URBAN COMMUNITY

GARDENS An Experiment in Community and Urban

Permaculture

Chennai

Chennai and Urban Gardening

• Individual OTG and OTGG

• Prison Farms

• Community gardens – private spaces

• Community gardens – public spaces

• Pavement gardens

• Working with nature

• Open source and open

access knowledge

• Healthy Food for All

• Building Community

• Gardening as a Political

Act

reStore Gardens

Initiatives • Events/Workshops

• World Kitchen Garden Day

August 2012 (Launch)

• National Urban Gardening

Conference Jan 2013

• Permaculture Intro workshops

• Joy of Giving 2012 and 2013

• Locations

• Pavement Gardens (Dharmesh,

Anita, Shakuntala, Radhika)

• Kottivakam

• Urur Kuppam/Pudiyadhor

• Cancer Institute

Two initiatives

• Urban

• Public Spaces

• Many stakeholders

• Difficult spaces to work

with

Urban Permaculture

Build Community

Open Source Open -

Access

Pudiyador’s Urur Kuppam CenterA GARDEN IN THE SAND

December 2012 SAND – LOTS OF IT! Replete with concrete chunks and litter.

December 2012:

We cleaned up the backyard. Then created beds from leaf litter from SPACES. Beds lined with green coconut shells – waste collected from the beachside vendors. Urban waste being put to good use.

We started with planting Karpuravalli and moong/ green gram.

Karpooravalli because its indestructible and grows quickly.

Moong because it grows quickly and fixes nitrogen.

When growing with children, we need to see quick results.

We started a nursery in re-cycled containers – juice boxes, plastic containers, milk sachets.

Sack Garden, Jan 2012

Jan 2012: The spinach (palak) started as a small stem in a sack. The cutting we got from a visit to Solitude farm in Auroville.

The Palak, still rooted in the sack. But growing lush.

Climbing on a lattice we created out of waste bamboo

October 2013: Forming a dense canopy. Jaya (in the pic) takes care of the garden with the children.

The rocky hillock – Now growing papaya, cucumber, greens, drumstick. You can see the chunks of rock coming through as the leaf litter and bagasse decompose

Brinjal – after several being cooked, we left this one for seeds.

Before…..

…After

Jan 2013

October 2013

There is still a LOT of sand

But we also have a garden in the sand. One that nourishes the children in many ways.

As we learn and reflect….

• Importance of constant visual results

• “Eek” to “Wow!”

• Reconnecting children with growing and nature

• Introducing traditional herbs

• Creating access to fresh and nutritious food

• Provides positive opportunities for children to contribute

and see capability from physical activities

• Spreading the message – other centers want to grow their

own

• Therapeutic effect on children

• Continuity and Management of garden

Adyar Cancer Institute, ChennaiTHE “URBAN” IN PERMACULTURE

Vision

A natural, sustainable and edible community garden that is created by volunteers and the CI Community in the spirit of voluntary engagement and the joy of giving.

An environment which is happy, peaceful, safe for the children and sustainable for the environment

An edible community space, where people contribute and share in the garden’s “fruits”.

Scope of work

Mahesh Memorial Pediatric

Ward

N

Ward

Kitchen

Gate Gate

Site identified for permaculture based natural gardens

What we started with

April 2013

June 2013

October 2013

Banana Patch

April

Aug

Oct

Front beds

May 2013

Oct 2013

Outcomes

“Waste” Biomass

from Local Resources

Other “Waste”

Rain water harvesting using debris

Sheet Mulching

Composting

May 2013 July 2013

Building

Community

Eco-

system

Harvest

Lessons

• From principles to practice to results • Herb Spiral

• Raised beds

• Amrit Mitti

• Match of expectations between stakeholders

• Generate soil at scale

• Scale needs committed volunteers

• Consistency – seeing the same people doing a-typical

things.

• Waste is a HUGE resource

• Spreading and sharing the commitment – made easier by

the fact that it is a pediatric ward.

You can do a lot with

very little.

The journey is as

important as the

destination

For more information: info@restoregardens.org