Friday 13th April 2018
Yet another Sunny spring day brought all green people under one roof (of sky). The second day was all about soil and worms. We started the day with some vegan delights and sips of green tea.
Rowin started the presentation with a pleasingly dirty outdoor activity : Walking without shoes and socks in the garden!
We were all supposed to fill up the 1/3rd of glass jars with some soil from anywhere in the garden and added water to fill it up completely.
Rowin’s presentation was titled “La Compostie” and he explained layers of soil, health of soil and showed us a film about farming in India and how Indian farmers take care of their soil’s health by not using chemical fertilizers and composting.
He told us that any normal soil can be made fertile by composting.
There was an interesting quote in the film : “Health of soil, plants, animals and people is one!”
Rowin made Botany lesson interesting by explaining the connection between microorganisms and plants. Plants produce sugar by the process of photosynthesis and stores it at the root so that microorganisms are attracted to it. These microorganisms help generating the right nutrients in the soil for the plant.
We observed our glass jars and could see several layers of soil in it. Some material had settled down at the bottom of the jar, some floating.
Hot Composting Vs Cold Composting
In hot composting, one has to actively turn the material or the pile of waste or heap of grass/straw. In cold composting, no turning of (waste) material is needed. Hot composting is faster than the cold one.
I learned a couple of new terms and concepts : Food forest (artificial forest for sustainable plant based food production) and Worm hotel (In a Worm Hotel, about 50 worms live composting VGF-waste. This compost is rich in useful minerals for fertile soil, and can be spread in the garden)
I also got a piece of local knowledge: a restaurant “As” near Beatrix park where they cook in a purest form possible collaborating with local retailers.
In the break, we had delicious vegan tacos made by Aveen and her team along with grapes, nuts and tea!
Second half was all about making compost from waste and learning about worms.
Rowin introduced us to our new to-be pets: worms. I did not know that a worm has 5 hearts
He delved into details of worm hotel and showed us a representative one in the garden.
Green waste vs Brown waste
Fruit and vegetable peels and covers are green waste (source of Nitrogen) while (cardboard) papers are brown wastes (source of Carbon).
Workshop
Rowin along with other volunteers at GLL, gave us a demonstration of making a vermicompost bucket. Everyone then made a bucket for themselves using, wastes, compost and earthworms!
We had learned a lot about soil today and actually got our hands dirty literally and figuratively.
(… to be continued)
"वाघिणीचे दूध" 