Urban areas are often viewed as a source of ecological ​‘problems’ rather than solutions. This article presents the rationale, pedagogical implications, and student responses to a school project aimed at raising and sustaining an urban terrace farm. Through this example, it explores some themes that educators could engage with in urban areas.

At 7:00 am, the morning light is feebly making its way through the smog engulfing Mumbai in winter. Most people might want to stay snug in their beds, but at least 20 teenage children are excitedly running up to the terrace of their school. ​“The cabbage seeds have sprouted!” exclaims a girl, gingerly touching a tiny leaf. 

Elsewhere, a group of students are debating ways to handle a pest attack on one of the plants. Some of the students taste the leaves of the Indian Roselle (Ambadi), and enthusiastically encourage others to try it; ​“Arey taste kar, khatta hai! Mast taste hai!”.

For the next hour, these students work diligently towards mulching, sowing, harvesting, observing, and exploring over 20 varieties of edible plants that comprise their terrace ​‘farm’. In less than a year, a barren terrace, usually locked out of view, has become a hub of activity and neighbourhood attraction. 

Terrace farming:

A revolution on rooftops

Urban areas are generally far removed from areas of food production. Typical food products travel hundreds of kilometers, burning fossil fuel for transport and cold-storage, before being packed into plastic wrappers and displayed in grocery stores.

Turning the basic necessity of food into a commodity so far removed from its source creates a pool of passive urban consumers who are unable to build or understand a relationship with food that goes beyond monetary transactions. Wendell Berry, a farmer and environmental activist, suggests that

growing food responsibly may be the first step in reclaiming our connection with land. Farming as an activity naturally provides a space to raise questions and develop an integrated understanding about weather, food, nutrition, the economics of food production, water, and local geography.

The scarcity of land in ​‘megacities’, like Mumbai, has led to the emergence of an interesting alternative — using rooftops to grow food. Many individuals and volunteer groups are now growing a variety of fruits and vegetables on their rooftops using traditional and organic farming principles. 

These have had encouraging results, both in terms of yield and the health benefits of engaging in the physical activity of farming. This practice has improved awareness of and access to fresh, seasonal, and local food. 

Food growers often come together to share their knowledge and skills (in identifying local vegetables and sowing times, developing recipes, and finding ways to care for their plants etc.) in ways that contribute to a sense of community. 

Terrace farms also provide a venue for compost from biodegradable household waste, which would otherwise contribute ~50% of the waste dumped at landfills. They improve urban biodiversity by creating habitats for insects, reptiles, and birds (see Box 1). These farms can also contribute to better air quality and micro-climate regulation in the long run (see Fig. 1).

The pedagogy of dirty hands

Being able to provide students with authentic experiences of engaging with the local environment is important in fostering an understanding of diverse ecological practices. 

While schools are an integral part of any community, the notion of experience tends to get simplified and uncritical within the structure of formal education. 

Many activities, especially those meant to nurture environmental sensibilities, tend to take the form of tokenistic actions (planting saplings on Earth day, making ​‘Save the Tiger’ posters etc.) without the possibility of any feedback or consequence. 

On the other hand, textbooks are filled with bleak scenarios of environmental degradation, leaving students acutely aware of ​‘big’ problems, but disempowered to bring about any transformation in their own locality. 

Many educators have, therefore, argued for the need for ​‘authentic participation’. This involves experiences where students feel a sense of ownership, and take responsibility for the task at hand. 

However, this isn’t the same as unguided learning; rather, it is conducive to collaborative learning environments where knowledge isn’t seen to be transmitted only from teacher to student.

Combining ideas of ​‘authentic participation’ with possibilities of practice in terrace farming (see Box 2), a class of VIII graders from a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) school were involved in setting up an edible farm on their school terrace (see Box 3).

The school managed to allocate an hour every week, in the mornings, for this ungraded project.

With the coming together of a small core team — consisting of a researcher, a couple of teachers (who facilitate the school nature club) and two enthusiastic school gardeners — the project began to gradually take shape (see Box 4).

