05/09/2024
This is week five of our School Gardening Club
" Could you come Dear, let's make a cake together. Grandpa Ananda will come tomorrow and he will teach us how to make compost " said Mom.
I went to the bookshelf with Mom and chose a book with cake-making recipes.
" Look! there are different cakes, chocolate cakes, icing cakes ” I whispered.
" Let's make this zucchini cake " said Mom. I helped Mom to collect the ingredients needed to make the cake. Dad came and washed and grated the zucchini.
" Dad, could you beat four eggs with sugar. The recipe says to add a cup of sugar. Don't take that much. Take half of it " Mom said to my Dad.
I asked my Grandpa " Grandpa do you know, who came to see me first time after my birth? ”
" Who were they, Dear? "
" Grandpa, Ananda came with the Grandma "
" Not only they came to see you as first visitors, they even came to see us when I was pregnant. They brought delicious soup for us " said Mom.
" I remembered the time when I was pregnant. In those days, if the people of our village harvested something from their garden, they brought the best part to me. Even the teachers in the school where I taught, if they made something special in their homes, they brought a part of it. I went to school by bus on the days when Granpa couldn't drop me. So, when I got on the bus, the children rushed to give me a seat. Even grown-up children, who I have taught, show their gratitude with great respect " said the grandmother.
Mother said " Uncle Ananda and Aunt grow vegetables together at home. Uncle Ananda also has fruit trees. They do not eat those fruits and vegetables alone. They share those veggies and fruits with their neighbors and friends. Uncle Ananda takes a portion of the garden harvest to the office and shares it with colleagues. One day, Uncle Ananda said to me ‘In those days, during the entire time that our two daughters were studying at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney, we both went to Sydney to see them every weekend. When we visited them, we cooked and packed the veggies that we have grown in the garden. It takes two and a half to three hours to drive from Canberra to Sydney. But it's not hard for us. It was a pleasure for us. We enjoyed it '.
" Uncle Ananda's specialty is that he gave good things not only his children but also to other children. When he harvested the vegetables and fruits from his garden, how many times he has brought to us? " Dad said.
" Uncle Ananda looks like your great uncle, isn't he? ” Grandma asked my Dad.
“ Yes, Mom. Uncle Ananda and our great-uncle are like twins. But Uncle Ananda is not from our village or province. I didn't know about Uncle Ananda until I came to Canberra. The difference between our great uncle and Uncle Ananda is our great uncle was born in a village, grew up in a village, lived and died in the village. But uncle Ananda was born in a village, came out of the village, studied and went to a university. And he did not stop there. He studied at a university in a foreign country, got his doctorate degree and came back to Sri Lanka, and became a lecture in a Sri Lankan university. No matter how high he went, uncle Ananda had the same smell of our great uncle. Both of them had humanity, love and kindness " said Dad.
Dad further said “ Uncle Ananda is a very honest, simple and genuine person. He is a hard, dedicative and honest worker. He has done the research for his doctorate thesis with great dedication and sincerity. Impressed by that, the foreign university professor said ' Ananda, if you like, stay here. I can offer you a job opportunity to continue research in our lab' But Uncle Ananda wanted to go back to Sri Lanka. He wanted to go to Sri Lanka and teach children. He went to Sri Lanka after his doctorate degree.
How do trees absorb water from the soil and transport to the canopy? " Dad asked.
" Along the bark of the tree " I said.
" No, Dear. The food produced by photosynthesis in the leaves of the tree travels from the leaves to the roots along the bark. It is called Phloem. But the water on the ground travels to the tree leaves through the trunk of the tree. It is called Xylem. When water travels along a longer period through Xylem, the compounds like minerals deposited in Xylem tubes. And, some chemical compounds produced by the tree are also deposited. As a results, the tree trunk become stronger ".
" Then, how will the water go up when the tubes are blocked ?" Granddad asked.
" When old Xylem are closed, new Xylem are formed, Dad. That is the part of a tree just below of the tree bark which is not strong. When we prepare furniture from trees, we take the hardest part of the tree, which is the old Xylem after removing the soft part which is the newly formed Xylem. But for a tree, both old and newly formed Xylem is important " said my Dad.
Dad further said " So the water moves in a tree through a water potential. So, uncle Ananda has done research for his doctoral degree on how water moves through the Xylem of trees. He actively engaged to update the Sri Lankan school children’s text books with this new knowledge that he learned from foreign universities. He was a very good teacher. Children also love him very much ”.
" Then why does uncle Ananda migrated to Australia from Sri Lanka ? ". Granddad asked my Dad.
