On Feb 12th Sunday, our young BAF farmers came to OES Farm Campus enthusiastically to learn about weeding, Jeevamrutham drenching and how to paint with coffee.
As all children came to the farm, they were warmly welcomed by their farm coach, Ms.Teja Shilpa. They were all informed about the day's activities by her.
Weeding of unwanted plants that compete with crops for nutrients, water and other resources is an essential part of agriculture. Weeds also act as hosts for pathogens and insects that harm the crops.
Explaining the importance of weeding to maximize yield of the crops they have sown, Ms. Shilpa guided children in the process of weeding by demonstrating, making sure to remove all the weeds with their roots. After that, children went to their patches and removed all the unwanted plants that threatened the health of their crops.
Jeevamrutham that is made out of cow urine, cow dung, jaggery, besan and soil. It has some unique benefits to the plants. It helps in improving the fertility of soil by increasing microbes in it and prevents them from insect attacks.
Children, having completed the weeding, were asked to take their buckets in which they had prepared the Jeevamrutham last week. When all of them held the buckets in their hands, Shilpa asked them to sit around her. She told all the BAF children to stir the Jeevamrutham with their hands before diluting it with water.
Then they took their buckets to the water stations to dilute the solution. After adding required amounts of water as instructed by their coach, they went to their patches to apply it to their growing plants.
Successful drenching of Jeevamrutham was followed by recording their observations on the mulch they had spread in their patches last week. They all learnt that mulching :
Ms. Shilpa also told them about weather awareness and how it has a huge influence on the growth of plants. Having gathered knowledge on this topic, they filled their logbooks with their observations.
Shravani Sripathi, an HR professional and an artist by passion, was invited by OES to spark up the creativity of our young farmers. All the children were given a sheet of paper, coffee solution to be used as color and brushes to unleash their creativity. Giving them carbon paper and a painting of a tortoise, Shravani informed all the children to trace the outlines of the tortoise.
They all drew a tortoise that needed to be painted with coffee. Shravani demonstrated how to hold the brush while painting and how to use the coffee as a color in various modulations by mixing it with different quantities of water. After listening to her, they all started painting the outlined tortoise with coffee.
Seeing the final outputs of their creativity made them happy and content. Holding these paintings proudly in their hands all the BAF children waved goodbyes to the farm and the OES team.
Organo Et School strives to empower people to embrace eco-living mindsets, behaviors and habits. We recognize that for any positive impact to be sustainable, it must be long-term and inter-generational.
Organo Et School is a learning initiative set up by Organo in 2017 and has been facilitating field visits and workshops for Schools and Interest Groups. Organo Et School has had over 25+ schools, 6500+ students and 3000+ adults participate over the last 5 years.
You can find our upcoming workshops here → https://www.organoetschool.co.in/registration
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