On the green side

BENGALURU: Low supplies at supermarkets are a common occurrence these lockdown days. But now, an initiative by the city-based The Martin Farm could help you deal with the challenge. A new video series by them aims to help people grow their own freshly-harvested food, while also reducing the waste generated by the household. “We were going to do offline workshops for children and parents on this topic but due to the lockdown, we have decided to go ahead with an online series instead,” says Fiona Martin, farm manager of property, which is owned by her parents, Oswald and Marie Martin. 

While the main idea is to bring about a sense of community through a personal home garden, it comes with a host of other benefits as well. “One could reduce at a minimum at least 30 per cent of their vegetable expenditure, depending on the space of the garden,” explains Martin, adding that the ongoing lockdown has brought to light the need to have easier access to produce. “You don’t just get to produce your own vegetables, you also know the quality that is being produced is good and safe. The community aspect also cannot be missed out. You can always share the extra produce your grow with friends or neighbours,” she says. 

The first session, priced at `175, goes live on May 3 at 11am on Zoom. The one-hour interactive session, says Martin, will focus on how people can turn their vegetable scraps – think carrot heads or seeds from tomatoes and chillies – into food producing plants. Upcoming sessions would take place once a week or once a fortnight, with topics ranging from how to set up one’s home garden, hydroponics, making the optimal use of one’s space, growing an upside down garden and so on.

“It isn’t expensive to set up a small vegetable garden at home. One could do this for as low as `500 for five types of vegetables,” adds Martin, whose family purchased the two-acre plot in Chikkabelandur 35 years ago, in order to go back to their roots of having a farming background. Today, they have a variety of plants, including many vegetables, some 80-90-year-old trees, and indigenous trees like avocado, sapota, mango, jackfruit, tamarind, guava and custard apple as well.