The ragi is up
The ragi sown in August has come up well.
How the farm grew
March 2024 to May 2024
Bare ground
In March 2024 the three acres were bare ground. Santhosh K and Lakshmi drew up the plan, trenches were dug for the drip lines, cow dung was piled by the fence for the planting pits, and a small house went up for whoever would look after the farm.
Drip irrigation work starts
Trenches are dug for the drip lines. Pipes are left above ground wherever no vehicle needs to cross.
Cow dung for the pits
The first loads of cow dung are tipped by the fence, ready to go into the planting pits.
Rain on the new pits
The first rain of the season falls on the freshly dug pits.
The helper's house is finished
A small house with a tin-roofed verandah is built for whoever lives on the farm and looks after it.
June 2024 to December 2024
The first trees
Mahesh came to live on the farm on 10 June 2024, and six days later the first saplings arrived. By October banana, papaya, moringa and vegetables were growing between the young trees, ragi was sown between the timber rows, and gliricidia cuttings went in along the fence.
The first saplings
The first saplings arrive in bags, ready for the marked rows.
A coconut planted with a puja
A coconut sapling goes into the ground with flowers and bananas laid beside it.
300 papaya saplings
300 Red Lady papaya saplings are planted between the young trees.
The first vegetables
Okra, ridge gourd, sponge gourd, bottle gourd, tomato, chilli, palak, amaranth, coriander and radish are sown between the trees.
10 kg of okra
There are 10 kg of okra to pick, more than the family needs, and some of it is given away.
Ragi between the timber trees
The rows between the timber trees are tilled for ragi.
Gliricidia for a living fence
With the rain falling well, gliricidia cuttings are brought in and planted along the fence, away from the borewell pipeline.
January 2025 to December 2025
The first harvests
In 2025 the farm began to give back. Greens were ready in March, the first cow arrived in April, and the first papaya harvest weighed 40 kg. In June the family kept ten of a week's papayas and sent the rest to a school.
Greens ready to pick
Amaranth, radish and palak are ready.
A shed for a cow
A shed for the cow goes up beside the helper's house.
The first cow
The farm's first cow arrives and is welcomed with a garland.
Brahmastra for the pests
With pests on the rise, Mahesh makes brahmastra from neem, pongamia and custard-apple leaves and cow urine, all from the farm, heated in a clay pot.
40 kg of papaya
The first papaya harvest weighs 40 kg.
Papaya for a school
The family keeps ten of the week's papayas and the rest go to a school.
Butter fruit for the empty pits
Mahesh visits three nurseries and brings back butter fruit saplings from one by the river in Kanakapura, for the 23 pits still empty.
Chilli and tomato seedlings
100 chilli and 100 tomato seedlings come from the Sathanur nursery.
January 2026 to December 2026
Taking root
In 2026 a bull calf was born on the farm, the tur came home as dal, and ten bee boxes went up. The whole farm was ploughed and sown with ragi, and a planting map marked every place across 100 rows.
A jackfruit for a lost lemon
A root borer kills a lemon tree. Mahesh finds the grub while digging it out and plants a jackfruit in its place.
A calf is born
A bull calf is born on the farm at half past ten in the morning.
A row of ash gourd
A whole row is sown with ash gourd, and the first vines are in flower.
Ploughing for ragi
A tractor ploughs the whole farm, along and across, in ten and a quarter hours.
Ten bee boxes
Ten bee boxes are set up. For three weeks each gets a glass of sugar water once a week.
Fruit to spare
Lemons and star fruit are ripening faster than the family can use them. The sapota and custard apple need a neemamrutha spray against disease and mites.