It is an exercise at being self sufficient by the children of a Government-run girls’ welfare hostel in Singanallur.

They have changed a barren plot to green with vegetables like beans, tomatoes, gourds that keep their kitchens filled.

It was a lot of perseverance, a little bit of imagination and prodding that went into the creation of the beautiful kitchen garden, spread over an acre on the hostel campus. The 110 hostel inmates are thrilled as they have started reaping the benefits of their labour, getting 5 kg of vegetables daily.

“We used to buy vegetables worth Rs 600 daily from the local market for our hostel kitchen. And today, everything has changed , thanks to the kitchen garden. There is hardly any need for us to buy vegetables anymore,” say the Adidravida hostel girls in unison, “Indeed, the kitchen garden has started to sustain us in a big way/ It has started giving more than 6 kg of vegetables,” says S. Vijaya, tutor and matron of the hostel who has been part of the inmates’ efforts.

“It all started one fine morning, when Priyanka Pankajam, Assistant Collector (Training), came for routine inspection. She saw the empty space within the campus and said the place should make a fine kitchen garden,” said Vijaya.

“I knew the kitchen garden idea had already sprouted in her mind. All that she needed was our cooperation to convert the barren stretch into a beautiful heaven,” said another matron V.Sathya, But, it was not all that easy. The soil was clayey and it was full of construction debris. Tilling and cultivating the plot was an uphill task. We conveyed this to the Assistant Collector who said that it could be given a try,” said the matron.

Priyanka said, “The idea struck me when I visited the Adi Dravida hostel .Though there are 36 hostels in the district, six are in the city. We chose this open space as it offered immense scope for gardening.” On why a kitchen garden, she said: “I always wanted to think out of the box. I took a leaf out of Mr Nandakumar, District Collector Perambalur, idea of the roof top kitchen gardens in the schools in his district. The natural choice was this Adi Dravidar hostel where students are from poor socio-economic background. When I initially put forward the idea with the wardens and matrons, there were very few takers. But later they took the plunge. As you know there are 5-10 per cent innovators and early adopters in every group of people we work with,” she said.

While the know-how and seeds were supplied by the Agriculture Department , a corporate, Stanes Company gave us a free bag of manure (a small CSR act from their nursery) and vermicompost came from the town panchayat department from its solid waste management plant. Soon everything fell in place.

Ridges and furrows were created with mechanised equipment. Nurseries were prepared and the inmates of Singanallur Government School Boys ADW Hostels lent a hand.

Once the seeds sprouted, they were nurtured and pesticides sprayed. The fruits of labour were got from the sixth week.

“Yes, we took it up as a pilot project, and with the success we are planning to extend it to all the 37 Adidravida hostels in the district,” says Priyanka.