World Kitchen Garden Day Celebration - 26th August 2012

The rain god spared us and a large number of people participated in the World Kitchen Garden Day organized jointly by the Team of Urban Leaves & RUR (R you Recycling) in the verdant surroundings of Maharashtra Nature Park.

Over 200 participants came from all over Mumbai, Navi Mumbai & the extended suburbs to know more about Kitchen Gardening, Safe Food and Recycling.

A few participants had also taken part in the cooking contest where the recipes had to adhere to the theme of the event, ‘Reviving the lost traditions of Shraavan’. 

Ms. Preeti Patil explained the idea behind the theme. In India, across most regions and communities, a lot of importance is attached to the Hindu month of Shraavan.  It is during this period that the bounty of monsoon makes a variety of leafy green vegetables available for consumption. Many of these vegetables often are not commercially grown and are found growing wild. They are full of vital nutrients and free from pesticides.The focus on shravan greens during the event was an opportunity to understand these veggies, introduce them to the younger urban generation and learn to grow them in our city farms. 

 Display of "Variety of Shravan Vegetables". Do you recognise any? Check them out HERE!!

Our First Speaker - Shri Rajendra Bhat,

an Organic farmer gave information on uncultivated varieties of Shravan vegetables and special tips on "How to Grow". Vegetables like Shevla, Takla, Bharangi, Shevga, Phodshi are not names that we urbanites are familiar with. Lets get aquintated with names co-inciding with pictures of these vegetables. 

Second Speaker of the day - Tejal Vishveshwar from "India for Safe Food",

spoke about the pesticide residues found in our foods, their toxic effects and how as citizens of India we have a right to organic and safe food.

Third Speaker - Monisha Narke from RUR, introduced the concept of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling of things that we use in our daily routine to minimize our ecological footprint. Monisha was quick in requesting a volunteer to carry all the paper cups used during the breakfast to be used for composting at home. Jyoti Despande volunteered! Three cheers for Jyoti!!

Earthaholics collated a DIY kit on growing vegetables in container. Urban Leaves team presented a demo on "How to Transplant and Sow Seeds in Container".  This kit was on sale for the interested participants to immediately start with Chilly sapling.

Judging the Contestents creation was done by Chef Nilesh Limaye and Nutritionist Shilpa Joshi. They also interacted with each of the participant giving them valuable feedback.

They commended all the participants for their enthusiasm. Each of the participants introduced themselves and gave the audience some information on their recipes.

The judges announced the results.

First winner, Mrs Surekha Patkar prepared 'Shevla Masoor Masala'

This vegetable grows on uncultivated lands and is available for only a couple of days in the beginning of rainy season. Usually prepared with Prawns, Mrs. Patkar had used Lentils (whole Masoor) in lieu as the rules for the competition required the recipe to be purely Vegetarian.

Second winner, Mrs. Prema Hattangadi prepared 'Takla Chi Tamli'

modified a regular GSB recipe 'Tamli' to include another wild 'Shraavan' vegetable called 'Taklaa'. Thus 'Takla chi Tamli' was an innovation to integrate this wild vgetable into a traditional recipe.

Third winner,  Mrs. Jaya Vora prepared 'Zumkha Na Chilla'

This vegetable again is availabe from the wild and is available only in the rainy season corresponding to the month of 'Shraavan'. Again, this was an innovative blend of regular recipe of Chikpea flour (Besan) pancakes (Chilla) by integrating the Zumkha into it.

These prizes were sponsored by Home Collective India Pvt. Ltd., Girgaum - a store dealing with high quality Kitchen Accessories and other Home Products  & Nirmitee Art store, Dadar - a store dealing in Handicrafts.

Thereafter, chef Nilesh Limaye and Shilpa Joshi demonstrated a few simple salad recipes.

The session was closed by honouring the judges and speakers with potted landscapes that were generously donated by Vriksha Nursery, Irla.

The audience was overjoyed to learn about so many connecting facets to an Organic and healthy lifestyle.

They had an opportunity to buy garden related goodies,

- grow your own vegetable kits provided by Earthaholics

- plants saplings from Amrute Nursery, Dapoli
- shopping bags and eco friendly jewellery from RUR
- books on organic farming from the Urban Leaves


A delicious, healthy, sumptuous, vegan, gluten and oil free  Lunch served by THAC(The Health Awareness Centre)

Appreciated by all participants.
Special thanks to Dr Vijaya Venkat and Anju for their continuous support in our ventures. 

To view all pictures of the event: click here

A special touch to the event : Participants appreciated a personal message from Roger Doiron founder of Kitchen Gardeners International www.kgi.org to fellow gardeners in Mumbai on World Kitchen Garden Day.

Take a look at how our friends in other cities celebrated World Kitchen Garden Day

Bangalore: Oota from their Thota 

Chennai : organised by Sangeeta Shriram and her team at restore . Their photos of the event can be viewed here

Bhubaneshwar: organised by Mr Maheswar Khillar: Read full article here from the Odisha Diary

Australia (Tasmania):

Kate ( our board member at KGI ) Read her Blog Vegetable Vagabond 

Kenya : View pictures here

Scarborough USA : with Roger Doiron Founder KGI

Come Join Us for KGI Day 2012

Are you a food maniac or have a flair and keen interest in cooking?

