NATURE BLOOMS INTO EDUCATION

Since the first day I settled in Muğla, I have spent six years looking blank-eyed at the questions of neighbors who were amazed that we had never met, even though we studied at Boğaziçi University in the same semester, asking, “How could you not know about the Eget Foundation?” When I saw the Eget Foundation’s stand at the Slowfood-Gökova/Local Producer Market in Akyaka on a Sunday every month, I immediately ran to buy some asparagus seedlings that I didn’t have, such as cultivated asparagus seedlings and Mimosa pudica (Mimosa pudica), as well as some products made from lavender, such as shampoo, soap, cologne and tonic. “We have a Lavender Harvest Festival on August 6-7,” they said. “Oh, I just wrote the one in Istanbul Adalar and the one in Muğla-Menteşe? Lavender again!” I spread my hands wide and they felt the need to explain! The Eget Foundation was one of the first to initiate the Lavender Harvest Festival, which has become a tradition and was organized for the sixth time this year.

They organize many events

From Muğla center, Ula, Gökova, Akyaka, Marmaris, Hisarönü, Datça, Akbük, Bodrum, Milas, Dalyan, Dalaman, Köyceğiz and Göcek (It sounded like a Dolmus dashboard article, but I wrote it for the convenience and motivation of those who were around that weekend!) There are many activities at the Lavender Harvest Festival in Ula-Armutçuk, which can be easily reached in 15 minutes to 1.5 hours. Those who would like to participate in the two days of activities between 15.30-22.00 include not only lavender harvesting for adults and children, but also an aroma therapy workshop, an introduction to the distillation center, olive oil identification, ceramic workshops, children’s sculpture workshops and drama workshops, and an Edward Aris concert on Sunday evening. Some are paid, some are free, details are on @egetvakfi Instagram account.

The aim of the Foundation is to provide scholarships to students who have difficulty in continuing their education due to financial constraints. In order to ensure that the scholarships are not interrupted, they have built a system that is economically sound and creates a revolving fund with their projects. They survive on the income from the crops grown on the 22,000 square meters of land donated to the foundation by the founders.

Truffle production with oak saplings

In 2015, they purchased 415 oak saplings from Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University’s Truffle Application and Research Center, which were inoculated with truffle spores. The mushroom Tuber melonosporum, known as the winter black species, can also grow naturally in the Mediterranean climate zone. Lavandula X intermedia and Lavandula angustifolia, which are easy to grow and like the chalky soil of our region, were planted to make productive use of the areas between the oak saplings planted six meters apart.

Without using any chemicals, they distilled the lavender they harvested with their arm power and transformed the oil into value-added products and started to sell them under the EGET TEN brand. Lavender oil shampoo, handmade solid soap, liquid soap, lavender cologne, tonic, pure lavender water (lavender hydrosol), day cream, shower gel, face wash gel and body lotion are the products that help us support the foundation. Since cosmetic products are also an important issue, all products are sold using natural methods in compliance with laws and regulations, with all tests completed in accredited laboratories and registered in the Product Tracking System (UTS) of the Ministry of Health.

The Eget Foundation has two founders. One is Özlem Uzman and the other is Safai Özer. Mr. Safai, a painter and photographer, sadly passed away in March this year. Apart from the Armutçuk Agricultural Enterprise, there are also economic enterprises. It sells gojiberry (wolfberry), thornless blackberry, ornamental plants and vegetable seedlings according to the season to farmers who want to create a lavender garden, individuals and organizations who want to grow seedlings for hobby purposes. The slogan of the foundation, which has an Entrepreneur Certificate of Transition to Organic Agriculture obtained from the Ecocert certification body, is “Natıre Blooms Into Educatıon”… This article is from me to you and from you to EGET.

After all, education is essential!

Author: Fem GÜÇLÜTÜRK