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Growing Your Own Food for Health & Security Hindi


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An online, self-paced course designed to help transform your relationship with food and empower you to create a thriving kitchen garden right in your backyard.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Imagine stepping outside your kitchen door and plucking vibrant, sun-kissed tomatoes or crisp, aromatic herbs; that you planted and nurtured with the right amount of care and attention. Imagine knowing exactly how your food is grown, free from harmful pesticides or chemicals, and bursting with rich flavor and unparalleled freshness. This online, self-paced course, developed by Dr. Betsy Bruji, will help to transform your relationship with food and empower you to create a thriving kitchen garden right in your backyard.

Gardening isn't simply about tending to plants; it's about embracing the interconnectedness of the world around us. Beyond the practical benefits, growing your own food is a transformative experience that allows us to explore the deep connection between food, nutrition, and the environment.

In this course, you'll learn the key steps to establish and maintain your very own kitchen garden, explore how to carefully select your favorite vegetables and fruits, and unearth what plants really need to thrive. Moreover, you will explore how weather patterns and garden planning shape your garden's success, and the feasibility of embarking on this journey that requires investments of time, money, and effort. Moreover, the course brings together a vibrant community of gardeners united by a commitment to promote good nutrition, protect the planet, and share the wisdom gained through their collective experiences.

Throughout this course, students will:

  • Identify key steps and skills needed to start and maintain a kitchen garden with a small number of vegetables and/or fruits of their choice.
  • Explain what plants need to survive and thrive, especially the factors that are of particular importance in a cultivated plot.
  • Describe the relationships between and impacts of weather patterns and garden planning.
  • Consider feasibility in terms of time, money, and effort.
  • Consider cost-effective alternatives to purchasing garden tools and equipment, including reusing and fixing resources already available around the home, locally available materials, and otherwise-wasted materials like food scraps.
  • Describe the difference between growing your own food vs. buying food from the market in terms of taste, freshness, and joy.
  • Identify and practice techniques for building community and supporting a movement to promote good nutrition, protect the environment, and share wisdom and experience to improve the success of gardens.
  • Recognize the likelihood of failures or mistakes, and identify strategies to improve rather than quit.
  • Anticipate challenges and consider ways to overcome or avoid them.
  • Keep effective records that allow for learning and growth over time. 

 

This course was created through and is part of :

 

COURSE-AT-A-GLANCE

The topical overview of the course below provides an early taste of what you can expect as you embark on your learning journey. The course has eighteen (18) modules spread across four (4) distinct exploratory areas. To view a full description of each lesson, toggle to the 'Lessons' tab at the top of this screen.

  • Module 1 - Introduction
  • Module 2 - The Gardener's Toolkit
  • Module 3 - Planning
  • Module 4 - Challenges
  • Module 5 - Designing Your Garden
  • Module 6 - Harvest and Best Practices
  • Module 7 - Implementations & Recordkeeping
  • Module 8 - Seed Collection & Storage
  • Module 9 -Conclusion: Support & Community Building

                AUDIENCE

                This course is designed for lifelong learners who believe in ecological thinking in action and who value learning in an intentional community and independent thought. Ideally, it is for farmers and gardeners (seasoned and beginners), students, educators and extension agents, and horticulturists.

                 

                COURSE FEE

                The price of this fully asynchronous course is the result of careful and intentional planning. While its high-quality content is the product of many hours of hard work and expertise by many hands, we recognize that the information it presents is relevant for all humans on the planet, regardless of financial circumstances. 

                To meet this need, Sterling is offering Growing Your Own Food for Health & Security at $149 USD, a far lower price than its rich content justifies. This fee includes the cost of course tuition and materials. Participants will be granted access to course materials for one (1) year. If this cost presents a significant barrier to your participation, please contact ecogather@sterlingcollege.edu to discuss options.

                COURSE DEVELOPERS - Dr. Betsy Briju

                Betsy Briju Portrait.

                ​Betsy’s undergraduate degree enabled her to have a feel for what farmers go through as they plant a crop and wait for rain or wait for the rain to stop. That’s when she decided to be of help to Indian farmers whose livelihoods depend on rain or lack thereof. Although she earned her PhD in Plant Molecular Biology, her passion continues to lie in being a source of information and seeking creative ways to solve everyday problems of farmers. Currently she is an active Master Gardener Volunteer who serves as a link between the research university and the general gardening public. Being a link - is how she sees herself in the future. Betsy appreciates that this visioning process enables us to explore how to accomplish the task of helping farmers realize that they are not doomed, but will achieve success in farming even with the constraints they are facing now. Betsy helped formulate the part of the vision that aims at healthy food for the community by suggesting the involvement of women and the bartering of excess crops with neighbors. She also helped prepare the questionnaire for surveying farmers and homemakers. Being a resident of the US for about 14 years, but having been born and brought up in India, she adds cross-cultural perspective to the project.

                Disclaimer: 

                Course descriptions on this webpage are for informational purposes only. Content may be updated or changed as planning evolves. Sterling College reserves the right to alter the program specifics, including details about course content, instructors, collaborations, field trips, facilities, and pricing, at any time without notice. 

                 

                Sterling's programming is always subject to adaptive change based on then-current events (e.g., public health emergencies, extreme weather events, service outages, etc.). We appreciate understanding and flexibility when we make adjustments designed to support community safety and care for the places in which we learn. We also thank you in advance for your patience when technical snags beyond our control briefly interrupt access. 

                Here is the class outline:

                Course Introduction

                Welcome to Growing Your Own Food for Health & Security! Meet your instructor, preview some of the topics we'll cover in the class, and find some helpful tips on navigating the class in NEO.

                Module 1: Introduction

                In this module, we will articulate our own reasons for starting a garden; engage other members of our households or communities in conversation about why they might want to start a garden; and establish preliminary expectations for starting a garden.

                Module 2: The Gardener's Toolkit

                In this module, we will identify and assess key environmental conditions that will impact a garden; practice resourcefulness in procuring garden materials while keeping costs low; observe and record what produce our households typically consume that we may include in our gardens; and identify nutritional needs and gaps that a home garden can support and fill.

                Module 3: Planning

                In this module, we will identify key components of plants and their functions, and leverage knowledge of plant biology to make more informed decisions about our gardens (including quantity and placement).

                Module 4: Challenges

                In this module, we will identify challenges that gardeners are likely to encounter; plan for ways to adapt to challenges, rather than giving up; and define what we mean by the term “pest” and consider a variety of ways to respond to them.

                Module 5: Designing Your Garden

                In this module, we will explain the importance of location in establishing a household garden; map potential garden sites and spaces for individual plants; and practice making tradeoffs between factors such as solar exposure, water availability, built infrastructure and accessibility, visibility, and other key considerations with the needs of the plants you hope to grow.

                Module 6: Harvest and Best Practices

                In this module, we will identify best practices for harvesting specific plants, including what part of the plant to harvest, what tools to use, how to identify when a plant is ready to be harvested, and practice assessing crop quality. We will also practice creative and cost-effective ways to minimize waste during harvest.

                Module 7: Implementation & Recordkeeping

                In this module, we will implement plans for our gardens determined in previous modules; identify necessary steps to transition from garden planning to garden planting; and identify and practice strategies for recordkeeping.

                Module 8: Seed Collection & Storage

                In this module, we will explain the value of seed keeping and proper storage, and identify and practice strategies for seed keeping and proper storage.

                Module 9: Conclusion: Support & Community Building

                In this final module, we will explain the value of using household gardens to cultivate community and personal relationships; practice leveraging gardens to connect with others and offer support to your community; and identify resources where you can turn for help.