Principle #5 - Diversity is the soul of a sustainable eco system

Natural farming means nature does the farming and you take care not to allow anything unnatural to enter the farm

No two farms are alike, hence the principles may remain the same but the practices are likely to differ

Practice Agri-Culture, not Agri-Business

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:

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 activity of mulching is probably the one thing that Natural Farming takes very seriously and Organic Farming overlooks in general. Fr.V, who guides us, even goes to the extent of saying success and failure of a Sustainable Farmer is very closely linked to right mulching.

Some basic benefits of mulching:

• Maintains soil wetness reducing the quantity of water needed for irrigation.
• Prevents sunlight from directly hitting the ground thereby preventing the hardening of the soil and protecting and nourishing micro organisms underneath.
• Roots of plants love wetness and darkness while their leaves love warmth and sunlight.
• Mulching covers the roots and reduces the temperature surrounding the newly planted seeds and saplings without blocking sunlight for the sprouts and leaves
• Mulching material decomposes and provide nutrition to the plants .
• Live mulching (mix of fast growing plants that are planted around the main crops) is an excellent way to rejuvenate arid land or fill areas that we don't have plans to cultivate.

In recent times, many folks have asked us the secret sauce for planting a lot of trees in a short period. If there is a secret, it has to be in those trenches!

Not all farms require trenching though. The decision to dig and the pattern in which they are dug depends on the contour of the farm land, water supply and irrigation method. Our farm is located in a hot, tropical region (south India) with unpredictable rainfall. So we decided to have trenches and trees (in those trenches) as the main infrastructure.

Digging trenches in the farm serves multiple purposes. They serve as rain water harvesting pits, prevent wind from carrying away moisture, allow only partial sunlight to enter (and hence protect the seeds and saplings planted in them), prevent soil erosion from rain, serve as compost areas and a safe place for drip tubes and create a design pattern for other crops to be planted in between.

In pictures: Trenches then and now.

Over the last five months, we planted around 8500 trees in our farm.

We could not have done it without Fr.V, Isha Foundation, Nandi Nursery, Siruthuli and all the labourers who helped us. Here is the list of species:

I befriended Gunasekaran when I volunteered with a bunch of friends at Athmas (a local group) to work in his organic farm. On and off we met at a few gatherings and when work was happening in full swing in our farm, he showed up a few times. Each time he would just ask a few questions and mostly listen. We covered a lot of topics and one of them that particularly intruigued him was gift economy.

I then came to know that he had another farm nearby where he is growing organic rice using the SRI method. I mentioned to him that we have been looking around to buy organic rice and requested him to reserve one gunny bag when he harvests it. Couple of days later, he called up and asked whether he could drop by our place as he is passing through. He parked his car, opened the boot and lifted a bag of rice, carried it into our house and placed it in a corner. Nisha and I were smiling wide. Nisha admonished him for carrying it himself. Then I asked how many kilos it was. He shrugs his shoulders and says, "I don't know".

When Jean Yao came to know that we are moving to India and take up farming, she gifted us two pairs of garden gloves. After we started farming, we have used them so much that at one point it was fully covered with mud. But I never took the time to thank her. Until today.

I found one of the pairs somehow lying beside a pocket book of Bhagavad Gita on the shelf today. Ha! I exclaimed to myself - what a concrete way in which happenstance is suggesting that the Gita can be better understood with a pair of gloves!!

Thank you Jean, you never know what your gift can mean to the receivers.