Urban farming workshop

CHANGE THE CITY BY CHANGING YOURSELF

Free Sustainable Living Workshops

In order to celebrate the World Environment Day 2017, The Box Athens organizes a series of free workshops aiming to promote easy ways which everyone of us can easily incorporate to our everyday lives in order to reduce our ecological footprint.
By accepting the famous saying that the best way to change the world is by changing ourselves, it is easy to realize that there are, in fact, dozens of actions and initiatives we can adopt in order to improve our city. Several of those actions, from urban cycling and the use of public transport to zero food wasting and continuous reforestation are already promoted on a daily basis through public and private organizations, thus emphasizing the importance of private initiative when it comes to creating more sustainable and human-centric cities.
This is why, we chose two less promoted but equally interesting subjects for the wokshops we created for June 2-5. These subjects not only constitute a path towards a more ecofriendly way of life, they also boost our creativity and benefit our everyday lives directly.
June 4-5 – TRANSFORM YOUR BALCONY INTO A GARDEN  (Urban Farming Workshop)
Sunday 4 June: 11.30 – 15.00 Theory and 16.00 – 18.00 Workshop 

Monday 5 June: 11.30 – 15.00 Theory and 16.00 – 18.00 Workshop

Urban farming is not a new discovery but rather a return to a much more functional way of living. Transforming our balcony, rooftop or terrace into a small garden is not just a way of saving money; it helps us create a beautiful, natural space for us and our family. By making good use of our time in order to produce the food we consume, we can be assured about its quality and origin. And, of course, on a larger scale, having a small garden in every balcony can even transform the microclimate of an entire neighbourhood.  

These are only few of the reasons why it’s worth getting involved with urban farming. As many studies indicate, urban farming is shown to improve mental health, enhance social awareness and – with proper planning – it can also provide the farmer an alternative source of income!

During the 2 day workshop we organized, our aim is to point anyone interested in urban farming towards the right direction by analyzing step-by-step what types of plants we can grow depending on the available space we have, which is the optimal space layout and how can we nurture and protect our garden – especially during the summer – so our plants can remain healthy and fruitful.

Schedule includes both a theory part and a workshop, taking place at the Venue’s back yard, where we can put what we learned into practice. Subjects covered are:

Introduction

• The concept of urban farming (a need or a hobby?)
• The concept of the garden (space, time and man)

Farming Practices

• Plants reproduction (seeds or cutting)
• Timing and ways of replanting (with bare roots or with soil blocks? Autumn or Spring?)
• Soil (types and quality of fertilizers)
• Watering (timing, ways and frequency)
• Pruning (flowers, fruit trees)
• Protection (pesticides and organic ways of dealing with pathogens)
• Harvesting of flowers, fruits and nuts (ripening and post-harvesting preservation

Urban Garden / Farm Planning:

• Planning an urban garden (balconies, open spaces, yards)
• Planning an urban farm (installation criteria)
• Planning roof gardens

Worskhop Subjects :  

A hands-on workshop for some basic farming practices

• Open space planning
• Vegetable garden planning
• Sowing
• Planting and replanting
• Pollarding
• Organic pesticide production

About the lecturer:

Andreas Papastavrou, Doctor of Agricultural Science, specializes in floriculture and landscaping with post-graduated studies in field crops.

He is the founder and main contributor of the agronomist.gr e-school where one can find specialized workshops related with various agri-food, gardening and environmental subjects, ranging from farming to commercial agriculture.

You can find more information about his work at:

Web:  www.agronomist.gr   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/agronomist.gr/