Fishes Escaped through a tunnel - Subbu is SAD

There was a panic call from Subbu.

"Sir all fishes have swam into the neighboring pond."

"How come ? I asked"

Subbu angry over escaping fishes

He had secured the pond with an overflow drain pipe. We had brought an extra cement pipe earlier which came handy for this purpose.  2 Days back he had kept that in place so that excess water from pond will pass through this pipe and go out. He had been careful to cover the mouth of the pipe with mesh.

It seems there was a gap created below the pipe (erosion of soil) due to yesterday heavy rain,  through which the siblings have escaped.

"We saw around 50 fishes outside on the gutter. We put back them. I don't know how many have escaped already.  We now need to monitor that pond also" I asked swami (Kandan) to keep an eye on that pond"   was Subbu's answer.

Some gap under the pipe has allowed fishes to escape

" I said forget it. Clever fishes deserve it.  And the birds too".

" How big is the fishes? "

"Very small sir, size of little finger, but one thing.  only one variety of fishes alone escaped. The catla fishes did not. that means this variety which escaped must be adventurous"

I said "Go fishing with a rod like an English man on the other pond, whenever you screw your happiness"

We laughed, this is a learning exercise.

Life in the Farm - Point Forest at Last - Farm Update 27-Nov-2014

1. The windpump is down for the past 1 week. The bearing has slipped. Subbu has given up fixing it temperorily. It is raining in the farm. We need a permanent solution. I have asked ABS for a solution and they have sent the design problem to POLDAW engineers. Solution has been found in the form of an iron patti to keep the bearing in its place. This is ready last saturday and is being sent through courier. As usual ABS company required too much of followup to get this done. The spare should reach by Monday.

///    Subbu was so happy today to talk about his fish project. May be it was his dream for many months which came true atlast. Hard work pays.   ///

2. The fishlings are doing well. This is 2nd day.  Subbu said  he brought around 1500 Catla and balance 1000 other mixed varities. There was large number of people buying fish from the Papanasam vendor. Standing in queue, people were seen buying 40K etc.   Just for fun, we have gone for all varities. Each fishling cost Rs. 1/- .  Oil cakes (punnakku) of 40Kg has been dissolved in water as feed on the pond. It should take care for another 15 days. Cowdung also will be dissolved after few days.  I asked Subbu to fetch lotus roots from the Chirumalanji Sastha Temple to be put in the pond.

Our Fish tank

3. There is a large bird hovering around it seems. Subbu told next week we can expect more birds. I asked him to take photos. We need to protect the fish siblings from them. A net perhaps will do.  we can expect more life forms to emerge from the pond. Frog, snakes etc..  This is pure fun.

4. The first lot of banana trees may need support. Per subbu they will start flowering and fruit bearing in next 10 days hence. They are Andhra Tholuvai variety and are around 40 trees in all.

5. The new kerosene pump is yet to be started. Need to purchase tubes for drawing water.  It may require oil mixed petrol to start and run on kerosene. It is a Korean make Model LT30CX 5.5 HP mini portable costing 15K INR. This is to be used as emergency in case of windmill down.

6. As the ground is soaked with water with continous rain, not attempting to sow any vegetable seeds. Waiting for rain to stop.

7. The seeds sent for my "point forest" (Click here) is finally in its place.  We have made a round corner raised mud pit with bricks for lining and have strewn the 200 odd wild species seeds that I had collected over a period of one year and couriered it. I hope to grow here all things that can be conceived. The plants must grow on its own. No help will be provided. Fittest will survive. This will be micro forest for insects, birds and small mammals.

***********

Fishes in the Farm

Subbu and Fishes

How about some fishes in the tank? I asked Subbu. He had already planned for it.  There is plenty of water in the rain water catchment tank.  It is likely it will stay for some time. The bottom of the tank is solid rock.

"How to bring the fishes?  "

"Shall I take a vehicle? ", asked fish eating Subbu.

"No.  don't, fishes can be brought in a 5 liter drinking water CAN."   You can buy one in the neighbour hood shop", I told - a staunch vegetarian myself.

Both of us have no idea, how fishlings are generally transported.  We guess, we should get small fishes or eggs from the owner.  He said he will consult his friend tomorrow on this.  We need around 2000 of them.

Meanwhile Subbu is busy mending the eastern bank of the pond which is lower level in height.  Similarly on the input channel also he is putting the extra cement pipe we have and sealing so that the fishes will not "escape" when more water comes into pond.  Good idea.  Two days of labor work.

View of the would-be fish tank. Now full with water. But it will come down  

Meanwhile I was exploring if we can plant some Vettiver to prevent soil erosion.  I spoke to P Vencent, a bank employee who promotes Vettiver from Coimbatore.

He said he will let me know in a couple of days. I hope to ship in some vettiver from him and plant them around.

He also advised to plant Pungan and Punnai treeds to covert an inert soil into one having organic matter.

