Potter around in your Potager!

Have space in your garden, balcony, deck, patio or even window sill? Those with a green thumb and passion towards gardening will do anything to find room to grow greens, herbs, tomatoes or other produce even with a nook and cranny they own.

So, if you've always wanted to learn a new skill or master your dogma, then get your creative hat on, as Neelam Dixit will take you through an exciting monsoon workshop that teaches you to make your own decorative kitchen garden.

She will also guide you on how you can become a pro at herb gardening and will be joined by Clément Rainguez from France who will walk you through a quick course in terracotta painting to create your very own potager (a European concept of kitchen gardening, derived from “Potage” meaning soup in French) this Sunday at Alliance Francaise.

Neelam will share practical tips on upcycling your garden with DIY projects and useful hacks to turn your green spaces that you will fall in love with, regardless of your experience level.

Spearheading the workshop, she explains what's in store for the Sunday session that begins at 11 am and ends at 5 pm, “We will be providing all the material and teach pot painting too. In my workshop on herbs I will show how they can be planted easily anywhere in your house or garden this season. Indian herbs are good for health. This is a basic workshop and once you master these you can keep practicing on your own. A lot of people plant seeds, but they don't know how deep they have to go, or how much water they have to give or the amount of sunshine that is required. Also, the ones you plant at home have a better taste and smell as the ones that you buy outside. You can use oregano that we grow for basic cure for cold and cough. Also, you can learn how to grow organic Methi etc as these help in balancing out the ph levels and are good for your hair, skin and joints.”

So where did the seasoned gardener, who can boast of a well manicured garden of her own, learn the art of gardening, we ask and Neelam shares, “I attended many gardening courses from botany department, Delhi University when I was a science student there. I've held many workshops and have been part of many activity clubs for many years now.”

Manan Trivedi of Chotu Painter, 28-year-old MBA graduate from Mumbai has always had an eye for quirky events. He shares, “I like to encourage innovative ideas and that's why the workshops that I organise are brimming with novel ideas. This art and gardening workshop for Rs 500 will combine the best of terracotta painting and herb gardening for about 60 people. Bengaluru has a lot of homes with balconies, so with these kinds of activities they can not only make their spaces presentable, but also grow common and exotic herbs fenugreek, coriander, basil, lettuce and celery that are healthy. Once they learn, they can get experiment and improvise in their kitchen garden." Clément adds, “I will guide the participants to recreate their own design ideas on the terracotta pots.”