Farm Update 23-Nov-2017

1. The wind pump and tower painting with Green and Aluminium paint has been completed. The support structure dismantled and vendor informed to take and go.

2. The pump is not connected. It may be connected to the borewell today.  The foot valve had been overhauled. Subbu told the windmill is running freely. Hope it will run on load. Not much wind though.

3. The small anemometer that was long back dismantled will be fixed in the tower.  This was the instrument that helped me decide before I brought the windmill.

4. Vegetable is a sorry story.  None of the vegetable is growing properly. As per Subbu seeds of pumpkin or snake guard has not even sprouted.

5. I asked him to destroy and create raised bars with tractor. Subbu is also planning the same.

6. I suspect right amount of moisture is not there. Sprinkler is the best option. I have been asking him to experiment one. He has to weld a sprinkler head on a tripod so that it becomes portable.  I will follow.

7. Spoke to Aunty to check when she is coming. She got inspired and gave many ideas. One of which is making a film or documentary on organic farming.  I said all that later. Now it is important to generate and sell vegetables. Word of mouth, few pamphlets and a flex board should do.

8. Subbu said he will buy more seeds today in Tirunelveli. His other profession is a television cable business. Due to lightning some of the cable junction boxes had broken.  So he is going to Tirunelveli for some work.

9. We need to plant more trees. I inspired him to hire volunteers from schools.  Told we can support. Let us call local Village officer and create any activity and connect.

10. Like any other project this vegetable selling business is going to take its own time. Patience. Patience. Patience.

From atop the windmill

The beauty of the farm from atop a wind mill.  It is a rare sight.  Subbu took this risk for me. I asked him to document each of the repair works for later reference. It is a labor intensive work of constructing the ladders, opening the screws, getting down the components, replacing faulty bearing, painting and again assembling.  All these done manually using one pully.

The impression I get after seeing the farm at a glance is disappointing. More vegetable patch is required if at all we need to foray. The cucumber is waste now and need to be destroyed. Lots of work ahead.

The main gate is on top right (white color)

Near the tower, beside the water tank.

The main farm where vegetables supposed to grow.  Spread is cucumber that is a waste now.

Towards approach road to the windpump

Fresh coat of paint. Background is the Nachankulam lake.

The majestic windmill undergoing maintenance

Self explanatory. Planning to refit and paint. Subbu old due to storm winds the propeller blades are slightly bent. Tail would have taken a beating. A bearing is damaged. That will be replaced.   Subbu told a close examination reveals the blades and the tail had collided each other randomly due to heavy storm. The chain system had twisted.

Farm Update 13-Nov-2017

The main resting place is undergoing repair work.
It is several days now the artisan has not come.
Yesterday however Subbu told he had come
and started his work.  The knitted coconut leaves
have to be tied to this structure as roof. It requires skill
and very few have that now in village.

I wasn't satisfied myself on the way I had written my previous post.  I wanted to take it down and re-write. But due to some engagements, I could'nt find that required peaceful time.   Last week I attended Amazon Web Services (AWS) classroom training for 3 days sponsored by my company and another 2 days went on finishing some mandatory HR training....blah blah....

Subbu was sick for the past few days. I called him and his wife and wished speedy recovery.  It is dengue season. Luckily he just had cold and fever. Now it has gone. I did not want to disturb him. Therefore our conversations were far and few. I caught up with him yesterday.

As part of storm protection procedure, the windpump
had automatically taken to this shape. The tail is now 90 degrees
to the rotor. This is to prevent the blades from facing the wind during stroms
This is to be reversed only by climbing the tower. I wanted to
take this opportunity to do full overhaul of the windpump

a) The resting place roofing work is going ON. more snaps later.

b) Windpump is my next big target item. It is waiting.  The same artisan who is doing the roofing work has to build a support structure using sticks to reach the wind tower.  So that workers can work from that safely.  I want to paint the blades and tail with aluminium paint.  The screws have to be tightened.

But the most important work would be to rectify the mis-alignment that is still there since installation. I want to fix that.  More story later.

I have no idea about vegetations - current status. But though I know many vegetables are coming up as planned.  Coming 20th the aunty would be in her village. I need to start a shop....

