By Sigrid and Sanata from Auroville | Project leaders
8 acres of severely eroded, barren land in the West of Auroville, along the Kootroad, have been successfully regenerated since 1994, without external inputs and no soil or organic matter from outside. Pebble Garden has transformed into a vibrant indigenous forest with returning wildlife, a productive bio-diverse garden and a fledgeling fruit tree area.
A garden area of a quarter-acre is devoted to Seed Conservation. It was created by an intensive process of soil building, using select pioneer species and is today a plant collection of more than 100 endangered traditional vegetable varieties from all over India - root crops, herbs, perennial and wild food crops, medicinal plants and flowers. ‘A Garden for Everyone’ is an outreach initiative to share these hardy plant varieties, which have performed well on this wasteland, with home gardeners and subsistence farmers throughout India. They are shared within known organic farmers’ collectives via organic fairs, seed melas. A place of continuous learning, Pebble Garden also has a charcoal/wood vinegar production plant and conducts research on terra preta.
Deepika and Bernard now produce about 3,000 packets of vegetable seeds a year, many of which are endangered species. They use the minimum of water necessary through micro-sprinklers, once every two weeks to ensure that no water is wasted. Every Saturday they host a tour of their land for all those interested and are constantly working in tandem with rural schools in the surrounding area in order to teach children the benefits of organic farming.
We thank you for your continued support and are so happy to see that our fundraiser can help such an amazing duo of individuals continue to work with nature and spread their love for organic farming to as many people are possible!
Much Love,
Funding Auroville Team
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By Sigrid and Shanti from Funding Auroville | Project leaders
By Sigrid and Shanti from Funding Auroville | Project leaders
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