The All India Kitchen Garden Association’s 7B unit, met On 26th April, it was a Zoom session organized with Ms. Poornima Savargaonkar, who is a known and much-respected figure in gardening circles. Her passion for gardening and sustainability is unparalleled. The topic for the meeting was “Summer Gardening“.
She enlightened the participants about how Summer Gardening actually starts in Spring. For success in gardening, timing is the key. This is critical as so many of us get put off when we don’t get success in terms of the crop, be it flowers or vegetables.
She shared in detail the process of preparation before summer starts. From preparing pots and loosening the soil to collecting dry leaves which are shed by trees at this time. It involves getting trellises ready as most summer vegetables are vines and need trellises. Composting which is vital to gardening and sustainability accelerates in summer so the composters should be cleaned and kept ready. Seeds should be sown from mid-February to mid-March. She emphasized the need to save indigenous seeds and stop our dependence on hybrid seeds. Ms. Savargaonkar shared how to create a microclimate by grouping plants having the same requirements together and the importance of mulching and watering and misting the plants in the evening. All in all, it was a hugely informative session with great insights into all aspects of gardening.
