Children switched their education from offline to online mode because of the covid-19 pandemic. Nisha Pathak is a 12th-grade student at Neeraja Modi School in Jaipur, Rajasthan. She was concerned since it required her to spend so much time in front of the computer. As a result, she began farming as a hobby. Nisha wished to assist the poor people that lived in the neighbourhood. “I wanted to keep myself occupied with things that didn’t require me to gaze at a screen. Apart from that, I wanted to grow vegetables and provide them to impoverished families in my neighbourhood,” Nisha explains.

She began learning how to plant and cultivate seed trees from a gardener who lived in her neighbourhood. She gradually grew vegetables such as potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. Once harvested, it would be given to the poor folks in her neighbourhood who couldn’t afford to buy fresh vegetables regularly. Nisha realised it would take a long time to cultivate veggies. She wanted to offer a healthy option to families who couldn’t afford to eat fresh vegetables regularly. She began growing micro greens and held seminars for low-income women to teach them how to cultivate them at home.

She didn’t want to add to their costs by requiring them to purchase containers or pots to produce the micro greens. She grew them out of empty milk packages as a long-term solution.

She has held classes for ten poor women so far, as well as virtual courses for 35 neighbours.

Here are some instructions for growing microgreens in milk packets at home:

You will require the following items:

a milk carton that has been emptied

potting soil mix

Mustard seeds or fenugreek seeds

Step 1: Soak a fistful of fenugreek seeds, also known as mustard seeds, overnight in a dish of water.

Step 2: Wash and dry a milk packet thoroughly.

Step 3: Cut a hole in the bottom of the packet with scissors to drain any extra water.

Step 4: Pour organic potting mix into 3/4 of the milk packet.

Step 5: Spread the moistened seeds evenly throughout the soil surface and cover them with a thin layer of dirt.

Finally, add some water and position it somewhere that won’t get direct sunlight. Continue to spray water every day for seven days, and the micro greens will be ready to eat.

You can repeat the operation in the same milk packet once the leaves have been picked. You must, however, remove the top layer of soil and replace it with fresh potting mix.

“They can be used as a garnish on top of dishes and eaten right away,” Nisha says.

Written By – Chaitri Chinchode