To meet the initial need for organic matter, the core team began with digging a small compost pit in one corner of the school grounds. Students began collecting dry leaves (from the neighborhood) and raw kitchen waste (from the school canteen) for composting.

This collection activity led to discussions about plastics and other non-degradable materials found in household waste. In the meanwhile, discarded cardboard boxes and plastic bottles were used to grow plants (see Fig. 4).

Within a month, saplings of several herbs and greens were planted. Some plants, such as pumpkin, pomegranate, papaya, and guava, grew from the compost itself, much to the delight of the students. Slowly, the farm started to expand.

The project used farming principles that combined the core group’s tacit understanding of sustainable farming with the pedagogical goal of linking different aspects of the environment in tangible ways (see table below).

Consequently, students were exposed to these principles through their sustained participation in activities involving them, rather than explicit explanations. 

For e.g., over the course of the project, students became quite particular about mulching because they had observed that mulched soil (soil covered with biomass, such as dry leaves, or tiny creepers, such as mint and clover) remained soft and moist, while exposed soil tended to become compact and hard.

Similarly, the realisation that seeds would be needed for planting in every season and one couldn’t always rely on getting new seeds from the market led students to recognise the importance of seed saving.

While core practices were followed regularly, day-to-day activities on the farm were largely contingent on the weather, status of the plants, and any other task on the farm that required immediate attention. 

For instance, during the monsoons, many of the cardboard boxes that were used as planters had to be moved around to allow the rain water to run off the slope of the terrace. 

The boxes had to be repeatedly reinforced with coir ropes and cardboard pieces to maintain structural integrity, and supports had to be constructed for growing creepers to climb on. Similarly, the higher bout of plant infections and diseases had to tackled with various organic methods. 

However, the unpredictability of the project helped students see it as a ​‘real’ thing rather than just another school assignment. 

They saw the impact (good or bad) of their actions on the plants on the farm, and hence began to see themselves as being responsible for the health of the farm (see Fig. 6).

A typical session would begin with students observing the farm and having a quick discussion amongst themselves, followed by a quick recap of the previous week’s work. 

Then, tasks for the day would be listed out, and students would be encouraged to include tasks based on their own observations. Students were also encouraged to maintain their own farm journals, in which they could write about or draw out their impressions of the day (see Fig. 7).

Student responses

The open-ended nature of the project allowed for a range of student responses. Since most students came from urban, middle-class backgrounds, they found many of the interactions and observations at the farm quite novel (see Box 5).

The broad themes that emerged from these responses underline some of the key factors that motivated students to participate in farm activities and widen their sphere of actions.

a) Somaesthetic interactions

Students were observed to engage with plants in a rich, visceral manner, through senses of touch, smell and taste (instead of just their eyes). 

Thus, the farm seemed to introduce students to different ways of perceiving the environment. For e.g., many students had never seen the plant called Indian Roselle (Ambadi) before they became part of this project.

Once the plant had begun to grow in the terrace farm, students were informed that its leaves and calyx were edible. 

In the initial stages of the project, the mere idea of eating something directly off a plant was a novel concept for most students given that most of their interactions with food were in its packaged, frozen or cooked forms.

However, their apprehensions soon gave way to curiosity, and students began to touch, sniff and tentatively nibble the Ambadi leaves.

In another example, many students were initially repulsed with the organic matter kept for composting. They began shedding their inhibitions about handling it after seeing saplings grow out of the compost, and discovering that the compost itself, when ready to use, had a sweetish smell.

Soon, they began taking an active interest in preparing compost, often smelling it, feeling its texture, and poking around to look for earthworms — the presence of which would generate a lot of excitement.

Given that they had started out with a bare space, the emergence of new life-forms and relationships led them to take more actions to encourage further growth.

Such engrossed participation prompted a student to remark:

“…we never even touched plants this way earlier… I mean we play on the grass, but not this way. To take care… this time we learnt how to grow the plant, otherwise it is said that just drop a seed and the plant will grow… the book says that… but now I think the book is very fake, because the book only says what the author can see, but while doing it we see many different things…” — AY

b) Novelty and challenge

Students found some tasks particularly challenging. These included figuring out a way to use bamboo poles to provide support for climbers, or repeatedly reinforcing cardboard planters to survive the monsoons.