Just a random shot to show the current state of fauna.

The windpump borewell pipes are removed and kept aside neatly.

I like this shot. It shows the trees are mature. 

The jasmine patch is growing well.

Subbu was mentioning this.  Due to heavy rains the cucumber leaves have gone pale.  I warned him earlier itself. Anything which grows and yields fast is not good.

Farm Update with Visuals 04-Nov-2017

This is water collection and water way leading to the pond. The spot from where
this photo was taken is the bank of the pond. 

There are a myriad of farm activities that are pending.  Subbu is alone and the gravity of work weights on him. There is heavy rain in the farm and adjoining areas. Right time for sowing But we cannot keep inviting labor for everything. It costs a lot of money. Each day per person would be Rs. 300 to 500.

Kandan is sick. He is becoming sick often. Subbu complaints his wife is not cooking properly. That could be true. In a natural farm what else other than insufficient food will be an issue ?  That too for a hard working person ?.    His wife spends on unnecessary things is the main complaint.  This is the trend in villages. They are attracted by things that are shown in TV or consumed by their relatives in cities.   Anyway I asked Subbu to give him a warning.  Kandan had not been regular for several days now.  He also doesnot care to report back if not coming or is trying to be routine.  Therefore Subbu is alone.  The sales activities have stopped. There is rain. The resting room needs the roof replacement.  The knitted coconut leaves that were purchased to replace are kept aside. The skilled artisan has not come.

There is heavy thunder showers and lightning and it is risky to talk over phone.

The more you speak to Subbu and give assignments, the more it creates mess. Saying is easy. Doing is not.  The following are my regular conversation topics with subbu.

a)  Windpump needs attention. In the recent heavy thunder strom, the wind pump rotor had twisted itself at right angles to the tail. This is an emergency safety feature in-built into the wind pump mechanism to save the rotor from rotating very fast in a cyclone.  This has happened when Subbu was away to Tirupati. This need to be put back. I asked Subbu to take this opportunity to build a stair way upto tower and paint the galvanised steel blades and tail with aluminium paint. Also the nuts and bolts to be checked. We were waiting for water to be available so that we can overhaul the windpump. Now that current and electric pumpset is operational, we can lay our hands on windpump.

b)  A permanent structure to be designed to solve the issue of foot valve getting disconnected often when there is frequent change of wind direction. More on this later.... But currently I have asked Subbu to put our old hand pump above the borewell.  I want to disconnect transmission of power from top of wind tower directly to bottom of borewell through rods.  The handpump in between will isolate this. Then we will find a mechanism to move the hand of the handpump up and down using windpump. This is a long pending re-engineering work.  This way I want to use the capacity of foot valve fully.

c) Vegetables are far and few. Not enough. Next month aunty will come and we have to start organic shop. There are no vegetables as of now to promise and commit.  Subbu said he has sowed further more seeds in a specially prepared bed. Yesterday. I am waiting for photos. But even if, the quantity will not be sufficient. It takes many hours to convince Subbu to think big.

Farm Update in Visuals - 30-Oct-2017

Hmm.. The new wire from room to boring is found on the ground. Needs to be raised above pole (tracktor height). Discussed with Subbu. Some blunders they keep doing inspite of several planning.  He said he will mount them on Casurina poles.

Trees are maturing

There are snakes in the farm. Why are there loose bricks near the seating arrangement ?

Nice to see that the coconut is growing

Perfect shot by Subbu to capture the growing bananas

The other side of Wind Tower.

Now the road inside will be good to walk.

Jasmine plot.

Windpump at distance. During recent heavy wind, it has exercised the strom control procedure automatically.
Meaning, the tail and rotor fan are now in right angles to each other. This is a safety feature.
But needs to be put back to operations. I want to take opportunity to do silver painting and grease packing.
A tower need to be built to reach and do the work. Waiting.

Some vegetables. I donot know what. Not so dense.

Subbu said there is a snake visible in this photo. There are far too many snakes in this pond he said
Unsuccessfully tried to captured

Jasmine plot. Another older one, now into shrubs. Yes, flowers are wasted because the minimum
marketable quantity is not there as this is off season.