A person concerned about Nutrition or just keen to grow & consume your own vegetables?

Come join us to celebrate the

World Kitchen Gardeners’ International Day

on Sunday, 26^th August, 2012 – 8:30 am onwards

at Maharashtra Nature Park, Opposite Dharavi Bust Depot, Bandra Sion Link Road

Introduction to The Traditional Vegetables  of ‘Shraavan’and "Bhadrapad"

                                                                    

Kitchen Gardeners' Day has been initiated by Kitchen Gardener's International (http://kgi.org/about-KGI) - a movement to promote urban residents to grow some of their own food. Urban Leaves has  been a part of these celebrations since last year and is also coordinating with other Urban Gardeners across different cities in India.

The month of 'Shraavan and Bhadrapad ' comes towards the end of monsoon when Nature abounds in luxuriant green growth. Traditionally, this is the time when a variety of vegetables are consumed in abundance to rejuvenate one’s health and in tandem with the growing cycles. In India, we have a rich culinary tradition and heritage exclusively pertaining to the foods consumed in the month of ‘Shraavan’. Yet, in the fast paced urban lifestyle, we have become disjointed & disconnected to this tradition and heritage.

By doing so, we wish to revive this connection between traditions, seasonal foods, human health and nature among the urban population who have lost or are losing the real connection with seasonal and local food.  We hope to inspire people not only to grow local but eat seasonal as well.

Events in Brief

§      Our chief event for the day will be a cooking competition related to the Preparation of a traditional Shravan Vegetable. This will be judged by a well known chef and a Nutrition expert. Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 recipes.

§      Besides this, we will also be taking the participants for a tour of our Community Food Garden which Urban Leaves has been maintaining at Maharashtra Nature Park.

§      A small talk by a team from IFSF http://indiaforsafefood.in will make us aware on how toxic is the food that we purchase from the market.

§      As an option for safe food, we will also give a demonstration on how to grow a herb on your own window sill. A starter kit alongwith a sapling supplied by RUR will be available for sale at the venue.

§      An introduction to the concept of Recycling and its close association with our tradition will be given by the team of RUR – R U Reducing, Reusing, Recycling? http://www.facebook.com/RUR.AreYouReducingReusingRecycling

§    On KGI Day Panasonic Experience Center, Mumbai has come together with Urban Leaves and RUR to have a campaign to collect E Waste which Panasonic Experience Center will ensure is recycled safely and effectively.     www.facebook.com/Panasonicexperiencecenter

§     The event will culminate with a small talk by the judges on our traditions based on Nutritional values and seasonality followed by a demonstration of one recipe.

§      A refreshing Herbal tea & snack at the beginning and a sumptuous, healthy, vegan, gluten free & low fat lunch to end the session is organized from the Kitchen of THAC

      http://www.internetindia.com/health/thac

KGI Participants	For Contest Participants
Fees Rs. 100/- (inclusive of snack & Lunch)	Fees Nil – only KGI participation Fee of Rs. 100/-
Last Date - 22nd Aug 2012	Last date - 18th August 2012
Participation Form Sorry, we've exceeded our capacity and cannot take more registrations.	Eligibility Criteria & Recipe Submission Form

For queries: Write to urbanleaves@gmail.com

To view schedule: KGI 2012 Schedule

Lush greenery at Garden by the Bay

The monsoons may have been weak this year. But not the enthusiasm or the efforts of our Volunteers.

This is the season of the gourds - all of them being climbers. Managing these on trellises is the greatest challenge.

The growth is at its zenith.

It is a delight to see the flower blossoms.......

...eventually materialising into fruits and vegetables

The culmination of every visit is of course the harvest tray.

Purvita's older posts, Garden by the Bay, Winter Harvest

A full fledged City Farmer

"Vipul Sanghavi" vips982@gmail.com

Who says one needs land to grow vegetables?

And who feels that Organic farming practices do not give sufficient yields?

A visit to our enthusiastic member Vipul Sanghvi’s terrace will put to rest any such doubts.

After dedicatedly making Amrut Mitti for a year

the roof top garden in a span of six months resembles a food forest.

Renamed as the ‘Kasturi Vaatika’, this space of about 1000 sft. has been consistently yielding vegetables – enough to sustain 3 or 4 families’ daily requirements at peak production.

So deep is Vipul’s love for the plants

that  he often refuses to undertake trimming of his plants. This creates such dense & shaded patches, it almost resembles a forest.

And the terrace is utilised not just for growing Fruits & Vegetables……

……………., but also for flowering plants.

These flowers attract bees and other insects which effectively pollinate the plants, thereby providing such bounty of fruits.

And of course there are some star attractions as well - the fiery tabasco peppers, the corn and the young pomegranate.

