© Indra GardensNM Mythreyan, who works at a car factory, was inspired to set up a garden after attending a kitchen garden workshop in 2013. The workshop he attended helped him reconnect with gardening almost 40 years after he was introduced to it by his mother who had a beautiful flower garden at home. Mythreyan says that he always had a passion for gardening but was not trained in it. The 2013 workshop re-kindled his passion for it and drove him to set up an organic garden of his own on the terrace of his independent house.
© Gayatri RamachandranGayatri Ramachandran began gardening under her mother’s guidance when she was 11 years old. They planted many trees and shrubs together in their home but over the years, her mother took sole responsibility for the garden. Then, 2016 onwards, Gayatri started paying more serious attention to the garden when she began implementing a permaculture design approach for her garden.
© Sumithra SrikanthSumithra said, “Whether it was the Tsunami or Cyclone Vardah or this lockdown, while people around me panicked about procuring vegetables. I was calm and enjoyed harvesting from my terrace and cooking without a hassle. I decide the menu based on what I harvested each day. It is a joy to see that the seed you have sown has sprouted, flowered and is giving you vegetables for your consumption.”
© The Organic FarmAlladi Mahadevan founded his farm, The Organic Farm, in 1995. Not willing to lose his roots, and inspired by his father, he decided to start this farm in the Chennai area. With a background in agricultural economics, he travelled the world to understand how to set up an organic farm and to learn about sustainability. Through his travels, he learnt how to be sustainable and realised that profitability would come as an added benefit and should not be prioritised.
Kalpana ManivananKalpana Manivannan, quit her full-time job as a high school biology teacher and an academic coordinator to become an organic farmer. Her passion to grow food was born out of the desire to provide her family with clean, nutritious, toxin-free food. Her aim was to try and completely cut out the harmful chemicals that are regularly ingested through food, cosmetics, cleaning equipment and other household products.