Often, these challenges would motivate students to come up with novel solutions. For e.g., they came up with the idea of designing supports in the form of tripods, and then worked together to build these structures for the farm (see Fig. 8).

They reported the process to be quite enjoyable, perhaps owing to the fact that it involved peer validation and the tangible outcome of having a stable support for plants. As a student commented:

“…then most important was that trellis… making it was a fun job because we were trying different knots that we knew but had never really used. So, it was a very enjoyable…” — NM.

c) Feedback

The evolving landscape of the terrace farm became an interesting form of feedback for the students, who started noticing different aspects of plant growth. This is evident in a remark made by one of them:

“…we studied that the tendrils wrap around the support, but now I actually saw how it wraps itself… we hadn’t learnt about grouping plants (multi- cropping) like this.. this is new, we haven’t studied like this… I saw the good effects also.. Like that ajwain plant needed some shade… under full sun it didn’t have so many leaves… now under a bit of shade (under a taller plant) it has grown a lot…” — RN

Sustained engagement seemed to have been an important dimension in ensuring that students received continuous feedback regarding their efforts from other people, and from the artifacts themselves. The practice of sharing

their impressions seems to have given students the impetus to widen the scope of their activities to include composting, the use of upcycled materials as planters, reducing wastage of food, and growing plants at home too.

d) Nurturing broader perspectives

The various activities that students engaged with on the farm were gradually reflected in more thoughts pertaining to the environment in general. For e.g., plastic bottles are generally considered synonymous with trash, often ending up in landfills soon after they are bought. 

On the farm, however, discarded plastic bottles were cut and used as sapling containers — turning what is commonly seen as waste into a low-cost resource. For many students, the idea of recycling took on a new meaning as they began to look for other materials which could be used as planters. 

On the other hand, sorting plastic from organic waste for compost led to many discussions regarding its quantity in the environment. Students began questioning the use of plastic in packaging, and exploring potential alternatives. 

The use of dry leaves on the farm sensitized students to its usefulness as dry biomass. Not only did they make an effort to collect dry leaves from their neighbourhoods, but also attempted, in some instances, to stop locals from burning it.

Student engagement with processes like composting, and adding cow- dung slurry and mulch to soil helped them appreciate what was required to maintain the richness of soil. 

For e.g., a student remarked:

“…Earlier we thought [that] soil is just something we get in packets, and plants will directly grow in it. But now we are realising that it needs cow-dung, dry leaves, and many decomposition materials that improves the nutrients. This has really changed what I thought about soil.” — DV.

Parents and grandparents have started including a trip to the farm on their school visits. Some of them have started coming regularly, as volunteers, to learn as well as share their experiences of farming. Thus, this project has evolved into a community outreach effort (see Box 6).

Many students bring seeds from their villages for the farm; a few have taken to growing some of these plants in their own homes. Students are also involved in selling saplings to the neighbourhood to raise funds to maintain the farm. 

In this way, the terrace farm is gradually transforming into a hub for seed and sapling exchange. In addition, the farm is beginning to get absorbed into the school’s ethos, contributing to new ​‘teacher – learner’ experiences that are based on student observations and interactions on the farm (see Box 7).

For instance, a science teacher described how she had used the farm:

“VII and VI [grades] where I teach as well, they have similar lessons. Like plant forms and functions and plant reproduction. So I took them to the farm for a couple of classes, I showed them around. I showed them tendrils, parallel venation, reticulate root, tap root, fibrous root. What kind of fruits? How flower grows into fruit? What part of flower grows into fruit? What is sepal, what is a petal, everything…

I could see the enthusiasm on their faces because they themselves observed tendrils, how they are coiling, what kind of support. For each plant also tendrils are different, because they are from the leaf. For pumpkins tendrils are different, for bitter gourd tendrils are different. 

