A wet and soft soil awaited the children this Sunday, thanks to the overnight rains. The seedlings (methi, palak and cluster beans) had broken ground and smiled at the clouds and sun. The tomato, brinjal and chilli saplings thrived through a dry mid-week, thanks to two continuous rainy nights (and with some help from our farming team members).
Sunday morning started with a flute recital streaming softly throughout the children’s farm. Soon, children and their enthusiastic parents came on time and we started the session with a fun activity lead by our Creative Coach Anurag Dahiya. Soon, the farm was filled with joyful chorus of children imitating cows, chickens, dogs and more!
Once energized by the short ice-breakers, our farm coaches Prabha Damodharan & Srilakshmi Battula walked the children through the process of making Jeevamrutham. We had children surprised by the ingredients which included cow dung, cow urine, jaggery and water...some of the gutsier children chose to help mix the cow dung in the water...for many, it was their first experience of touching cow dung...we saw a mix of smiles, ewws and woowws! Our Director, Meena Murugappan, also highlighted the importance of learning through multiple senses like sight, sounds, smells and touch.
After the demo, the children were each given a bottle of jeevamrutham to nourish their plants and the soil on their farm patches. They were also guided on how to recognized weeds, remove them, prepare the soil bund around their saplings for water retention and how much jeevamrutham to add. Some of the children found earthworms and small ants, and were fascinated about their role in soil health.
Soon, it was time to clean up and learn nature art with Anurag Dahiya, who walked them through multiple ways in which newspaper can be decorated with simple paints and leaves. She showed how these decorated papers can be used as gift-wrappers and wall-art. Through this art demo, children learnt an earth-friendly way to explore transient art expression.
Despite time over runs, children wanted to stay behind and play with the clayey black cotton soil. And their parents were more than happy to spend time, relaxing in the farm, while the children discovered plant life, soil life and like-minded friends.
And our team knew our efforts were bringing about subtle change in the way children engage with plants and soil. And we couldn’t be more thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to gently introduce them to the natural world.
We recognize that for any positive impact to be sustainable, it has to be long-term and inter-generational. Organo Et School strives to create an apt learning environment that will support and empower families as well as individuals to embrace sustainable living mindsets and habits.
Organo Et School is a learning initiative set up by Organo in 2017 and has been facilitating fields visits and workshops for Schools and Interest Groups. Organo Et School has had over 25+ schools, 6000+ students and 2500+ adults participate over the last 4 years.
We believe in connecting children & adults with nature. Connecting children with the natural world at a young age is the first step in creating responsible stewards of our collective future.
If you or your children are interested in future Be a Farmer programs, please connect to us at oes@organo.co.in and by phone 9154100775 today! You can also click here to express your interest. We will keep you posted on our future farm cycles.
