Sharing individual experience of Kitchen Garden

 Sharing individual experience of Kitchen Garden

Every year the Kitchen Garden Program starts in the month of June and in the month of October 5 schools’ students join together at one center place to share their personal experience of their garden. Old students also participated in these meeting, as they have continued maintaining their kitchen gardens even after leaving primary school and joining other schools for higher studies. Few parents also participated in the meeting.

Several questions were asked to encourage the students to share their experiences with the group. They are - Were you growing vegetables for the first time? Who helps you to maintain the garden? What types of vegetables do you grow? Did you grow vegetables before ANISHA’s intervention? Which vegetables do you like the most, and which are the easiest to grow? Do you plan to continue gardening in the future? What method used to control pest? Have you motivated your friends and neighbours to grow vegetables? Have you shared the harvested vegetables with the school’s Mid-Day Meal program?

Most of the new students were shy about speaking in the group, even though they had maintained good gardens. The students who were participating in the Kitchen Garden Program for the second year shared their experiences in response to the above questions. We observed many students are growing vegetables first time even their parents were not growing any vegetables. One parent also told that this is first time they are growing vegetables.

The students felt that okra and climbing vegetable varieties were the easiest to grow. Many students particularly liked okra because these native varieties are unique in their colour, shape, and size and are not commonly available in the market. They also appreciated that okra can be harvested frequently and that 20 to 30 plants can provide a good quantity for household consumption. They can also leave a few mature okras on the plants for seed collection, making it easy to save seeds for future cultivation.

The students expressed similar views about climbing vegetable varieties, as these plants can produce a larger quantity of vegetables for household consumption. They also highlighted the importance of protecting their kitchen gardens from livestock to prevent damage to the plants. By growing climbing vegetables and saving seeds from a good harvest, students have enough seeds for future gardening. As ANISHA distributed native seeds to students.

In contrast, the students felt that leafy greens could generally be harvested only once, after which the plants were no longer productive. They expressed a similar concern about radish.  So, in leafy greens and radish they found it difficult to save seeds for future garden.   

As many students live near forests and on farms, they face several challenges, including damage caused by wild animals and livestock, as well as water scarcity. This year, the Government declared Chamarajanagar District, particularly Hanur Taluk, a severely drought-affected area. Under these difficult circumstances, the students struggled to sustain their kitchen gardens.

Despite these challenges, several students distributed seeds to their friends who were not part of the Kitchen Garden Program (KGP), encouraging them to establish kitchen gardens at home. They also shared seeds with other members of their village communities. This demonstrates how the KGP is spreading effectively through students, with students sharing their knowledge and seeds with their peers and extending the program's impact to the wider community.

The Students’ Kitchen Garden Program trains students in organic vegetable cultivation, natural methods of pest control, and seed conservation. Its main objective is to promote and address nutritional needs among students. 

Project Supported by Guru Krupa Foundation Inc, Susila Dharma Canada, Subud Woodstock