Dad Turns Abandoned Farm Into 24-Hour Camp for City Kids

Most kids can identify food on their plate but have no idea where it came from. One father in Tamil Nadu decided to change that after a conversation with his daughter revealed just how disconnected children have become from their food sources.

When Kiruba Shankar asked his daughter where milk comes from, she confidently answered "a tetra pack." The family laughed at first, but the moment stuck with him in an uncomfortable way.

Raised in a farming family himself, Kiruba remembered the hands-on learning that shaped his childhood. He looked at his family's abandoned farmland in Rettanai, Tamil Nadu, and saw an opportunity to give today's children what he once had.

That land became Vaksana Farms, but not as a typical day trip destination. Families spend a full 24 hours living actual farm life, learning through experience rather than observation.

The experience starts with a walk across 14 acres where children see how fields, animals, and water systems connect. They climb onto tractors, try traditional oxen ploughing, sow seeds, and prepare soil for planting.

Between farming sessions comes something equally valuable: rest. Lunch features fresh farm produce and teaches children that farmers must pace themselves through the hottest hours, matching their rhythm to nature's demands.

The farm houses rescued cows, goats, ducks, horses, and geese. As children feed and care for these animals, they discover that livestock aren't separate from farming but essential to it.

Evening brings harvest time as children pick vegetables for dinner. They cook what they gathered with their parents, watching the complete journey from soil to supper unfold in real time.

The next morning starts before sunrise with feeding animals and early farm chores. Children experience the daily cycle that shapes life on a working farm before breakfast signals the camp's end.

Sunny's Take

Each camp welcomes just 10 children, giving everyone space to ask questions and learn at their own pace. Parents participate, but the children lead the experience.

Kids leave tired, muddy, and smiling. But they also carry home something more lasting: the understanding that every meal begins long before it reaches the table, and that understanding where food comes from changes how we value it.