The power is yours – Green Planet’eers

Greetings from SPACES!

We are finally back on our blogs after taking a bit of a hiatus. We have a lot of exciting news and programs to share.

Green Planet’eers is one such topic which we are very enthusiastic about.

To elaborate, Green Planet’eers is a gardening exercise tailored for children so that they learn both to appreciate their natural surroundings and learn about the very rich history of natural herbs and indigenous varieties that is often quickly forgotten by us.

It is an elegant mixture where children start learning by literally getting their hands dirty and how to care for and treat their natural entities around them.

We have put this theory to test at a couple of locations in Chennai and we have been super happy with the results and the fervor shown by both the teachers and the students.

Here are a couple of snapshots taken at different locations where we have established such herbal and veggie patches.

herbal patch at AMM , kotturpuram – by SPACES

recycled terrace veggie garden – at shelter homes ,redhills

recycled terrace veggie garden – Red hills – by SPACES

a view of the creeper support at redhills – by spaces

herbal garden patch at jai gopal garodia – choolaimedu -by spaces

herbal patch – CTTE perambur – by spaces

herbal garden done at AMM matriculation, kotturpuram done by SPACES

herbs around the tree at Rosary Matriculation – by SPACES

herbal garden patch at Rosary matric – done by SPACES

pathway in the model garden at sreeniketan patasala in tiruvallur

model garden at tiruvallur

rock garden at the model garden in tiruvallur

The result of creating such a space is that it automatically becomes an extension to the learning environment and often indulges the students to not just stick to what they ‘have to’ learn but what they ‘want to’. This is the essence of learning.

Childhood is filled with natural wonder and curiosity. The learning environment must reflect a classroom and outdoor space that inspires a sense of wanting to investigate, to find out and to explore” – Kathy Walker

Mad camp by spaces -at ECR

Mad camp by spaces -at ECR

Mad camp by spaces -at ECR

at AMM matriculation school

AMM matriculation school

workshop conducted by spaces at jai gopal garodia , choolaimedu

Mad camp by spaces -at ECR

at shelter homes – Red hills

At vidhya school – Medavakkam

We also believe strongly that children being our future generation could do with a bit more of nature orientation instead of staring at a screen. and we need to encourage their relationship with the environment and the experiences will emerge by themselves. These are the moments to cherish.These environments often also personalize children and helps in not molding but unfolding them.

If your institution or school is also interested in creating such a space around your learning environment, please do contact us. This could also be taken up as a CSR activity conducted by your institution or corporate. We would be happy to present and share our ideas with you. Our office no is 9840830880 or you could drop in a mail at SPACES  or text us at our Facebook link- spaces.

Front Yard Garden Restoration @ Mylapore!

There is always a charm that comes along with a traditional typical south-Indian houses and SPACES were very thrilled to revamp their landscape.

The redesign of Mr.Kavithalaya Krishnan’s home, done by SPACES now beckons to be explored and admired! Mr.Krishnan’s home, even though very shady and tree-rich, had a few things missing and we decided to spruce it up and add a little of our ingenuity to it as well.

Adding a grassy patch to the ground creates a magical effect. Very welcoming and attracts the eye,,..compared to the earlier barren land. Created a green patch right in the middle of the trees along the walk-way.We managed to make a make-shift garden sit out with the logs that were discarded at his household.SPACES not only refurbished their front yard, but also created a kitchen garden at the backyard.They are now proud owners of a truly green residence at the heart of the city in Mylapore!

Garden Workshop by SPACES!!

All garden enthusiasts, hop on board for a lovely half day workshop on basics of gardening by a renowned horticulturist on 26th July, 2014 at SPACES’s premises at Mylapore, Chennai.

Do follow the link below to register for the workshop.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pTPYewvHoCHlMx9au86RCpExe_551ai__PWvRGtkyKM/viewform?usp=send_form

Do ping SPACES website, fb page or on wordpress if interested. 🙂

 

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Landscaping at Egmore

Check out the pictures from the latest project undertaken by SPACES at Egmore for an Indian Overseas Bank Complex. We have always wanted to undertake spreading greenery to buildings in our city and this looks like our first step toward it. Our favorite feature is definitely the bamboo wall mount for the creeper support which also adds a little rustic look to the outside decor.

