Few pictures from Winter(!) 2011.

25 cents (11,000 sq ft)  seems like a space that is small enough and big enough for our home needs and some sharing. The soil being what it is, we do not expect to be able to grow every thing.  The list below is some thing we arrived at after some trial and error. 

A rough layout of the different elements..

We've just started work on the 25 cents(10,000 sqft) of land around our house.  This area is very close to the road which is at a much higher level. Also, till a couple of years ago, when there was no check dam, the stream across the road used to cut into this portion of the land.

So with zero top soil and no tilling tools, we are looking at working only on 150-200 sq ft per day if we do it ourselves.  May be we'll hire some help.

Because of some neighbours generously using our land in spite of repeated requests not to do so, we just finished fencing the southern and eastern boundary of the farm using the 'traditional' stone and barbed wire. Took a lot of time and a whole lot of money. We didn't quite expect to be sowing so many stones this planting season but this is what has come up :)

At each step of the fencing proces, some neighbour (or a distant one) was unhappy and work proceeded very slowly. We have to thank the fencing team for sticking with us through all the mess.

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 like Plumeria are enjoying the on and off rains.

Tubers like turmeric, ginger, yam, tapioca and taro(Sembu or Seppan Kizhangu in Tamil) have sprouted moderately well.

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 walked into the farm searching for them, I heard a couple of strange voices. And then more. And then more giggles. And there was Ragu in the opening with some ten folks - each holding 2 or 3 saplings in their hands and shouting Happy Birthday!

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.