SAIIER 2020:TLC - Grow Your Own Food
“Grow Your Own Food” – Entity::TLC kitchen garden
For many years we have had a vision to make food an everyday part of the children’s education in TLC. We want them to understand where food comes from, both through gardening in Base Camp and by visiting Auroville farms.
Two years ago TLC moved away from receiving lunches from the Solar Kitchen and we are now cooking, together with the kids, four lunches and five snacks a week (within the allocated BCC lunch budget), with the priority being the use of organic and locally grown produce. To efficiently produce food was the next step, and from this point, the TLC Kitchen Garden project was born.
Description of project:
The project was initiated this year by one of our parent-facilitators, a Permaculture Design Expert and Natural educator with 10 years experience in Italy specializing in synergistic vegetable gardens. The goals of this project were to develop healthy and sustainable eating habits for the children and adults of TLC, to learn how to grow, harvest, cook and eat food following the seasons in Auroville, to reconnect children and adults to nature, with respect and care for our Mother Earth and to help the development of food self-sufficiency in Auroville.
In TLC's garden project we used an experiential method to learn about the different aspects of the curriculum. Through being outdoors, and the practical experience of the creation of the garden, we encouraged children to observe and ask questions, stimulating their interest and curiosity to understand the different related topics. We also proposed subjects to be deepened. The garden allowed one to delve into many topics: the botany of the plant, the measurement of space, knowledge of the seasons, the use of quantities to cook a recipe, the discovery of a new insect, the names of plants in different languages (e.g. Tamil), the water cycle, the use of artistic creativity for explanatory signs, decorations and drawings for the book of knowledge. The method was multidisciplinary with a focus on the individual expression of the child and his/her abilities.
This year:
- The gardening area was cleaned and designed, including compost area, beds area, walking paths, cultivation area, etc.
- Working tools were purchased.
- Compost from TLC composting toilets and additional compost from the Auroville farms was used to enrich the soil.
- Beds were created and shaped according to children's size.
- Seeds and plants of vegetable, fruits, flowers, and aromatic/medicinal plants were purchased from the Botanical Gardens and Buddha Garden so as to have a wide biodiversity. Plants included lettuce, spinach, lady fingers, eggplant, tomato, pumpkin, beans, pineapple, papaya, banana, lemongrass, mint, basil, tulsi, chilly, kumquat, chikoo, and turmeric.
- All TLC students were involved in all the steps: preparation of the area, seeding, planting, watering, follow-up, harvesting, and cooking the vegetables with the support of 3-4 facilitators.
- All the products of the garden were harvest and cooked in the TLC kitchen. The most fruitful plants were pumpkin, tomato, spinach, beans, and lady fingers.
- We made agreements with Solitude Farm and Windarra Farm to start bringing students to the farms twice a week during the last term.
Reflections:
Through the sensorial experiences that cooking brings, we see that children are much more open to what they eat, and become curious to try new flavours and textures.
Eating what grows locally is the way to build a sustainable relationship to food.
