We’ve been away and our focus has been simply to keep going – protect existing trees, continue with organic farming, and maintain our boundaries. The extreme seasons of north India give us enough to do to keep things under control! In 2025, we plan to do our next round of intense plantation. Since January, weContinue reading “Gearing up”
Category Archives: techniques
Visitors!
On February 25th, we had one of our first ‘tours’ of our Miyawaki foresting. Our partner organization, NIRMAN, had a “Farm to Fork” event with all kinds of inspiring and creative activities related to the environment. One of these was a visit to the main land and forest. It was lovely having people visit respectfully,Continue reading “Visitors!”
Gangavan in 2024
A forest will grow naturally. This year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, called for the world to plant a trillion trees. Many commentators explain, however, that all you need for forestation is to let the land alone without further damage and the forest will grow back itself. Meanwhile, “….a new study shows that theContinue reading “Gangavan in 2024”
Grass and beauty
October. Monsoons are over. It is still raining crazily though. What?? Tonight it is supposed to start and go on for twenty-four hours!!! We are overwhelmed with grass. Kasha grass, taller than a person, with fluffy white flowers waving gaily in the breeze – gorgeous and resilient. Very good at helping us prevent erosion andContinue reading “Grass and beauty”
Preparation for the floods 3.0
Inspecting the bridge – it’s still doing well, but needs a proper inspection and repairs in order to withstand the monsoon onslaught for the next few years. The nala makes a sharp turn and hits our land at one point. Every year, soil is washed away and we retreat backwards. We build a new portionContinue reading “Preparation for the floods 3.0”
Fish!
First pond!
We have finally dug our first pond! We plan to have perhaps two or three of different sizes, and channels connecting each part of the land to one or the other. It’s been a daunting idea, but here’s the first one! We’ll do more shaping and landscaping, including adding stones etc, after this monsoon, onceContinue reading “First pond!”
Crinkle-crankle walls
Along the riverside, we have a low (3-4 ft) wall with a four foot wire netting. For the most part, it feels secure, though we are planning to raise the netting in a few places where it has been breached by nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus – Asian antelope; very common in these parts). During the floods,Continue reading “Crinkle-crankle walls”
Planting rice!
We have started the ‘ropai’: transferring the rice seedlings from the nursery bed to the rice field. The first field we prepared didn’t work, because the soil was too sandy and the water kept draining out. RIce needs standing water. So, we got another field ready: cutting the grass and ploughing, and finally began theContinue reading “Planting rice!”
“Where’s the loo?”
“This is not the tale of how we always had to strategise before planning to spend the day, or half the day, on our new up-coming forest retreat, “Ganga Van.” The multi-acre campus had no bathroom. It did have an “office block,” with a good-sized room set up as an office, an unfinished bathroom andContinue reading ““Where’s the loo?””
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