The Formation of the Garden Group Gathering And What Has Been Done Till Date

The Garden Group Gathering was formed in the month of March 2014.
It  was a humble attempt to gather and meet like minded people in RajaAnnamalaipuram in Chennai  who would be interested in discussing about urban gardening and various environment issues, to promote healthier sustainable lifestyles in our society.

 As everyone are now aware that the modern urban consumer is caught in a development paradigm that is proving to be increasingly unsustainable for future generations.
 
As a response to this continuing damage and pollution we see today ,Garden Group,  focused to carry out a mission to bring together a community of people who will engage in genuine exploration of issues, free exchange of knowledge and a questioning of present day value systems pertaining to sustainable  practices .


Urban kitchen Gardening and home composting were one of them.


Our first  session took place on March 30th 2014 .

We invited Mr Radhakrishnan , a kitchen Garden expert from Good Governance Guard , to share his knowledge about setting up  a kitchen garden and also about composting.
The response from the media and the public was rewarding!

We acknowledged each and every delegate with a free flower sapling.
 More than 75 people visited the first session. 
As such, we initially planned to hold the meetings every quarterly only. But it so happened, that the residents who joined the gathering wanted such meetings every month.
So following that we invited MR Ayappan,secretary of Bio Sustainable Agriculture Promotional Society to share his knowledge on urban farming, later  a honey bee farmer, from Amudha Bee Farm  to talk about apiary, a social activist – Mrs Manimegalai from Sashtri Bhavan to talk about feeding water and food for city birds,etc .


Throughout all the sessions ,there was an exclusive display and sale of garden supplies and guidance to set up their own kitchen garden for the visitors. 
The NOCHI plant was distributed across the neighborhood through the garden group gatherings for many people. Last August we completed our 5th session.


Today, more than 200 registered people are members with Garden Group.
Adding yet another feather to its cap,  on August 17th  Garden Group  started the creation of a community garden in a small piece of land inside the 7th main road park .I am glad to tell you, that the project will  ready for  inauguration within 45 days.


Using this chance, I request every one to actively participate in all the discussion meetings conducted in the park as well as online group and blogs that have been formed for Garden Group Gathering .
Do share photos of your Kitchen Garden, articles on Environment Education, etc.


With a continuous support and motivation from the public like this, I  am sure Garden Group would hold many sessions benefiting the society in the future and reach its mission very soon.


At this junction , I cease this opportunity ,to thank the West Raja Annamalaipuram Residence Association ,its members and its  founder  for assigning me and for having  given me, this  opportunity to carry out a noble cause like this  among st innumerable services they render to society every day.