On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (18th of April) AYUDH groups around the world connected via an internet webcast to plant seeds together. Amma had blessed and inaugurated the GrowIn project on her last tour in Europe and USA {news}. AYUDH community gardens have sprung up in the USA, Germany, France, India and Australia.
As a second phase of the GrowIn project, AYUDH wanted to inspire individuals to grow their own vegetables at home. This new initiative as part of GrowIn was launched to create a feeling of togetherness amongst the “green youth” and to provide them with professional guidance in setting up a small garden in their homes – on a balcony or a window shelf. Like the big tree that comes from a little seed, the themes of GrowIn range from green farming and agriculture to the many global issues such as those dealt with in the upcoming Milan Expo 2015.
People from many countries such as Germany, France, Austria, Ireland, Belgium and Kenya took part in the webcast and highlighted the work on many different vegetables they could grow in small spaces. Australian youth had also joined in the action by planting seeds on that day although webcasting was not possible due to time differences. Every participant had prepared little country flags, which were placed into the freshly planted pots so that it could be noticed in pictures online where each pot is from. It was decided that each group will take photos of their plants at regular intervals and upload them online. AYUDH Italy even organized some seminar talks for the participants by some local experts on energy conservation and solar energy. They had also planted several vegetables on a small balcony garden at a house beside a famous lake near Milan.