" You know Dad how things are happening in Sri Lanka. The systems of countries like Sri Lanka are not well-designed to absorb people’s skills and talents with a aim of economic and social development. The biggest resource of our country is human Resource. How smart are the people of Sri Lanka? But does the system of our country use these people’s talent and skills ? It is unfortunate for the country and the world "
Dad added " Our country is located in a very special place on the world geopolitical map. So, Sri Lanka is important for everyone involve in the world's economic and political battle. So they don't want country like Sri Lanka to develop and stand up independently. If the country becomes economically and socially strong, then those countries cannot influence Sri Lanka to achieve their economic and political agendas. That is why those powerful countries are strategically disrupting the economic development of countries like Sri Lanka. They involve in to create rifts between the different races, religions and people living in the country. Look! Sri Lanka got independence in 1948. After independence, there was a economic bloom in the country. Various small, medium and large-scale factories were established. Paper, steel, cement, fertilizer, handlooms, chemical, sugar, tires, porcelain factories are some of these newly established factories. As a result of this development, the economy of the country developed. The budget gap reduced. But after the seventies, all these collapsed. The background was created for the closure of these factories that were making profits. In the end, the machinery in some of these profitable factories even sold for iron. Some of these sold factories reassembled in some foreign countries and they are still contributing for the production. The sad part of this story is we are even today importing the same products manufactured in even those reassembled factories at a higher price.
These things did not happen overnight. These changes happened in a very strategic ways without anyone noticing. How do you know the development of the country was destroyed ? The main thing happened was that the leaders who had a vision of a national economy, a united society and a Sri Lankan identity were defeated in the elections. The leaders, who could not defeatable in elections, were murdered. Up until today, no one knows who was behind some of these murders. Do you know what kind of leaders were appointed instead ? Leaders who have no feeling and love about the country. And the leaders who disrupt the national economic development. And leaders who work strategically in such a way that deliberately make divide between the Sinhalese - Muslim - Tamil - Burger - Malay people, who have been together for a longer period of time. Which country in the world has economic and social developed when the different groups in that country started working divided on the basis of racism, religion or caste ? Which country in the world has achieved liberation after being divided ? This does not mean that different cultural systems should be dissolved. Cultural diversity should be preserved. Everyone should be live together as one country and one nationality.
This is how we have lived throughout history. We live as a Sri Lankan nation. Our strength was there. Our base was there. Look! How powerful countries in the world, which battle for economic and political benefit, destroyed strategically our whole system. They well studied and attacked to our base which is the national unity. They attacked this after defeating our national visionary leaders and appointing leaders who dance like puppets according to their economic and political agendas. So after the seventies, the country began to shake not only economically but also socially. What is produced in our country today ? Everything, even needles and potatoes are brought from abroad. When the production of a country is lost, that country collapses. When the country collapses, the talented people who can contribute significantly for the development, leave the country. When talented people leave a country, that country falls further into the abyss. So this becomes a vicious cycle. Uncle Ananda said on that day, he came to the Colombo airport with the aunt and two daughters, boarded the spaceship and left the land of Sri Lanka with great sadness and pain. Tears flowed from his eyes for many hours. This is not the story of Uncle Ananda alone. This is the story of many ” My Dad continued to speak with a deep voice. My Dad always speaks from his heart.
" This does not mean that the people of Sri Lanka should live and work only in Sri Lanka. I came to Australia in 2012. Since the day I came to Canberra, I had the opportunity to make connections with the Australian National University. I met world talented researchers, scientists and thinkers at the university. I listened to them. I learned a lot from them. Then, my horizons of knowledge widened gradually. Also, in Canberra, people who came here from many countries live together. I have learned a lot from every person I have met. It is my fortune. If I was in Sri Lanka, I would not have this knowledge and experience. The experience and knowledge that I have gathered from Sri Lanka and Australia are crucially important for my poems and writings. So, if I have given something to the world via my poems and writings it is because of these knowledge and experience that I have gathered from Sri Lanka and Australia. So, that’s why I am not telling that Sri Lankan should not go to the another country. But I mean that when we donate a scientist, a doctor, an engineer or any other technician from Sri Lanka to the world, Sri Lanka should also get the benefit. Only then, we will be able to produce more such people and bequeath them to the entire human race.
