In a bid to consume non-contaminated and healthy food, Padma Suresh, a housewife, grows almost 15 popular vegetable varieties in her mini terrace kitchen garden in Trivandrum, Kerala.
Suresh has been growing varieties of veggies in her 500 square feet kitchen garden for seven years now. Her family has been very supportive throughout her journey.
"I started growing orchids first. Later, I joined orgc farming classes and started growing vegetables in my own garden at the terrace. Now, I have around 15 vegetables in my kitchen garden including different verities of tomatoes, chillies, beans, ladyfingers, and much more," said Suresh.
Growing pesticide-free vegetables is not Suresh's hobby but it has now become a mode of income for her.
"I use these vegetables for my personal requirement but apart from that, I sell extra vegetables that I grow in my garden. I even have regular customers now. We have two regular vegetable markets in Trivandrum under one umbrella of a WhatsApp group and a Facebook group," said Suresh.
"Apart from earning, I genuinely feel happy growing vegetables and taking care of them. I look after these plants and treat them as my own kids. When I learned via news that the vegetables we purchase from the market are sometimes unhealthy and contaminated. That was the time when I started growing fresh vegetables," she added.
Suresh's fresh vegetables are ready for cultivation which will be used for preparing Onam feast.
( With inputs from ANI )