General Glance at the Farm on existing stock

It is long since we started these few Banana. I recall my update in August

The tiny patch of Banana trees near the tower is looking great. Subbu told this is a foot taller than the ones which are planted at the same time in his father's farm even after they using urea and other fertilisers.  Thanks for panjakavya / Jeevamrutham or the simple cowdung direct application.  (I donot know if Kandan followed everything).

Good to see the fence casurina also growing without interfering.

Looking like a professional farm. Ain't they ? I never thought it will become so cool. Proud of my team over there.

This is kind of centre of the farm. Not set yet. But can see the channel leading to rainwater tank. The freshly planted ones are some fruit trees obtained a week back from Nursary (story already covered).

The rainwater pond  is full with water. I must construct some stoppers around the banks, lest someone will fall inside without knowing the depth. This is however well within the farm compound. and water is not that much now as it was in this snap which was taken after the rains.

Visual Update on Jasmine, Banana, coconut and sweet potato planting Nov, 2014

The Nursary Plants are picked at Ramji Nursary in Nagarcoil.  This includes around 35 coconut saplings of 4 varieties.

Our purchase is normally a mix of everything to create a genetically diversity natural farm. Hope I will not end up creating a nursary instead of a farm.

Mallikai - Jasmine Plants are first to go. These are Nagapattinam variety

Jasmine baby

Jasmine being planted after tilling.

Jasmine is mulched with local nochi weeds. Sufficient space is provided so that there can be an inter crop later

Banana 2nd Round.  The roots are procured from the nearby farm. Details covered already.

Banana tubers

Banana is planted just after a rain

Another view of Banana in place

Coconut is mostly planted at the fence side.

The young one inside the pit. Some red soil is added to increase quality. Also some pith. and natural fertiliser

Coconut lined up as 2nd row from a fence

Sweet Potato is a vein. We obtained this from neighbours farm through Subbu Contact for a small price.  But the land preparation is a very delicate thing as can be seen. It cost 2 labor days.

The raised bars prepared for sweet potato and  planted

Planting in progress

Rain has stopped. How long will the stored water last ?

There is no rain.
There is no wind.
There is no source of water.
But we are confident.

There is some water still in the ground level rain water pond (30x30). Subbu has used this water twice for planting sweet potato slips and watering them. The first water was given immediately after planting (called life water) and the second, one week later. This includes banana plants as well. He estimates the water will last for another two rounds of watering, which is for another 15 days. I guess it will be muddy water, neverthless...

The water from the pit had to be pumped out. For this a kerosene oil engine was hired. At Rs. 40/- per liter, Kerosene can run a 5 HP pump for one hour. We need 2 Hours of operation. The rental charge is Rs. 100 per hour. Therefore total 280/- for 2 hours pumping including rental and fuel.

The rented pump

Meanwhile there is very weak wind. The well oiled windpump is pumping around half tank of water (500 lts). This is enough to water the vegetable plots.

Either wind should blow or rain should come.  Surprisingly there is no monsoon rain at all. The little rain that came was due to a cyclone. There is no wind either. Perhaps it is changing its gears and may start to blow from different direction.

Energy Plans:

1.  We need to plan to purchase a kerosene pump for permanent use. This will be portable over a bicycle and can be shifted. water need to be pumped either from the rainwater pond to overhead tank or the cement tank to overhead tank in future.  I estimate it should cost Rs. 20000/- for the pump as well as engine.

2. In the absence of wind, we need to pump water from the bore-well. We cannot insert a submersible anyway. Therefore we need to insert rubber tube alongside windmill pipe and keep a centrifugal pump at the ground level to suck the water.

Source of power ?  

a)  Electricity is still far away. I sense trouble there. As the days come near to give the connection, the department people may ask more and more money. I asked Subbu to employ some intelligence and access how much bribe they may ask. If we need to reach from the nearest transformer which is in a village, then it will cost hell a lot of money. I am not going to invest.

b) The kerosene pump is good option. With a centri fugal pump attached, it should work. Though it is not environment friendly, but can be a stop gap for some time.

c) Mini Solar pump is an option. But even for 1 KV, the setup cost will be around 1 lakh rupees even if we donot use a battery. Just direct solar power should drive the motor which will pump the water from bore-well into to overhead tank in case of no wind. This will be hybrid green solution. There are no genuine suppliers that I know off. Going by my last year survey, solar industry has still not improved.  Solar is riddled with cheap Chinese panels and cheating at dealer level.  Need to explore more.

****

Utilising common Weeds in Farm for Fertilizer and Mulching

As demonstrated by Parames Zurich when he visited our farm.  They are self explanatory

This completes the preparation of fertiliser. now Mulching using the commonly available Tephrosia purpurea and other weeds.

Our first commercial sale of pumpkin, a small achievement and major milestone

Yesterday was one of the happy days and Subbu kept on talking without knowing how to stop himself.  We talked about two happy problems and one achievement.

