Summer weather has been kind to gardens throughout UK. With longer
growing seasons, gardens are brimming with flowers and bumble bees. Gardens are
our own piece of green space that connect us to nature. As a first choice avoid
the use of chemicals in garden to save bees. We have been exploring and
planning the possibilities for preparing Panchagavya to enrich the garden and
promote growth plus yield.
As promised in my previous blog, the world is limitless. This article is all about sharing the entire journey, experience including fun, travel, preparation, project planning, tactics, resource allocation and interesting facts for the project.
Initially, we have planned to roll out in a wider circle within our community by encouraging people to be part of the entire journey. All plans were postponed due to the current Coronavirus pandemic situation and safety precautions. It is always safety first over anything.
But I am curious in understanding the people's interest about trying new things. We circulated a group message regarding trying Panchagavya in the community. This was our first steppingstone. We got a good response from the group, which encouraged us to go for a trial.
As part of the project, we started with the following four volunteers.
1. Satya
2. Suresh
3. Gopi
4. Senthil
Next Step
We discussed about creating the Panchagavya during middle of the week with the volunteers. Every project needs a spreadsheet 😋 for planning, organize the tasks, resource allocation, roadmap, and procurement of the materials. Gopi gave a farm reference to get the Cow dung and urine. This initially made it easier to proceed with the planning and boosted our energy. The farm person was very supportive and interested to help us.
As per plan, we started the prototype on 20-Jun-2020. I have shared some of the artifacts which we used for planning and task delegation of this community project.
With the plan, crew was ready with all necessary things to collect fresh cow dung and urine waiting for the Saturday. As we had never visited any farms in United Kingdom before, we were geared for all weather conditions.
I would recommend taking some polythene bin liners and long polythene
sheets to cover the car boot.
But our intention was not only preparing Panchagavya but also to involve kids in the process as described in the previous blog. Two master's Aadhiran and Amit joined the team.
The farm was on the outskirts of an idyllic village in Warwickshire. The farmer who helped us in the process was a very friendly and supportive person. Luckily, the farm was full of many varieties of cattle breeds. It is observed that most of the farms in United Kingdom are free range. Hence all cattle can roam in vast acres of land during summer. All my assumptions went wrong, and it was really a challenging situation to collect cow dung and urine. Meanwhile, look at the masters who were really enjoyed each moment in the farm. Sheep’s were literally approaching us looking for treats. They were so curious in getting something from us, but they were unlucky 😔. Anybody trying in future, plan it accordingly.
Satya went with the farm co-Ordinator to collect cow urine, meanwhile with masters, I was searching for fresh cow dungs. Eventually, we managed to get it. As the farm was free range, after a very long waiting time, we were unsuccessful in getting the urine as the cows ran away when Satya and the co-ordinator tried to approach the cows. One finding was that we went with a bright, yellow colour bucket that made the cows run away. That was the statement from the farm person. So, this could be one lesson to consider. During the visit, our meat loving friends were able to purchase some fresh quality meat in a moderate rate from the farm. We reached home after a long struggle to complete the first day procedures.
We followed the Panchagavya preparation blog, Satya was
instrumental and curious in action to complete day one task. Mixed fresh cow
dung and ghee and let is sit for three days until all the ghee is processed by
the good microbes in cow dung.
The next biggest challenge in our roadmap was to source 'komiyam’ or cow urine. We contacted many farms and explained our intentions to get the cow urine. We had made at least 50 calls to multiple farms and dairies. We did not get any help for that. Most of the farm people thought us a weird people dealing with Cow dung and urine. 😂
It was a painful decision in getting 30 ml of Urine in a commercial Indian shop for £1.15 after a strong negotiation. This time Suresh and I went to Coventry and managed to get 3 litres of cow urine for an expensive cost of 115.00£. This increases the cost per liter to a high cost.
Suresh, Sathya and I organised all other items for the Panchagavya. I was joined by Suresh on the fourth day. We spent at least 2 hours mixing all the ingredients sourced for this project. It was really a good experience all together.
Finally, my role was to mix the solution thoroughly well, 2 times a day, morning and evening & close it tightly for the next 15 days.
I was amazed by the transformation of the ingredients into different flavours during the 18 days of process. Day one it was smell of a fresh cow dung, which transformed into a ghee smell on the fourth day. Later the combination of banana, yogurt, milk, tender coconut water transformed into a traditional pleasant Panchamrutham smell.
Twice a day, after stirring the Panchagavya solution, I clean the stick under a pumpkin plant. I have noticed a significant growth in the plant with lush green big leaves. This gives me a confident that we are in a right path to go for big trial.
We made finally our first Panchagavya solution on 09-Jul-2020.
After finalise the accounts, with all these, the whole cost are distributed across 20 litres and arrived to per litre price. It was realised that cost is 8£/ litre. We do not add any cost of individual man efforts. One liter solution can be used with 30 litres of water for the whole year based on the size of your garden. Literally the price comes to 65p/ month when distribute to 12 months. But here everything is organic.
I personally thank all the volunteers and supporters who made this possible. Like everyone, I too eagerly waiting for the feedback from the fellow gardeners. I am looking forward to knowing the efficiency of Panchagavya under United Kingdom growing conditions.
I strongly recommend everyone to explore the possibility of getting the Cow dung and urine before you start creating the Panchagavya. Otherwise it will be very expensive, and we might not know the purity of the Cow urine when you buy it from the shop.
I am happy to share my exprience and guide anyone who wants create Panchagavya for a community or individually. Please connect me by commenting to this blog or email me at sveeindia@gmail.com