 

This time ,we thought it would add a nice touch , so we equipped all the plants with their own name boards so this could educate people about different plants and their uses, which we see everyday.

Tell us what your favorite feature was –  the vertical wall , the bamboo structure, the beautiful Rock garden in a quiet rugged corner or the beautiful Adeniums that adorn the side wall.  This list could clearly go on as i have missed a couple more unique features which you can find in the pictures. SPACES , shall be back with more pictures, until the next project.

Revisit to Red Hills

Sixteen days had gone by since the group of twelve volunteers had battled it out in the terrace to equip a vegetable garden for the kids at the Shelter at Red Hills. Tentatively, we arrived at the gates , the children were busy attending Sunday Mass, and we went straight into the terrace , eager to see the results of our handicraft. There were so many doubts .. did the structures still stay strong, had the saplings grown for all the veggies, had the pandal structure stood the test of the winds.

The sight which was awaiting us was one which would rise our spirits by the double.

The children had taken care of the seeds like they were their own, everything looked healthy and was growing fine. All the structures were intact and pretty strong. happy and content, we set about with transplanting some of the tomatoes , brinjals and the chillies into separate containers thereby avoiding crowding and stunted growth.

We also removed the plastic covering underneath the bigger pots,afraid of stagnation of water.We gave them instructions to keep changing the position of the containers slightly every 2 weeks.

 

By the time we were done transplanting, the kids were done with their prayers too and were eager to come up, curious to see what the annas and the akkas were up to. We taught them how to transplant , how to water without doing excess , and how to keep cuttings of plants and propagate them like indian borage, perandai  etc

One little fellow followed my suit and started watering the plants and the rest followed.

Soon the two hours just flew by and it was time to leave and we had time for one last photo session.

 

 

Until next time. 🙂

Herbal Garden for CTTE

First impressions when we entered the college – “does this place really need any work?” . Imagine the greenest campus you know of! And imagine it tastefully maintained and designed. That is the college we visited. Chevalier T.Thomas Elizabeth College for women. A college that can boast that it is completely independent and self-sufficient.

As we moved around the campus, we found out they had already taken the initiative of setting up a kitchen garden. The images of the ladies finger growing out there is still fresh in our minds. Very healthy looking and well looked after. So we were not at all worried about the herbal garden that we were going to set up. In fact they already had a few planted.. like aloes and perandai, insulin plants. But they did need a bit managing, since they were all placed pretty randomly.

And then, in spite of a few glitches on starting the project, the management had full faith in us, and our laborers did a fine job in completing the garden full of 20 odd varieties of herbs replete of name boards with information, uses and local names.

SPACES thanks the management for giving us the opportunity and for taking the initiative of maintaining a green campus and going the extra mile.

Inauguration of Eco-Club @ SPACES!!

This has taken a long time coming. I mean both the post and the timing of our new subset to SPACES!!

ECO-CLUB @ SPACES!!

When you add to the mix a group of people, of strong constitution and of sound principles, when it comes to matters relating to our surroundings,environment etc, the evolution of such a club is pretty much inevitable.

SPACES even though birthed through similar thought process, does not give the latitude to reach out to every sector of the environment , but Eco-club gives more than its share.

This is a platform established in lieu with SPACES to conduct events every month, targeting a small but significant issue. We believe , we need to change even the smaller things from its root.

This January of 2014 , a day before the Indian republic day, witnessed the inaugural event of Eco-club. 12 volunteers took the daunting task of setting up a Terrace garden of purely recycled materials and containers for a Home situated in Red Hills, Chennai. The home named aptly Shelter Homes houses children affected with HIV and provides for all their basic necessities.

There were no laborers or garden experts involved, just us a couple of relatively inexperienced youngsters not all that familiar with the hardships of physical labor nor used to it! There was a heap of soil to transport to the terrace which invariably became the first task to complete. But once we got the hang of it, and with the incredibly strong kids assisting us, there was no stopping us. Once upstairs, we divided ourselves into the planning and execution team. And one group took up making the creeper section (pandal section) and one more took to painting the containers, few more took care of making the Tyre structure for one corner again for the creepers to grow.

The kids were nothing but sweet, they raided the paints and the brushes in the morning for a session of painting the containers and the tyres apart from helping us with a soil. And later again they came over for a session with helping the Annas (brothers) with the drilling and bringing buckets of water. Some of them very curious why the money plant was in fact called the money plant 🙂 . We had a fun time explaining to the older kids on how to take care of the garden, how to tend to them and how they would be transplanted.