Our first commerical sale has happened.  Pumpkin 3 Nos each weighing 5 KG. It was sold to Rs. 18/- per Kg, totally giving Rs. 270/- at Parappadi market (5 Kms from the farm). My wife was happy hearing this. We told the money to be deposited in our Native Place Temple Shri Srivaramanga Sematha Sri Deivanayaka Perumal Koil, about 10 kms from there. The first harverst is always for the God.

One plant of Tapioca that Subbu planted has matured and bursting with root tubers. This has uprooted the newly planted Lemon (Elumichchai) and Bitter orange (Narthangai) saplings, because they rooted so close. We have never experienced Tapioca. He asked what to do?. If we harvest the Tapioca, we will damage the plant. If we don't the tapioca will bounce back again from the root and Lemon can never grow properly. I told to remove everything carefully with some soil and replant elsewhere.  It is fun to do organic farming with multiple species. You learn a lot.

Subbu has finally fixed the counter weight that was pending on the WindMill propeller blades. It was

because of the scientist/carpenter Somu who can never sleep without fixing something. He was absent for few months and has returned now. As per the beautiful technology designed by PolDaw engineers, the wind pump will have a counter weight at two of the properllers which is diametrically opposite to the assembly rod which pulls the water pump rod.  This will make the propeller rotate even for slightest wind.

But since this is slow motion action, no water will be drawn from the well in very slow winds. This is the ideal configuration but was bothering Subbu. He cannot tolerate something rotating and not giving water. When you give a rotational kick with hands, water was jetting out. What to do, he was asking?  I told him to just enjoy and dont worry.

Yesterday and today the pattam was laid for planting Siru Kilangu.  Pattam is the raised mud bar made with skill. Only a skilled labor can do it. I understand the person who came to do this job, liked the organic farming methods that we are adopting. He has long since not seen organic farming anywhere and was recalling his childhood experience. Same was the case with an old woman who visited when our guest  Paramez was there. She was mentioning how to prepare organic manure with Kolinji (seen in the picture).

I need to now think about accounting and some book keeping. So far Subbu was noting down the expenses on a rough notebook. I was not even doing that and was focusing on only major trends. It is important to now provide a policy on consumption and sale.  Selling to market for high profit is not our first priority. Our first priority will be to develop small door-to-door vendors - mostly old women with basket.

*******

Special Guest to the Farm - Parames Zurich

Parameswaran Zurich, a young natural farmer from Dindigul is in the farm since yesterday. He is the same person who had sent 40 varities of different seeds last week.  He is our first guest to the farm. Therefore I was anxious how we can receive him and make him comfortable.  He came early in the morning starting around 1 AM at Dindigul and reaching farm at around 9.30 AM to Nanguneri. Subbu received him at Nanguneri. Food at Parappadi and Stay at Valliyoor. That was the arrangement.

As soon as he reached the farm, he was exited. He drew quickly some diagrams on the sand and sent through FB Chat mode with me.  We discussed about overall placement of crops, rainwater discharge and canal position. The one message that was strongly coming from him was the "mudakku" or milching the soil.  The soil has to be covered.  He did demonstrate by covering some of the plant base with available grass and kolingi plants from neighbourhood.

Shape of Farm as drawn by Paramez.  The stones are main items. Raised arc is the raised mud road inside the farm from Gate to the wind pump.  in anticlockwise, the first stone is the wind mill, 2nd the water tank, 3rd the high tension electric tower, 4th the rainwater catchment tank and 5th the store room near the gate.  He is dividing the nearly 3.5 acres in to large chunks in squares

Simple Irrigation Plan as drawn by Paramez on the samd. Look at the minature details of a section of the farm.. 

The open channel system of irrigation was not approved by me. There is lack of water for 10 months and I cannot expose water on a canal, which he accepted. Well a lot of plants were planted during these two days by Subbu and his team. He had hired few people more as work was simultaneously going on. Around 200 banana saplings, 20 Sapota, 50 Jasmine, 35 Coconut trees besides miscellaneous trees like Mango, Rose were planted.

Inspired by Zurich, I drew the final shape of the farm through imagination (by including the recent developments that we did) from my residence(1800 Kms) away.  Here is the complete picture as it should look be looking now. In a few days, I will get the photos from Subbu to correlate my understanding and appreciate their work.

In Summary:

1. We have been spending more money this month purchasing more plants to take advantage of the rainy season. Wheather rain will contine or not is anybody's guess.
2. We  have over loaded the garden with vegetation which require water. The lonely windpump is the only source of water.  Current connection is one month away.  We have no money to buy a kerosene generator, but that is the option for emergency pumping.
3. The farm should be looking good and professional for anyone to see. I understand from Subbu that neighbours are still skeptical on what is going ON. They will realise only when we start selling few vegetables in 3 months from now. Till then keep Mum.

*****