The smallest of
spaces within your home can be converted into a hub buzzing with flora and
fauna Urban
gardens don’t always have to be about efficiency and utility. They can be
things of beauty, micro-oases within the confines of your terrace, balcony or
courtyard.
“Micro green planting methods can be used to create
biodiversity even in small urban gardens,” explains Maya Ganesh, sustainability
consultant and socio-environmental researcher. “You can plant plants that
attract butterflies, or ones that provide nutrition to your main vegetable
plants, or those that protect other plants by keeping pests away.”
Ganesh gives the example of garlic. It serves as a natural
pest-repellant when planted along with spinach, since the pests that are
attracted to spinach cannot stand the smell of garlic. Tulsi , on the
other hand, can make tomatoes juicier, if planted right with it.
“These are called companion plants. The idea behind natural
farming is that of a no-weeds, no-pests system,” says Ganesh, explaining that
pests are not an issue if you know natural ways of keeping them at bay, and
that some weeds, in fact, can actually be useful.
Ganesh also practises permaculture, handles waste management
projects and holds gardening workshops for school. She will soon be sharing her
expertise with adults as well, teaching edible gardening for urban spaces in
Chennai over the weekend.
“It won’t just be restricted to edibles,” she says, “We’ll
also be looking at butterfly-trapping plants, edible weeds and other things.
There are a number of different plants that attract butterflies. For example,
curry leaves and some citrus plants attract the larvae, while the white
milkweed and certain varieties of hibiscus attract the butterflies.”
Ganesh will also be looking at weeds that are useful in
different ways. Some of them, she says, have medicinal properties, while other
lesser-known weeds are actually edible, such as the purslane, which she intends
to focus on during her workshop. Sowing, mulching and sapling transplantation
will also be covered, as will. The idea is to teach urban dwellers how to
create their own little worlds of greenery amid the concrete jungle, right on
their balconies, porches, backyards or terraces.
The workshop, named Gardening for City Folk, will be held at
The Farm, OMR, on October 7 and 8, from 10 am to 5 pm. Participants will be
given food, as well as pots, seeds and plants to take home. To register,
contact Maya Ganesh at 9840743940.
