Timeliness, frugality, good skill and experience, deep subject knowledge, work ethics and love for labour – all of these factors contribute to the efficiency of a task. Over the last one year, during the course of purchasing many products and hiring many services for our farm work and house construction, we discovered a worrisome fact:
We were lucky to purchase a farmland that has a water source (a bore pump) with the water table at around 80 feet and free, state government sponsored electricity. Our current irrigation system depends on these two. We hope to regenerate a well in our land that is dry at present and produce most of
When your cup is full, it overflows. When a family’s needs are well met by a farm, generosity springs up naturally. There was a time when sharing a farm’s surplus was the norm. It was not only gifted to the needy, it was also part of the payment for all kinds of services that a
Laughing, playing and enjoying together are easy, even with strangers. But all relationships develop strains at some point. Hence, it is better to first develop friendship and kinship with the workers, neighbors and strangers and get ready to weather the storms. Friction in a healthy relationship, when dealt with patience, increases the strength of the
The seeking for efficiency in the post industrial age has come to mean getting more and more for less and less. In other words, the purpose and spirit of efficiency have been reduced to serve human greed. But around the world, for centuries, efficiency was sought at different levels to serve different purposes: Through a
The act of placing a tree sapling in a pit seems to be simple. But the pre-work and post-work can take up a lot of time if you are planting lots of trees in a short period. The pre-work involves figuring out: Where to plant and which ones in each location How many trees to
When farming is treated as a business, the general outcome is mono-cropping, fertilizing, and using pesticides to extract the maximum yield. In the name of creating space for cash crops like banana and turmeric, we have seen neighboring farmers cut Papaya trees, weeding out fragrant flowers and not even grow a few vegetables for their
Farming is not a profession but a way of life Farming is one of the few endeavors that can address human needs at all levels – physical, mental and spiritual. So we decided to embrace its potential at all levels. Practically, this means a few things: Living in the farm and considering ourselves the primary
Principle #5 – Diversity is the soul of a sustainable ecosystem We have planted about 40 plus species of 8500 trees in 8.5 acres. It was a long drawn yet inspiring project. One of the first things a lot of neighbours and visitors asked us was how could we be foolish enough to plant trees
Natural farming means nature does the farming and you take care not to allow anything unnatural to enter the farm In practice, for us this principle translates into a simple rule: Do Not Interfere unnecessarily. This means, beyond the initial design, abstaining from what is considered to be “normal” farming activities – tilling, weed elimination,
