Working in Buddha Garden

We all work together starting at 6.15am every morning and finishing at 9.00am although this can change according to the heat and how many volunteers there are.  Sometimes there are extra sessions on Saturday morning or on some afternoons.  When it is hot it is good to start work as early as possible when it is cooler and therefore more comfortable to move around. 

This work is the focus of our community and it is important that everyone participates.  Please try not to arrange to do other things during this time although obviously there may be occasions when you have to miss some hours.  If you need to take some time off work, for whatever reason, please let Priya or Vivek know so that we can plan the work accordingly.

The practical work is on the whole not difficult although some of it may be physically tiring.  In the beginning especially, you will not be left to work on your own but will be working with someone who knows what to do.  Watch and join in when you can and don’t worry if you feel you don’t know or understand very much – we were all beginners once.  There is a rhythm to the work which you will soon pick up with some jobs being done every day, others weekly etc.  Breakfast time is a good occasion to ask questions about the work you have been doing. 

 We want you to enjoy the work as it not only benefits you but also the plants.  Many people feel that the work is some kind of meditation, others feel it is a good start to the day to do something practical for the community.  We want to work in a way that builds up a positive energy field.  We want to enjoy working together and produce food for the community, which is nutritious on every level.  For this reason and since the work hours are relatively short please try to work with as much focus and concentration as possible.

 If you are having problems with any of the jobs then please let us know and we will see how we can help you. 

Enjoy!

To give you some idea about working in Buddha Garden the following is about the tools we use and the work we do. 

THE TOOLS

 Our tools enable us to do the work in Buddha Garden and so we try to take care of them properly.  Once a year there is a festival called Saraswati devi puja when all the tools that we use for our work are taken out, cleaned and blessed with prayers.

We have two store rooms behind the area where we get vegetables ready to go to Foodlink the Farmgroup distribution centre at the Solar Kitchen.

WEEDERS

Various sorts of small tools to help you get the weeds out.  Different people like different sorts of tool.

RAKE

Traditionally in thispart of India these are not used very much and so it is very difficult to find good quality ones.

They are useful for certain jobs like spreading out compost on beds.

We had these specially made as they are very useful for loosening piles of leaves that we use either for mulching or for making compost.

Known as ’catties’ there are very many different sorts of knives that are used here for various jobs.

We have two main ones - a grass knife - which as its name suggests is used for cutting grass.  This has a serrated edge and is best used with a sawing motion.

We also have a ’chopper’ which as its name suggests is used for chopping things like branches.

This means:

At the end of the work time make sure that you gather up ALL the tools you have been using.  Don’t leave them to get rusty in the grass or elsewhere.  If you happen to see tools lying around, pick them up, clean them and put them back in the store room.

At the end of work time we wash all the tools we have used - which includes the baskets and buckets. We put them out in the sun to dry as this helps to sterilise them and thus minimise soil born diseases.

 THE WATER SYSTEM

THE NURSERY

The seeds are sown in a special planting mixture consisting of one third sand, compost and coconut fibre which is mixed together. The mixture is then put in trays or pots depending on the size of the seeds. Very small seeds such as tomato, chillie, brinjal, lettuce and basil are first planted in flat trays. Seeds are sprinkled thinly over the top of the soil and then covered with a small layer of mixture. They are kept damp using a water spray at regular intervals until the seeds germinate and start to grow. When the plants have grown 2 – 3 leaves they are carefully transplanted into the larger plastic pots, disturbing the roots as little as possible.

Larger seeds can be sown directly into pots. We use plastic trays which hold 40 small pots, both of which are made out of recycled plastic. Nursery mixture can be put in the pots a tray load at a time making this a very fast process. The pots need to be filled to the top with the planting mixture and then pressed down firmly, but don’t press too hard as the small roots need to be able to grow easily. When planting seeds put one seed on top of the soil in all the pots in which seeds are to be planted. Then go and bury each one just under the surface of the soil – it is said that to bury them one and half times the diameter of the seed under the soil is the optimum place. We put all the seeds out before burying them otherwise it is very easy to lose your place and then pots can be missed or have two seeds planted in them by mistake.

Once the seedling are large enough they are planted onto the beds.