Every Sri Lankan living in Sri Lanka is blessed with free education and free health. When we got independence, the literacy and life expectancy in our country was very low. Today, it has reached the same level as the developed countries of the world. These are the results of free education and free health in our country. These are the results of people who sacrificed even their lives to create free education and free health in the country. As a nation, how much effort and expense does Sri Lankans bear from the day a child is born until the day they get a job ? So, when someone from our country gives to the world, there should be a way to ensure that benefit flow to the country as well. Only then, when one doctor leaves this country to provide her/his services to another country, we will be able to produce ten more doctors. When five of those ten doctors go to foreign countries to provide their services, fifty more doctors can be made from the benefits coming from those five.
We are not an isolated country throughout the history. Sri Lanka is a country that was tied together by friendship with the world. It is reported that there was a separate embassy even for the Greeks in the kingdom of Anuradhapura built by King Pandukabhaya more than two thousand four hundred years ago. Also, the goods produced in our country went to foreign countries. People who lived in Sri Lanka went to other countries of the world and provided services. So, we did not think only about Sri Lanka. We are a country that loved everyone. We are a country that loved entire human race. The Theravada tradition's Tripitaka and meditation methods are among the things that we have preserved for thousands of years and have given to the world. So we need to do this today as well. We want to spread the affection, love and compassion in our hearts to the whole world. More doctors, engineers, technicians, artists, philosophers should be produced and bequeathed to the whole world. At the same time, we need to think about how the country will get its benefits.
" Dad, it's amazing to meet someone like Grandpa Ananda who has similar appearance to your great Uncle, isn't it. You said they are look like twins ? " I asked my father.
Dad laughed. After that, he said " Dear! The birth room is not the place where you begin the journey. The cemetery is not the place where you end the journey. All the events happen in our lives are not random. In this journey, we meet the same people again and again. Also, the same events happen again and again. There are deep and complex universal cause and effects called dharma under these events ”.
" That means Dad ? "
" You will be able to understand these things when you are grown up, My Deer! "
During the school interval, when I was eating the Zucini cake, which was made yesterday afternoon, I remembered the conversation that happened in our home when we were making Zucini cake. After drinking water, I ran to our school garden.
" Maureen! Do you know that we are going to make vegetables and fruits in our home too ? Today we are making compost. Granddad Ananda is coming this evening to teach us how to make compost " I told Maureen.
Then, Maureen said " Very good. How good is it that you start growing vegetables at home too ? "
The sky is very clear. The birds are chirping. Butterflies fly from flower to flower. I walk after butterflies, flapping my wings with both hands. A car stopped in front of our garage.
" Grandpa Ananda has come! Mom! Grandpa Ananda has come! " I shouted and ran in to the home.
We ate zucchini cake, drank tea and went to the garden.
" Is it good to make compost here, Grandpa ? " I asked Grandpa Ananda.
" It's good here, Dear. This is a flat ground. Other than that, there is no strong sun. Compost piles dry in the hot sun and it's not good. The compost pile should be just moist ”.
" Why do we need compost for farming ? "
" Dear! the soil of any farm field is the heart of the farm. But the most important thing that we have forgotten after the green revolution is also the soil. Look at that tree Dear!, Could you see the above ground parts including trunk, the branches and the leaves. There is a big part like this above ground part under the soil as well. It is the root system. To grow healthy and produce well, the root system of a plant must be healthy. To produce a healthy root system, the soil should be fertilized. The best way to fertilize the soil is to add organic matter like compost to the soil. No matter how much chemical fertilizers are added to the soil, the soil will not sustainably improve. That is true the yield is increasing temporarily. Compost is a living ecosystem. Compost contains bacteria, fungi, worms and other small organisms. So, this dynamic ecosystem protect the plants. Also, when compost is added to the soil, beneficial parameters like soil nutrient, moisture holding capacity, along with soil properties also increase. On the other hand, if we don't make compost from this waste, we collect them and bury them somewhere. Then, what happens is that Methane is released into the atmosphere as a result of anaerobic bacteria activities. Methane is a very harmful greenhouse gas which affects drastically the global warming " said Grandpa Ananda.
" Is it difficult to make compost ? "
" No, Dear! Very easy. The government has given three bins to every house in Canberra, right ? We put the garbage collected at home in to one bin. We put in to the second bin the recycled things like paper and plastic. In the third bin, we put things like leaves and branches. The waste bin is collected every week. The other two bins collected once in a two week. It means that the bin containing the recyclable material such as plastic and cardboard is taken in one week. In the next week, the bin with the leaves and branches will be taken away. Do you know what they do for the green waste ? These green waste are taken to composting sites in Canberra. Then, they piled up like a mountain. After a few months, they will partially degrade. After that, it is ground into machines and turned into compost ”.
