The Woollen Mill Mumbai Public School in Matunga has become the ultimate grocery shopping destination for residents whose own wards grow fruits and vegetables using the drip irrigation method under the terrace garden initiative of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Launched two years ago in 25 civic-run schools, the programme has caught on and expanded, with both the number of plants and the students who tend to them increasing, and profits rising over the months.
The terrace garden at the Woollen Mill Mumbai Public School in Matunga. Pics/By Special Arrangement
At the aforementioned Matunga school, while tasks related to bio-fertilisers, seedlings, and irrigation are one-off, students of all ages are responsible for monitoring the progress of their nursery. They must look out for infected leaves, yellowing, or pests and learn to fix these issues with the help of the school faculty.
Every week, students as young as Std II participate in the process. Along with gardening and maintenance, the students have learned to tally profits and losses, according to Jyoti Vakharia, the school principal.
Voices
Jyoti Vakharia, principal of school
‘We have tried to grow diverse plants. After vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers, the students have started growing lemongrass, butterfly pea flowers, and marigolds. Whenever the school has guests or visitors, students pick these out, and they are used to prepare tea or beverages’
Aditya Tiwari, Std VIII student
“We have up to 10 beds where tomatoes, brinjal, ginger and watermelon, among other things, are grown. We use the leftovers from midday meals for compost used for kitchen gardens. We have also made lip balms and teas out of flowering plants. At the parent-teacher meetings, vegetables are sold in stalls. We have made sales of Rs 5000 by selling brinjals and other vegetables’
Manthan Mirkale, Std VII pupil
‘My parents have bought okra, pumpkins, and other vegetables, and they prefer them because we sell completely organic vegetables. The vegetable beds have 50 per cent coco peat and 50 per cent soil, and we garden thrice a week. We are taught to set up beds, plough soil, plant saplings, inspect them, and harvest the vegetables. We have also organised campfires where we cooked our produce’.