Farm Update 17-Oct-2017

Cucumber and Cluster beans

Activity around the farm went bit slow last week due to Subbu's travel to Tirupati. He had gone to Tirupati with family for a darshan. His mother in law would join him from Mumbai and they had a good time. He reached Village yesterday.

Vendor

Earlier Cucumber was harvested twice or thrice and carried into villages by two old ladies.  Later got a feedback that people are not buying it rather under cutting its price. Meanwhile "Seeni Araikkai" as it is called in village or Cluster beans (Kothavarangai in tamil) has fetched Rs. 25/- per KG and sold at around 30/- or above.  Subbu told a bucket ful of cluster beans weighted only 2 KG. Perhaps that is why people brought it fast, becuase it gives sense of getting more quantity for less (money)

Subbu told there had been heavy rain few days back. The tank is full. Windpump is normal. I am waiting for first snaps which he said he will post today.

Farm Musings - Thursday 5th October, 2017

Speaking to Subbu almost on daily basis. I suspect more followup is required to get work done on the ground. The team out there has still not realised that we are losing precious time.

Whereas Intense heat, no rains, day to day repairs, lack of purpose, finance condition and unnecessary farm expenses are bothering Subbu's mind, the preceived opportunity, slowness in sowing, anxity and fear of not starting a long agriculture journey that I was waiting for all these years are on top of my mind.  So conversation drags.

Against a long list of vegetables that I asked him to try, so far only Tomato, bringal has been sown.  Cucumber, pumpkin are growing already. Pepper (mirchi) is a failure.  I urged Subbu to buy as many varieties. How can I go to customers (housewifes) with produce if I have no variety ?  I impressed on him that ladies would prefer to change menu and hence prefer different vegetables every day.  We need to grow everything - onion, potato, bitter guard, ladies finger, greens....... whatever you see in a vegetable market.

I understood why Subbu is hesitant to go to Valliyoor and buy seeds. He is finding challenge in getting the seeds sprouting properly inspite of preparing the nursery bed softly. Failure he attributes to heat. I asked him to create a permanent nursery corner with shade. Transplantation should be done only after the plant grows taller.

We have plans to replace the ailing old coconut knitted leave roof of the rest room.  The old coconut leaf roof to be removed from the main rest room to be used for nursery shade.

I had been successful in contacting the aunty I was banking ON for me to setup the first organic vegetable shop at her house a nearby town. She has gone to visit her Son.  She responded positively and promised she will return to her home town next month and start work. She even asked if we can print notices.  So we have one month within which to plan for flex boards, notices and grow vegetables. Once she starts the shop, we must have continuous supply to that shop. Word of mouth by ladies will create more demand I hope.






  

A humble beginning - Cucumber Sale

Subbu mentioned that around 27KG of Cucumber was harvested and given to 2 Peddlers.  The old women who carry on head in a basket and sell in villages.  They have taken at Rs. 10/- per Kg and sold at Rs. 15/- per Kg I heard. This is nice. This is what I want. Responsible and sustainable pricing.

For a 300 KG investment, they must get atleast Rs. 150 profit for selling the whole day on foot. 

Vegetable seeds sprouted. Waiting re-planting

Meanwhile the aunty whom I was banking ON to sell at Nanguneri Village in one of the houses portico is travelling. I am unable to reach her during this crucial moment.

 Anyway I have to work on a backup plan. I have started exploring some others who are willing to work for me.  Subbu is read to deliver daily produce on two wheeler.

Meanwhile Banana is growing.

Next Steps - Marketing the produce.

Refreshing to see the cucumber already flowering. 

I need to plan in advance for marketing what will grow. Last few times, it did not go as planned or dreamt.  More often after we harvest that we think how and where to  sell.

In the past we have had very small yields. I would want to call it as experience or learning.  Not any more.  We need to now create sustainable growth. Enough of wait and investments for the past 7 years.

Still space to spread out.