Then shape of the leaves, different shapes and colour. Cabbage, cauliflower, they had never seen them growing as plants… It was such a novel experience for them that it will stay with them for a long time.”

To conclude

Urban spaces are generally seen as being far removed from Nature. This idea perpetuates the notion that cities exist separate from Nature, and urban human habitations can only have adverse impacts on the environment. 

Practices such as urban farming question this idea. Establishing a relationship with soil through the food we eat can be a powerful counter-narrative to dominant modes of production and consumption. 

A food farm provides a diversity of themes for discussion with students — these range from local geography and biology, to economics and history. In many cases, inter-relationships between these perspectives are more easily understood through one’s experience with the farm, and the community that grows around it.

As a collaborative space, a terrace farm allows experiments with different forms of teaching, like peer learning and apprenticeship. 

It opens up multiple sensory modalities as pathways for learning. It can also demonstrate that grand slogans such as ​“Save the Earth!” may not be necessary in cultivating good environmental practices, because in reality it is our relationship with Nature that needs saving. 

In fact, engaging with environmental issues in abstraction can result in inaction and desensitisation. By creating tangible connections, urban farms offer us the opportunity to restore a relationship of care, reciprocity, and respect for Nature. 

Hope is literally beneath our feet.

Glossary:

Frugality: Being careful and sparing in the use of materials. In this context, it refers to resources sourced in the form of planters, water, and other supporting structures.

Mulching: The process of covering the soil surface with a thin layer of organic material (plastic sheets may be used

in colder areas) to retain soil moisture, increase fertility, and prevent weed growth. In this context, dry leaves or dry sugarcane fibres (called bagasse and easily available from sugarcane juice vendors) were used for mulching.

Probiotic: Refers to micro-organisms that contribute to the health of the human gut. In this context, an analogy is being drawn to compare microbes in cow-dung acting as probiotics for soil by improving its fertility.

Reciprocity: In this project, reciprocity refers to the perspective of developing a two-way relationship with plants based on care and empathy. We care for the plants and their extended environment, and one could argue that our care is validated through the harvest we receive in the form of vegetables and fruits.

Somaesthetics: is a field of study that emphasizes the role of sensory experience in aesthetic appreciation.

Sovereignty: In this context, sovereignty refers to the rights of food producers (farmers) and consumers to decide the mechanisms, policies, and economics of food production in a sustainable manner. This includes the right to save seeds (instead of relying on agri-business companies to sell and control hybrid seeds) and becoming self-reliant.

Stewardship: Refers to the idea of being responsible and capable of caring for the local environment.

Trellis: An open architectural structure usually made of interwoven strips of wood to support the growth of climbers and creepers.

Key takeaways

• Tokenistic environmental activities and bleak scenarios of environmental degradation can leave students acutely aware of ​‘big’ problems, but disempowered to bring about any transformation in their own lives.
• Being able to provide students with authentic experiences of engaging with the local environment is important in fostering an understanding of diverse ecological practices.
• Terrace farms offer one way of combining ideas of ​‘authentic participation’ with possibilities of practice in land-scarce megacities.
• Working on the terrace farm:
  • introduced students to ways of perceiving the environment through touch, smell, and taste vs. just their eyes.
  • posed challenges that would often motivate students to come up with novel solutions.
  • offered students the impetus to widen the scope of their engagement to include composting, upcycling, reducing wastage of food, and growing plants in spaces outside school.
  • led students to reflect on more thoughts pertaining to the environment in general, and engage in community outreach efforts including seed and sapling exchange.
  • offered teachers the opportunity to experiment with different forms of teaching, like peer learning and apprenticeship.
• The involvement of schools in projects like terrace farming challenges the notion that urban human habitations can only have adverse impacts on the environment, while creating tangible connections that help restore a relationship of care, reciprocity, and respect for Nature.

About the author

Deborah Dutta is a PhD scholar at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai. 

Her research explores motivational processes underlying participation in environmental actions. 

Her specific focus is on urban farms as a site of community-practice. 

She can be contacted at deborah@​hbcse.​tifr.​res.​in.