All in all, he has managed to recreate a paradise in the concrete city.

A star student, a dedicated sincere volunteer Vipul has set an example. 

Are you motivated to follow?

A few blow up of the photographs, as suggested by our readers

Happy and gardening 

Team Urban Leaves

Take A Poll

click to poll

Are you sure that the 'Fresh Vegetables' that you bring home are free from Pesticide residues?

Participate in our following poll to know some curious facts.

Keep following this space for weekly updates about the pesticide residues found in the most commonly consumed vegetables and their ill effects on Human health.

The next article will enable you to grow some of these vegetables in your own balcony and window spaces.

Poll Here

India for Safe Food

                                    What is India for safe food ?

'India For Safe Food' (IFSF) is a movement for change amongst Indian farmers, consumers and the government to ensure that all Indians have access to safe food, devoid of toxic substances. It is being spearheaded by ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture), an informal network of hundreds of organizations and individuals across twenty states of India. Nationwide petition drive begins with events in mid June by various individuals / organisations & some continuing till July 2012.

Download posters 

The mobilisation and demand is directed to the Indian Agriculture Minister, emphasizing that "I as a citizen have a right to safe food and the government has to:

a) Promote and encourage organic/ecologically sustainable/natural farming, without Pesticides and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

b) Ensure access to affordable organic food (also specifically for pregnant/lactating mothers & children)

c) Ban Pesticides that have been banned in other countries.

Why the campaign? What is the problem? What is the solution?

Today the food we consume and give to our loved ones is contaminated by toxins, genetically modified organisms, dangerous additives, preservatives and illegal adulterants.  Indian agriculture uses enormous quantities of toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers for growing food and these are used indiscriminately by desperate farmers threatening their own health and that of the consumers. Our farmers, the annadatas, are themselves victims of pesticide poisoning.

We have a lax attitude towards pesticide use and exposure to chemical toxins and its consequent casualties, as is evident by the way the cancer epidemic  among farming families in Punjab is treated and the struggles of the endusulphan victims of Kerala and Karnataka and the 25+ years old battle of the Bhopal gas victims.

Many or almost all pesticides in use in agriculture are either endocrine disrupters (that interfere with the hormone system) or carcinogens (cancer causing) or reproductive toxins or mutagens (causes change in genetic material), teratogens (capable of causing birth defects) or embryo toxins. Many of them qualify under more than one category.

Globally concerted efforts are on to reduce, ban and restrict the use of many agro-chemicals. Yet, we are cavalier about these toxins, for example 67 pesticides that are banned in one or more countries are approved for use in Indian agriculture and are being regularly and routinely deployed.

Therefore, it is time we worked towards reclaiming our right to eat safe food through safe farming which is sustainable, healthy and provides a livelihood for the farmer and healthy, nutritious food for the consumer.

The consumer endeavour to reclaim safe food can be many pronged:

• Eat organic
• Grow one’s own toxin-free food
• Join hands with farmers who grow non-toxic food in community supported agriculture groups

The good news is that there are numerous farmers, outlets, groups providing organic and safe food in almost every city in India. However we all need to work to increase their numbers and enable them to grow by choosing organic! Another piece of good news is that studies reveal that when exposure to toxins is stopped many of the negative effects reduce significantly and in some cases even disappear.

However all these personal actions have to be combined with a social action which each one of us has to participate in, that is banning the use of these toxins in our agriculture, removing them from our food, water and the very air that we and our children breathe! Sadly, the birth defects and the cancers which have already happened are not going away anywhere and it is for each one of us to ensure that more people do not join these unfortunate ranks! This is a compelling reason to stop pouring these harmful chemicals into our bodies and the ecosystems we live in.

These toxins do not stay limited to our food, they are everywhere, and the way to stop them is to ban them completely from agriculture. As Sandra Steingraber says in her incisive and lyrically written book on raising her children in a world full of toxins (titled: Raising Elijah), the cocoon we create for our children can’t protect them completely in this world where the air, water and food are toxic. We need to reduce, remove and eliminate these toxins, to achieve that, in addition to concerted individual efforts, we need committed policy changes.

Again from the book an anecdote(178): during the cold war period a teacher in the US asked her third grade students how many of them thought that nuclear war would happen. Except one girl, all others raised their hands, when asked why she thought otherwise she answered, “because my parents are working to stop it”.

Let your child be the one who says that I eat nutritious, toxin-free natural food because my parents are working to provide safe food! This campaign for safe food is the time for each one of us to stand up and be counted. We need to act now. In the interest of our own health and that of the future generations and for the health of the environment -eat organic, ask for a ban on pesticides, grow your own toxin-free food, compost your waste and use the compost to grow food to complete the cycle and spread the word…. Join hands with India for Safe Food!

India For Safe Food! Just give a missed call at 022 3301 0031

Find out more about IFSF & contact in your city/state at:

http://www.indiaforsafefood.in/home

http://www.facebook.com/IndiaForSafeFood

Download Posters


Devi Laxmikutty
Founder member 
Urban Leaves