They cultivate healthy lifestyle

With the changing scenario in the Millennium City, the concept of ‘kitchen garden’ is slowly replacing the trend of buying fresh vegetables from the overpriced local market.

With the changing scenario in the Millennium City, the concept of ‘kitchen garden’ is slowly replacing the trend of buying fresh vegetables from the overpriced local market.

HT Image

In a first and unique initiative, many women — in order to keep their families healthy — in DLF City and Sushant Lok areas have introduced ‘organic kitchen garden’, a specialised garden for pesticide-free vegetables and fruits.

These ‘kitchen gardens’ not only help them in having a healthy lifestyle but also prevent them from consuming pesticides in vegetables. This kind of unique farming relies on green manure, compost and biological pest control to grow vegetables.

Indira Mishra, convenor of Sushant Lok Kitchen Garden Association, said, “The idea is to create awareness among the residents about the ill-effects of chemically treated vegetables and fruits.”

Health experts also advise to avoid the use of oxytocin injected vegetables and fruits. Such chemicals are frequently used by farmers to quickly ripen fruits and vegetables.

Dr Amita Arora, a physician, warns, “Plants require 17 types of rich nutrients to grow. As a substitute to those elements, chemicals are used, which are extremely unhealthy. The excessive use of chemically treated vegetables can lead to liver toxicity, headache, gastroenteritis, kidney and central nervous system related problems.”

“The ‘kitchen garden’ is therapeutic and we can grow seasonal vegetables and fruits. We buy the seeds and grafted saplings of vegetables and fruits from nurseries/market,” said Usha Srinivasan, who owns a kitchen garden in Sushant Lok.