" Then, Grandpa, do we also need machines to make the compost ”
" No, Dear! You don't need a machine to make compost at home. We want green materials like leaves of trees and grass. As well as brownish materials like dried leaves and straw. We also need dung like cow or sheep or horse dung. The brown material is rich with carbon. The green material is rich with nitrogen. So, the ratio of carbon to nitrogen in the compost pile should be around 30:1. This means if you put a layer of brownish things 30 inches high in the compost pile, then you have to add green things 1 inch high.
" How are we making the compost heap ? "
" Generally, if there is a possibility and space, it is better to divide the composting area into three parts. If you divide it, it's easy to mix the pile. If not, you can mix the way people mix cement. In the first part of the space, we set up the compost heap. First of all, the debris should be removed. Then, we have to put the brown leaf layer. A layer of green materials like grass, leaves is placed on top of it. Remember, the ratio between the height of the brown layer and the height of the green layer is 30:1. After that, we spread dung on top of the green layer and soak it well. Then, the bacteria living in the dung, that decomposes this organic matter, will spread well. After that, another brown layer is placed on top of the green layer. On top of that, we also puts a green layer and dung and moistens it well. You can put floors alternately at a height that is easy to handle. Finally, the compost heap is well covered with something like a polyethene.
You can feel within a few days that the temperature increases inside of the compost pit. This means bacteria has started the degradation process. Around after two weeks, this compost pit moved from the first place to the second place. We mix it well. The parts in the around of the pit should go to the middle of the pile. Do you know why that is ? The temperature rises significantly in the center of the compost heap. Then, the digestion process goes well. Then, the harmful organisms in the compost pile, the w**d plants and their seeds are destroyed. The temperature of the compost pile is determined by the amount of green leaves that we add to it. If you add more green materials, the bacterial process will increase. Then, the heap will be too hot. If you add less green leaves, digestion will not be so good. That's why the best way is to add 1 part of green material to 30 brown material. So, Dear, after turning the compost for the second time, it needs moist well and leave around another two weeks. After two weeks, it has been changed from the second place to the third place and then keep it again for two weeks after moisturizing and covering. By now, the compost is well decomposed. So, we then take that compost, mix it up and let it curing for about a month or two, and then we can add it directly to the soil ”.
" Grandpa, I heard that you make Vermiwash at home ? "
" Yes, Dear! We have a small worm farm in our home that makes Vermiwash. We bought it from the market. It is made of three square shaped black containers. The Vermiwash is collected into the bottom container. There is a tap attached to it to take Vermiwash out. Another container is placed above the bottom container and coir dust is placed at the bottom of it. Earthworms lives in these coir dust. On top of this coir dust, we can puts anything left over from the kitchen, such as fresh vegetable pieces and fruit peels. We do not feed worms with cooked products, meat, things coming from citrus family like lemons as nematodes do not prefer for sour taste. It is also important to maintain humidity in the containers. The increase in humidity is also not good. If the moisture is too much, you can mix it with a handful of straw. So, when the first box is full, we can place the other container on top of it and add the leftovers from cutting the vegetables and fruits into it. There are holes in the bottom of these containers to allow earthworms to move from one container to another. These nematodes eat what we give them and make a black liquid. When you take this liquid and dilute it tenfold and give it to the plants, then plants are very happy. They grow very well. Pests and diseases disappeared.
So, we make compost from the leaves and grass collected from our garden. The green material like branches that cannot be composted is put in the relevant bin. They are collected by an institution with the intervention of the government and composted by using machines. We make Vermiwash from the kitchen waste. So, a very small amount is taken out of the home as garbage every week for land fill. Look! Dear! how environmentally friendly process is this ?
When you give the plants Vermiwash and compost, they will grow very well. There is not much space in our garden. But when we do home gardening in this way, we get a big harvest from the land we have. These are not like vegetables in the market. This home grown are very tasty. For the past twenty years, we have been doing research in our backyard. We tried to see if it is possible to grow a garden without using chemicals. Yes, you can do it. The secret is in the soil. As much as the soil is fertilized by adding compost and organic material, the plants grow very well. And they also give a good harvest. The nutritional quality of these produces is also high. The taste is also good. Nutritious food is not only good for your body but also good for your mind ”.
What Grandpa Ananda said sank deep into my brain. " The food with high nutritional quality is not only good for our body but also good for our mind ".
I know that Grandpa Ananda is living very healthy and happy no matter how old he is.
Further study ;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lVoRP8zNQs&t=3366s
https://www.canberraenvironment.org/compost
https://www.youtube.com//playlists