 

 

 

Again we had to fill in the containers with soil and sow the seeds. And name all the containers in the local dialect(tamil language), so that the kids could understand and go forward and raise their own veggies and understand. Not just the kids, even the volunteers understood a lot about gardening and everything associated with creating a kitchen garden from scratch. It was a really enriching experience.

At the end of the day , when it was all done, we were pretty proud of our handiwork, astonished at the amount of work finished in a day, dog tired, but both happy and ecstatic about what we had done.

Hopefully we had taken a tiny step toward teaching the kids, a lesson on waste management, environment awareness and the need to preserve greenery all together. If nothing at least that all hope is not lost. The lesson is not only for all those kids out there,but for everyone.

SPACES does not wish to end it here. We will be making another visit soon and hopefully our mammoth efforts will reap its benefits.

Perhaps , SPACES and Eco-Club has a purpose after all!! It does not just revolve only around gardens. This is just the beginning.

 

Introducing ‘The Herbal Garden’ !!!

There was an unusual amount of racket and looking closer, things appeared even more chaotic. It looked like lunch break. But really it was just the school kids looking and pointing, curiosity piqued , poring over the fence trying to glimpse before the others did. We were really stoked that the children were also equally excited!!

So finally, after all the delays in setting up a Herbal Garden at Jaigopal Garodia , IT IS FINALLY FINISHED!!! 🙂  yes, finished. That does sound really good.

Getting the first project off the ground was the major hurdle and now that it is complete, feeling very relieved.

Just to give you a glimpse at how things went, check out our behind-the-scene potshots!

Working on the sign boards!!

work, work , work!!

A lot of boards to go through!!

.Moving on to the field work as the sign boards were done.

and finally, introducing ‘The herbal garden’!!

The before and after effect!! 😛

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Stunning transformation!

Every herb plant with the sign board giving information about the scientific name, local name , the uses with the specific parts along with how to use!

Along the way…

We made sure each plant had been secured with a brick layer around it!

Fencing to make sure the kids don’t damage it on a spree.

Through the fence gap!!

Extremely proud and feeling accomplished after the results we’ve obtained.

So as promised , we will keep pushing through for more herbal gardens for corporation schools and funds for the same. But for now enjoying the completion of the mini garden and reveling in its success. 😀

 

Herbal Garden – A Beginning !!

So way back , we had posted saying finally our Corporation school Herbal garden project got the green light for funding. Happy to announce our recent developments. Our efforts are finally off to a great start.We are nearly done with our first school and hope to finish soon. Rotary club has generously funded for the cause.

Our first stop being the all-girls JaiGopal Garodia Matriculation Hr.Sec.School  located in choolaimedu high road. The girls in the school show great passion and interest toward keeping and maintaining a garden. Their campus is a clear indication of that. The plants are nursed by the students themselves. A very laudable effort.

At the school, currently, we have managed to clear the area, level it and have planted over forty varieties of medicinal plants. A lot of research went into getting these saplings as well as the information.They vary from everything we use daily like tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) ,mint (mentha arvensis), aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) to the lesser known variants like nansaruppan (Tylophora indica), karudan kelangu (Corallocarpus epigaeaus) , Karu Salai (Wedelia calendulacea less)  etc.

A glimpse of the hard work put in by our laborers (above)

For the girls to grasp it better, besides each plant, a board would be displayed with descriptions like scientific name and uses and brief instructions on how to utilize it. And we are also hoping to circulate a detailed account on each plant in PDF format. Simply because all these herbs we have accumulated for the school have simply too many uses and stunning amount of medicinal values to be jotted down on a display board.

Hopefully it should help students  familiarize themselves about the easily available herbs and their medicinal properties and how effectively they can offer home remedies in case of emergency situations.

This whole effort from us is for a simple notion , why look any further, than your immediate surroundings for cure. And we hope this could inspire the children to look for bigger and larger than life solutions from the simplest of things.

SPACES would love to continue our efforts in providing more herbal gardens to schools in Chennai, so if you know any , please reach out to us. You can contact us through our website too www.gardeningredefined.com . Stay tuned for more updates.