soil preparation

More rain?!

There is no cyclone now, and my weather app shows sun. Then why this sudden downpour? All work has stopped again. The women who came to cut grass are sheltering in the office and snacking. The mud is squelchy and eager to trap anyone or anything who dares set foot on it. Yesterday was theContinue reading “More rain?!”

Making jeevamrit: first batch

One of the organic fertilizers we’re going to be using is jeevamrit: a mix of cow urine, dung, gram flour, jaggery, and water. Jeevamrit is a liquid microbial culture. We’ll treat the soil from all our trenches and pits with it, and later spray it on the topsoil as well. (above) Gaurav measuring and mixing.Continue reading “Making jeevamrit: first batch”

Cloudy with a chance of…

It’s still cool and cloudy, but the rain has stopped. It’s supposed to be sunny from tomorrow onwards, and then it will get very hot. I think we will finally have our summer. We have almost a month till we plant, so some good hot and dry weather will be great, though less pleasant toContinue reading “Cloudy with a chance of…”

Another storm approaches

This time, as an after-effect of the cyclone Yaas in West Bengal, the forecast says rain for the next few days. We’ve started dumping mud near the ‘dam’, which is the main place from which we lose water and soil, and where we have been building the retaining wall. We have a few days workContinue reading “Another storm approaches”

After the rain…

A few days ago, the cyclone Tauktae in Maharasthra brought a night and day of rain to us, accompanied by the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my life. We enjoyed the few days of unseasonal breezy coolness in the middle of May, usually the hottest and driest month of the year. The otherContinue reading “After the rain…”

First steps

Digging, tool-building, organising The excavator is busy making trenches along the entire boundary, in order to plant intensively, Miyawaki-style. The trenches are 10 x 20 ft, and each will contain about 75 trees of four different sizes. We’re in the process of making lists of trees and contacting nurseries to order the saplings for nextContinue reading “First steps”