In another two weeks, vegetables cultivated at the kitchen garden at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Ashok Nagar will be used for cooking food under the noon-meal scheme.
It is ten days since the school has set up a kitchen garden.
“We have started with tomatoes, brinjals, lady's fingers and greens. Soon, we will also be planting varieties of gourds. Around 200 students at the shool have been enrolled under the noon-meal scheme. Only after the first yield will we be able to say how much the garden could cater to our needs,” says R.C. Saraswathy, head-mistress of the school.
At Lady Willingdon Higher Secondary School in Triplicane, head-mistress Eashwari Bhoopalan has got ready a bed of red soil for sowing tomato seeds. “In December 2016, our school lost many trees to cyclone Vardah. Though we are left with a good number of trees, we wanted to make up for the lost green cover. So, instead of growing ornamental plants, we thought of having a kitchen garden which could supplement the food prepared under the noon-meal scheme,” says Saraswathy. Sri R.K.M. Sarada Vidyalaya Model Higher Secondary School, a government-aided institution on Burkit Road in T. Nagar, has been maintaining a kitchen garden for the past seven years.
“In a week, we are able to procure 15 kg of eggplants, two kg of tomatoes, five kg of ladies' fingers and 20 bundles of greens. We have 154 students availing the noon-meal scheme. This will take care of two days’ requirement every week. We also have green chillies and a few gourd varieties,” says principal Kannaki Prabakaran.
Sri R.K.M. Sarada Vidyalaya Model Higher Secondary School also has compost pits.
Bio-degradable waste such as withered leaves and vegetable peels are composted into manure and used to nurture the kitchen garden.
“Before setting up the kitchen garden, the manure had to be readied first. Instead of buying it, we thought of preparing it ourselves on our school premises as this would be more economical. In 2009, our students and staff used to collect vegetables and fruit peels from houses in the neighbourhood. However, for various reasons, we were not able to continue this practice. Now, we make use of the peels generated at our school kitchen,” says Kannaki.
Kannaki Prabakaran invites interested residents of T. Nagar to hand over to the school, vegetable and fruit peels generated at their houses.
Those interested in supporting the initiative without charging any fee may contact the heads of these schools: R.C. Saraswathy at 044 - 2489 2861; Eashwari Bhoopalan at 98414 63005 and Kannaki Prabakaran at 98414 63005.
