The planting season is in full swing around us and we are trying to put as much life into the soil as we can. The monsoon seems to have started much earlier than normal and is expected to bring less rains than normal. Newbies like lemons, pepper vines, some varieties of Bamboo and flowering trees
The planting season is in full swing around us and we are trying to put as much life into the soil as we can. The monsoon seems to have started much earlier than normal and is expected to bring less rains than normal. Newbies like lemons, pepper vines, some varieties of Bamboo and flowering trees
Some weeks ago, one morning like on most other days, I finished the after-breakfast clean-up and looked up the clock before heading for a bath. And then I stopped. It was 9 am and the mason and his helpers had not shown up. I looked around and Ragu and Aum were missing too. As I
This book called “Miracle Apples” traces the remarkable journey of Akinori Kimura, a Japanese farmer who succeeded in growing apples without pesticides. His apples are so pure that a sliced apple doesn’t turn brown even after 2 years. They just shrink in size. Today, his harvests are booked several years in advance but 25 years
The big and sturdy Thuvarai (Toor as in Toor Daal, Pigeon Pea, Cytisus Cajan) has been one of the greatest gifts of and for our land. While Casurina trees have reduced soil salt and Castor has penetrated its roots deep down to get water for its neighbours, it is Thuvarai that has transformed the soil
This weekend, we moved into the guest house on the farm. It’s a one room, kitchen, bath-toilet configuration. It’s nice to wake up to coconut trees swaying to monsoon winds. Now it’s much easier to tend to the farm and communicate with construction folks working on the main house. And such a relief not to
Initially, the idea of taking care of a big piece of land was overwhelming for us. We had a lot of questions that started with, “How are we ever going to…?”. But having the land divided into one acre parcels for irrigation brought some comfort. We only need to turn one valve in a day.
In natural farming, Mulch is a layer of dry or wet natural material (leaves, grass, twigs, branches, vegetable-fruit waste etc) that covers the ground around a crop. Anything that decomposes could be used as mulch. With more knowledge of a plant’s requirement, one could choose a material best suitable as mulch for that plant. The
“Just fence a farm and leave it alone. Come back in 10 years and you’ll find a thriving eco-system.” We hear a lot of such statements. Unfortunately, we are not wise enough to wait for 10 years and would like to do ‘some thing’ towards the creation of an eco-system – mainly for our own
In late 2007, as we were preparing for our move back to India, Nipun and Guri tagged us with free tickets to an awesome but expensive conference on sustainability – The Bioneers. With Aum in tow, Ragu and I took turns to listen in person to many great folks that we had only read about.
