We recently celebrated the World Environment Day on June 5, and decided to dedicate this month to mother earth — after all being a planetarian shouldn’t we all do our bit to save it? A few days back, we attended an interesting talk on slow food or home-grown food was conducted by an eco-friendly group Khetify at The Imperial New Delhi.
It was an interesting presentation put together by the hotel to create awareness around the World Environment Day. Sangeeta Khanna, a renowned healing food expert gave a special talk on the importance and benefits of home-grown greens, whereas Shabnam Kapur- Co-Founder, Khetify elaborated on the urban home farming solutions.
The theme of the event was to reconnect with nature and opt for pesticide-free food by growing it in a cleaner environment. Vijay Wanchoo, Senior. EVP and GM at The Imperial New Delhi, mentioned, “The increasing use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in farm produce is triggering toxic food filled with chemical components. This leads to serious health hazards, on regular consumption. The best way to escape this uncertainty of what is going into our systems is by reducing dependency on fruits and vegetables grown by farmers and adapting home- gardening in your own backyard/ balcony. Also, gardening makes you happy, it saves cost and time, is convenient, organic and nutritious.”
There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a plant bloom, and if you are interested in setting up your own garden in the backyard or balcony this is the best time. While you are at it, here are a few things you must follow:
– Involve kids in your locality and family to be a part of your home grown farming. It won’t just be an educational lesson for them to see how a plant grows from a seed, but it will also inculcate the habit of respecting nature as human beings.
– Grow seasonal plants. For summers and monsoons you can plant seeds of cucumber, lauki, lemon, aloe vera, pumpkins, tomatoes, mint, coriander etc.
– If you are travelling and there is no one to water your plants use this simple hack. Take a used plastic bottle and remove the bottom. Fill it with water and cover the mouth with the cap. Insert a small pipe and attach it to the roots of the potted plants. It will keep watering the plants from the bottle when you are away.
The afternoon was concluded on a healthy note, as Chef Alok Verma, Executive Sous Chef at the hotel laid out an organically curated Green hi-tea spread for the guests. The chef, created some unique dishes like Purple quinoa, parsley and millet salad with pomegranate; Avocado, lime, tomato and cilantro with dehydrated banana chips; Charred red peppers, goat cheese pyramids in sour dough; Beetroot and millet focaccia, smoked salmon, rocket leaves, honey mustard; Spinach, avocado and Aloe Vera smoothie; Caramelized apple cake with ragi and cinnamon amidst other delectable delights, offering a healthy and nutritious ode to the nature. Here’s a look.
If you like these ideas, or have some more to share do comment below !
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