Today I woke up and made first call to Subbu. I did not check if he is listening to me or not. But I went ahead. My plan as follows;  This is in three steps.

a) In the beginning the yields will be in small quantities. The cucumber has already started flowering and some early pieces are already visible i was told.  So we need to invite the hawkers and small carts.  These hawker (generally old village women who carry things on their head) will accept anything in small quantity, go on foot and sell at door steps.

The 100% organic vegetables will get the same price as others. If they compete in open market it will also fail as comparatively in color and texture this will be inferior in visual attraction. Therefore this has to be sold in word of mouth. People should eat and realize how tasty it is, how harmless it is. They must know their place or origin. May be visit one family outing to the farm.

Therefore our span of supply should expand slowly from ground zero.

b) Then open one shop in nearby town. I already mentioned this. I attempted to call an aunt whom i have in mind and who had agreed to open a shop in veranda of her home. But she is out of station. Otherwise this can be opened anywhere and provide one part time employment to one person provided there is regular supply of vegetables.

c) Then move the produce in bulk to either marriage hall, monastery or the nearby town and door deliver to VIP and officers homes at a premium.  That is a while away now....

Subbu acknowledged positively. He even said that he had identified the hawkers and earlier too he had given to them. It is do-able he said. That is great.

The story of Water pump:

I am running a borrowed pump from Subbu's father's farm. He says he has plenty of pumps accumulated over period of time - 14 to be precise. "Our farm will be more like a factory than a farm with machines, wires, compressors, starters, stabilisers".

Nevertheless, having obtained electricity connection recently - single Phase 240 Volt, 10+ ampere we cannot run his pump anymore with this current which is 3 Phase 5 HP.  It is ok only for the generator and I decided to keep that off for some time.  Subbu doesnot like spending on diesel. It is important now that I may myself sustainable. Investment ?

I asked Subbu to estimate what would be the cost ? He inquired and found from dealers that Texmo 3 HP, Single phase would be 23K plus another 27K for wires, pipes, rope.  That is whopping amount which I cannot afford. Kept postponing next month... next month.. But still the team kept insisting that I invest once for all.

We already have pipe, rope and wire. Subbu wanted Texmo to be lowered at 300 ft which is 50 ft extra than the current one. The vendor had dismissed our existing pipe and asked to buy new one saying the pipe will implode due to vacuum created when the pump is stopped. He also asked to buy fresh wires. I would'nt buy that story. I had seen the pipe that we have invested in already. It was very sturdier. He must be talking about some cheap plastic pipes and was trying to cash-in on the ignorance and fear.

I decided to re-use the existing investment. That means only another 50 feet of tube, cable and wire alone should be sufficient. So the Texmo came.

Day 1:  Subbu brought host of items along with pump from Valliyoor and waiting for technician.
Day 2: Old pump and pipes were removed out of the borewell.
Day 3: Texmo was connected to electricity by technician. But Subbu was very disappointed. It did not work. He told that pump kickstarts on the ground, but when inside the well, it doesnot work. He confessed that Texmo was wrong choice. I took details from him. I wanted to use all my skills to get some solution from remote.  To my surprise there is no details in the internet on a pump that is so widely popular.

I see this trend always. The agri companies are cashing on the ignorance of the people. There are too many dealers with little information. The source company doesnot publish anything. Finally I traced from the Name plate and others as follows.

TEXMO 3 HP Borewell Submersible FS022S + HMF35 / 12.  Made by www.aquagroup.in (aquasub engineering). Immediatly through my browsing skills contacted the office, the madurai dealer and finally the manager. They all responded well.

Meanwhile it was found out collectively by technician and the vendor that wire must be minimum of certain gauge. The fault is in wire. our wire was aluminium. Fresh thick copper wire was rented @ 500/- per day. Tested and working fine. Subbu was happy.

Then there was 300 feet distance from main EB board to the pump horizontally that needed replacement.  Otherwise the wire that was already invested into the bore-well was of good quality. It continues.

Now things are fine. pump is running.  The bonus is that Kandan knows how to switch ON the motor and run it independently of Subbu's help. It is a great relief.

The pump and Motor

Starter kit

Motor attached to pump

The pipe and rope

Guess the Subbu pump removed