Farm Update 29-Feb-2016

1.   Business as usual.   Just watering activity on the farm.  No new initiative.  The construction of sitting place and repair of green house is pending as Paramu has accepted some civil works and is away.  The farm is waiting for him.

2. Meanwhile the sand required for mixing concrete for the seats are being gathered by the lady staff from adjacent places.   Sand is everywhere around the farm, where top soil is eroded due to rains.  One has to just bring it.  I am happy we are just using the resources from around and not purchasing everytime.

3. I discussed with Subbu on farming activities and future.  My long standing dream is to grow many different varities of palatable vegetables and make it available to small vendors.  The small vendors - mostly ladies who carry vegetables on their head in a basket will go to nook and corner of villages and sell them.  I hope I can equip them with produce early in the morning. By noon they should sell out everything and earn 50 to 100/-.  They must have lunch in my farm.  It must be simple lunch with lentils and Dal (pulses) with rice.  They can go for 2nd sortie if possible in the evening or retire.  I hope we are somewhere 40% in this journey.

4.  Onion will be ready for harvest in a month.

5. The malligai (Jasmine) has started yielding. I believe a vendor is purchasing this every day @ 50/- per day.  That is good news.  Every day the jasmine is plucked and hung near the gate. The vendor will collect them and pay money.  This has been happening for the past 4 days.  Let me see......

6.  The reamaining plot where rain destroyed jasmine will also be planted with more jasmine.  I believe even the ones thought gone-case has sprouted.  That means Jasmine best-fits in my farm

7. I was discussing with Subbu to construct a 2nd water tank for the Windpump.  Presently we are getting more water, which is drained into the mud pond.  what if I store them high above in another water tank so that we irrigate vegetable plots from there. This 2nd one will be around 100 to 150 meters from the wind pump and will be at 15" high.  It must be in the same height of the earlier one so that when interconnected they share water.  Subbu said he wants to construct in the cheapest manner possible.  Something like putting a plastic tank atop a concrete single pillar.  Hmmmm... let us study some models around.

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Giving Final shape to irrigation facilities

Store the water at a Height
to create pressure

Wind pump has no brakes. The water will be pumped so far as there is wind, all the time. But the speed is lesser and equal to a half HP motor or even less. Therefore it is important to store every drop of water for reuse.

In the absence of any other energy sources to pump the water again, it is also important that water be stored at a height so that the kinetic energy (gravity) of water can be used to create water pressure.

With this in mind, I have designed the following.  The water tank shown in the picture (Drawn by me using Google sketchup)  is of 1000 liters and kept at a height of 13 feet from ground. overflow water is to be stored in a large tank of 25 feet x 10 feet x 5 feet.

Excess overflow water to a large fish tank

Such an arrangement will allow excess water to be stored in the large tank, which will be above ground level. (one feet below ground and 4 feet above). Water from this tank can be  opened at the bottom or occasionally pumped back into plastic tank using small 1/2 HP solar pump (a future project. idea courtesy Shri D V Sridharan of Point Return).

Today the water tank costing Rs. 4500/- was mounted atop an iron stand of 150 Kg weight costing Rs.14000/-  (Iron costs Rs. 80/- per KG including design and finishing. Raw iron is costing Rs. 56/Kg).  Subbu had designed the stand as per my oral approval. The stand also i believe includes an iron ladder and a protective ring for the water tank. The surface area over the stand to keep the tank is 4.5 feet x 4.5 feet, with enough free space.

The cement tank shown in the picture is not done yet. It will be 25 x 10 x 5 feet and might cost upto Rs. 45000/-.  This tank however is very crucial to pass over windless days by storing and using the water.  The water tank may be used to grow fish which may provide organic manure.

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Farm Update 28th february

1. Decision to be taken if ready made concrete to be purchased or concrete to be mixed on the spot by local mason. This is for tower foundation.  Subbu was supposed to visit a nearby ready concrete mixing factory. He was told to come again as concerned manager was not there. I wonder, just for 3 cubic meter of concrete, why people make so much fuss. But that is the way it is. Whereever labour work is involved, human touch is expected. City guys have no time for these. But we end up paying more than necessary on 'online' purchases and also donot develop any 'reusable learning experience'. Whereas people like Subbu gain so much knowledge in these moments of truth.



Kandan with is New Bicycle. Learning to walk it



2. Kandan has started walking straght with his new bicycle !. Earlier he was going in one direction and the cycle in another. I am told, now he has learned to 'tame' his cycle to walk with it steady. I am waiting the day when he will mount it and ride it. I was kidding him and he has promised he will fall down and learn it.

This beautiful tank spotted in nanguneri.

3. Assuming that wind water pump will be up by next month, I need to plan for water tank.  'Purchasing' plastic tank would cost Rs. 7/- per liter. assuming we need 10,000 liter tank, the cost would go upto Rs. 70,000/-.  That is too much. I need find an alternative. Perhaps a cement tank. I know many Govt projects construct cement tanks. Need to find who is the contractor and talk to him.

4. Preparation of Tower foundation for wind pump. The tower requires to be assembled  on ground and pulled up to stand straight.  I happened to see the installation photos of Iron Man wind Pump in an US Farm. They have used JCB, a crane, tractor, truck and a fork lift. That is too much of resources to use to just make a tower stand straight. I am sure we will be using none of these. Some labour, techniques and one JCB perhaps should do the job. Let me see. We can think about it only after fabrication which is underway in ABS factory.

5.  Team has gone through two CDs so far.  Kandan has watched the CDs that I gave at his home CD Player. Subbu had set it up for him. That is good. Now I can engage them with some more training CDs. They must have covered two topics so far.  a) Compost Preparation  b) Dry land Farming.

Back home I need to record my speech in camera and append it to the VCD.