches during the year.

Some of the success were bhindi, methi, palaka, coriander and barbati. We’re going to keep that in mind for our next sowing!

This being the last from the organic diaries, we’d also like to thank Taj Baghvan for their support on this endeavour. This project really couldn’t have been a success without each and everyone’s contribution.

For more on the organic garden, follow us on Facebook and Twitter and read #theorganicdiaries.

(The E-Base program is all about putting into practice learnings at the E-base. Our modules are well complemented by hands- on and practical implementations through our projects in schools we associate with. The three main projects for this year- organic gardening, composting and energy generation through a bicycle aim to drive home the necessity of a commitment towards sustainability and environmental conservation.)