It’s Thursday evening, almost 7pm. There is quiet whispering in TON1. A moment ago, the almost 90 guests who have come to our Atelier Gardens Campus this evening were engrossed in lively conversation. But now the last of the coconut water and rosemary mocktails are finished and returned to the bar, and the room’s attention is focussed on an elderly man in a kurta who takes to the stage.

The theme of this evening, the first in the “Talks at Atelier Gardens” series of events that will take place on campus over the next few months, is “Soil, Soul and Society”. Satish Kumar, the 86-year-old now sitting on the stage, is behind this idea. “To bring about true change, we need to live in harmony with the earth, ourselves and others,” explains the activist. He dreams of a world in which nature is considered a nationality, in which diversity does not lead to division, and in which the “we” culture replaces the “I” culture.

A life for spirituality

Kumar’s life symbolises his vision. As a teenager, he becomes a Jain monk and, in his words, renounces “the world”. But at 18, he realises that this is a very exclusive version of spirituality. He flees the monastery and joins an ashram where everything is done for everyone instead of for himself.

At the age of 26, Kumar learnt of the arrest of Bertrand Russel, who was 90 at the time and had protested against nuclear weapons. “I spoke to a friend and asked him: ‘And what are we doing here, two young men, while a 90-year-old is actively demonstrating? And so the two decided to walk to the four nuclear capitals (Moscow, Paris, London and Washington) – on foot and without money, because “peace begins with trust”.

Activism as a solution

To this day, Kumar is a staunch activist. “I may not be able to control what my actions lead to, but I can control my actions,” he says. You have to accept that the results are a gift from the universe, even if it can be frustrating. The responsibility lies with each and every one of us – everyone can, for example, place a plant by their window and thus contribute to making the city a little bit greener.

Words that are echoed in the Atelier Gardens. After all, everything here revolves around soil, soul and society: it’s no coincidence that the motto of our campus is “Celebrating Soil, Soul and Society”. Benjamin Rodrigues Kafka, our Vision and Community Director, who moderates the Atelier Gardens Talk with Satish Kumar, explains how the 7 trees that were planted here in 2016 have now grown to 120. For these and other efforts in the regeneration process of the campus, Atelier Gardens 2023 received the MIPIM Award for the best urban regeneration project. You can read more about this here.

The full conversation here:

Healthy, fresh food is a basic need that connects us all on a daily basis. Yet many feel alienated from food production due to scandals and opaque supply chains. However, a growing segment of society is yearning for a deeper connection to nature and food production. The Tiny Farms Academy responds to these needs by offering a new approach to organic gardening. Its nine-month training programme is aimed specifically at career changers and aims to equip people with the skills and knowledge necessary to learn bio-intensive gardening, to implement their own agricultural projects or to become pioneers of sustainability in other areas of society.

As part of our offering, we are pleased to announce the upcoming ‘Farmer For A Day’ programme from the Tiny Farms Academy. This event offers participants the opportunity to get a taste of the world of horticulture and gain their first practical experience over the course of the 1.5 day programme. The programme includes a digital introduction with theoretical basics on the first day, followed by a day on the farm with a variety of activities, including a farm tour, practical exercises in the field, as well as useful tips & tricks for practical gardening from experienced gardeners, and opportunities for networking.

The Farmer For A Day programme takes place both at our location in Brandenburg and in Hamburg (registration deadline 24-06-2024):

Brandenburg:
01-07-2024 (digital introduction, 05:30-08:00 p.m.)
05-07-2024 (farm day, 09:00 a.m.-04:30 p.m.)

Hamburg:
01-07-2024 (digital introduction, 05:30-08:00 p.m.)
12-07-2024 (farm day, 09:00 a.m.-04:30 p.m.)

The participation fee is 170 euros, including a shared lunch on our farm.

We invite all interested parties to join us in our endeavours and gain impetus for more environmentally conscious agriculture.

For further information and to register, please visit our website at tinyfarms.de/farmer-for-a-day

About Tiny Farms: The aim of Tiny Farms is to create a diverse, decentralised and human-scale agriculture supported by many people. In this way, Tiny Farms aims to spread organic farming and produce the best organic vegetables for canteens, retail, catering and the end consumer through many Tiny Farms, demonstrating that a different way of farming is possible. Tiny Farms focuses on market gardening as an organic method of cultivation on very small plots of land. Through intensive care and efficient use of the land, we produce fresh, healthy organic produce for local markets, promote a vibrant community and reduce environmental impact.

900 liters. That’s how much Terra Preta the Soil Social Club created from kitchen waste on campus last year. For those of us with less of an affinity for gardening, terra preta is a particularly fertile form of soil that is actually found in the Amazon basin, but which you can also make yourself from compost and charcoal. Now, over a year after the first compost was collected, the Terra Preta is being used to grow herbs and vegetables on our campus.

More than just earth

The idea for the Soil Social Club came to Benjamin Rodriguez Kafka, our Vision and Community Director, just over a year ago. He wanted to know whether something could be done with the 120 liters of kitchen waste generated in our campus canteen every week – and immediately thought of Ayumi Matzusaka. The artist and founder of Dycle, which has also been based on campus since the beginning of the year, has around 10 years’ experience in producing Terra Preta.

Matzusaka came up with the idea of a monthly meeting on campus where anyone who wants to can help turn compost into Terra Preta. The aim is to pursue a larger goal: “We want to use our hands and build a greater connection to nature through physical activity,” explains Matzusaka. She also wants to enable everyone to help shape the campus and participate in campus life.

A living campus motto

This monthly get-together has been taking place since January 2021. Several cubic meters of Terra Preta have been created and just last month spinach, tomatoes, pumpkins, kohlrabi and much more were planted in it. All the plants came from a wish list that the participants drew up at the beginning of last year. This is how we live the motto Soil, Soul and Society on campus!

To find out more about Matzusaka, Dycle, and our campus as a whole, you can read more here. And to stay up to date with upcoming events, you can subscribe to our newsletter here.