Students of Sri Ramana Vidyalaya Matriculation School in Tambaram tend to the plants at the terrace garden
Every second Sunday, Sri Ramana Vidyalaya Matriculation School in Tambaram turns into a mini-market with the management opening its gates for farmers to come and sell their organic produce.
For the last three months, Thalir Karima Velaan Santhai has enabled at least 30 farmers from different villages to sell their bounty, parents of the school and neighbours being their biggest patrons.
The school management looks at this initiative as an extension of its eco-club activities where it operates a terrace garden maintained by the students.
The garden has evolved with every passing year and currently has a good variety of vegetable growing plants. Students of classes VII to IX have one period a week allotted in their timetable to engage in terrace garden work, where they till the soil, plant saplings in used containers that serve as pots, water them and do all other things to ensure they grow.
Workshops and other engaging activities are conducted at the farmers market
“This time, our produce has not been great, but whatever we get is shared among students who take it home. Recently, when we got a decent amount of lady’s finger and cluster beans, we left it to the students to decide who wants to take it,” says V. Selvamani, correspondent of the school.
When students have a free period, they are encouraged to spend time in the terrace garden.
Traditional rice varieties, cold-pressed oils, pulses, organic gardening inputs and local pottery are among the stalls at the market.
Selvamani says they charge a nominal amount for arranging tables and chairs, and the larger goal is to eliminate middle men.
To encourage visitors to understand what goes into their plate, the organisers conduct various knowledge sharing sessions. For example, in the last few months, they had a session on tips for terrace gardening and free seed sharing, and another on making seed Ganesha using clay.
This time, there’s a special workshop, “21 Plate Balanced Meal for 7 Days,” from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. by culinary artisan Akila Kunalan.
Like other farmers market happening in the city, visitors are encouraged to bring cloth bags.
For registration, call 97909 72612 or 99403 37100.
Published – October 10, 2026 09:05 pm IST
