At Zoonimar locality in Srinagar, Ghulam Nabi is busy garnering a bunch of newly sprouted collards, spinach and cherry belle radish in a wicker basket, in his neatly trimmed rectangular kitchen garden.
After filling the basket to its brim with vegetables, heplaces it on the porch of his house and divides them equally in twoproportions. “One is for my sister who lives nearby, and another for me. Inthese times, kitchen garden is really a blessing,” said Ghulam Nabi, sitting ona porch of his house.
Ghulam Nabi deals in furniture items and usually hireslabourers to hoe his kitchen garden at his home, due to his busy schedule.However, with COVID-19 pandemic bringing every activity to grinding halt, hefrom past some weeks has taken up his “old hobby”.
From past many weeks, due to COVID-19 making it imperativefor people to stay indoors and maintain social distancing, many are passingtheir time tending to their kitchen gardens. These days people, particularly onSrinagar outskirts, can be seen spending good time in tilling and growingvegetables in their kitchen gardens.
Sensing people’s penchant for kitchen-gardening amidCOVID-19, Agriculture Department has also made a “timely intervention” underits new ‘Aayein Sabzi Ugayein'(let’s grow vegetables) program, under which thedepartment is providing seasonal saplings of various vegetables to people.
“We are providing cucurbits including gourd, cucumber,tomato and collards. Besides, we are also providing exotic vegetable seeds ofbroccoli and lettuce to people,” said Joint Director Agriculture Kashmir,Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal.
He said this season the department has increased theproduction of vegetable saplings considering that the dealers selling seeds andvegetable saplings are shut.
“There is a huge demand for vegetable saplings with almostevery household having a kitchen garden. This is also the time, where we wantto help people,” said Iqbal.
Until now, Iqbal estimates that around 50 lakh saplings havebeen provided to people across Kashmir, with the department’s Lal Mandi centeralone selling around 13 lakh vegetable saplings to the people.
“We are producing more saplings under controlled conditionsto meet the demand,” he added.
Doctors also welcome people’s interest in kitchen gardeningparticularly in these times. “This kind of activity is not only good for peoplewith diabetes and other co-morbidities; it also helps people in stressfulatmosphere to remain preoccupied. Besides, new research indicates thatactivities like these increases bone mass,” said Dr Afaq Jalali.
He said: “Remaining busy in kitchen garden activity alsoexposes you to sunlight, which is a source of vitamin-D. Kashmiris usually aredeficient in vitamin-D due to habit of remaining indoors. It is also anopportunity to fill our bodies with vitamin-D”.
Dr Feroz Ahmad said tending to the kitchen garden bringsdown glycemic and lipid levels. “Though a person cannot be an immortal, butwith activities like this, he lives a healthy life,” he said.
Back, at Zoonimar Ghulam Nabi says he has got “everydelicacy” in the world at his lunch table, only possible through “sweating itout” in kitchen garden.
“In crisis, if your taste buds are satiated, what else youneed. It is a blessing,” he says as he gets himself ready for a second round ofhoeing in his kitchen garden after a nap.