Windpump Rotor blade interchange

As planned already, finally the day has come for action.   A tall stage has been constructed around the windpump to reach upto the rotor fan and change each of the blade. As told already, the blades are having their convex side facing the wind. It must be the concave side as per aerodynamics.  This correction or change is to be carried out today.

However there is very heavy rain as reported by Subbu from ground Zero. A special team had constructed the tower earlier. Subbu had called for 2 boys who are expert in climbing and working in towers. But no work today. I hope they will safely do the work. Post this picture there was some more safety poles constructed.

Closeup of the rotor.  These nuts have to be removed to free the blades. Then each have to be turned
back and re-fitted.

The stage atop looks fragile. Have asked to add more strength and cross bridges for comfortable
working.

Farm Update 11th May, 2018

It is easier said than done.  Everything in a farm is like that.

a) To reverse the blades of windpump rotor we need to construct a bamboo tower upto that. It must be safe and comfortable to work on top of that stage. Subbu has asked his known person to visit the farm and give a quote. This is a season of temple festivals. They are busy.  Anyway we have to do this job to extrat more from the windpump.  (Refer my last post).

b) The sprinklers (3 Nos.) have been give to Valliyoor for welding the tripod stand. Subbu is yet to take delivery of the same.

c) Subbu was busy plucking the jasmine flowers morning. It will otherwise go waste. He has tied with some local small vendor. This time we have the electronic weighing machine and a notebook to note down the daily yield.

Vettiver at the farm.  One row is not enough. But it is surviving
in the hot Sun

d) I need to think a lot more about the windpump. Now that the water is secured, I am planning to do all possible things to increase the water output. That will amount to purchasing a new foot valve (plunger) which would cost estimated 16K

e) The vegetable plot where the sprinkler is being tried, is growing slow. I have hopes on this.

f). While on the visit to the farm, I was particular to inspect the vettiver that I asked Subbu to plant around the pond to prevent soil erosion. Earlier the vettiver was sown and got spread around the wind pump tower. This was attracting snakes and rabbits. It was destroyed. Some stalks were supposed to be replanted and watered daily. As expected that was not done, except for my compulsion.

g).  But whatever vettiver has been planted, was satisfactory. Not enough, but satisfying that the concept is good. Now If i need to deepen the pond further, I must employ manual labor and not JCB.

Wrong Fitting in Windpump

Today I made a startling discovery.  The one that will shame and nullify our 4 years of hard work. On my cellphone, I was just going through some of the snaps that I took while I visited the farm 2 weeks back.

The windpump as it stands now

Something struck me. While at farm, I had this sense that windpump was not working to full speed that I expected it to be.  Today I was playing a short video clip when it struck me that something is wrong with the propellers.  I cross checked in the web on how generally the fins of the properller (called rotor) should be arranged.

What I found was that our windpump did not have their fins fitted as per aerodynamic rules.  They were fitted wrongly.  However it was serving the purpose. It is rotating.  It is pumping water.  But could have done more.  I guess the technicians who came and installed few years back had made this mistake.  No one noticed the fundamental flaw since then.

Rest in pictures.

I called Subbu and did whatsup of some snaps for reference. Asked him to go through and get back. He did not call back. He did not realise the mistake. I explained.  He could not belive. He was angry, prepirating. He had worked with windpump for all these years.  God knows how many times he climbed to stop that, paint that, oil that and connect the rods whenever there is a repair.  Today his fundamentals has got shattered.

He said it will cost to build a ramp and hire labor. I said we must do. There is no choice. We are going to correct this.    We must correct this so that we get maximum out of this machine that we have invested.

I have high hopes on this windpump. I am glad I discovered it.

Play the video attached below. Notice the rotor blades. They are fixed with convex side in front. It must be the concave side in front. The correct picture is given below.

The beautiful windpump amidst vegetation. I have high hopes on this. We will correct the error soon.

The correct position given for illustration. Notice the pipes supporting the fins must be outside. The cusp must be outside.

Another example

And another one.

Sprinkler - No big deal

Coming back to my dream of growing vegetables.   Subbu, for that matter anyone who hears me always tries to give impression that growing vegetables as a difficult task. Therefore they avoid, they postpone, they donot give attention to my "n" number of lectures. But I am not going to give up.

I know and  I suspected that on the ground,  Subbu would not have made enough attempt even after several iterations of my interaction over phone.

Luckily I had opportunity to visit the farm last week in person (refer last post).  The team over there had fixed the ground in a hurry,  readied the farm with brinjal, beans and other saplings because I am coming.    I knew this and smiled.

What I saw was disappointing. Tomato, chilli, brinjal plants were so tiny, planted far away from each other and seldom watered. However the basic ground was ready for vegetables. All we need to do is sustain. It was waiting for a proper watering solution.

I took Subbu to Tirunelveli (nearby town) and purchased 3 sprinklers right away. Each cost around 600/-.  I also brought an electronic weighing machine which can weigh upto 20 KG. We also enquired about 1 HP or 3 HP pumps for driving force to drive the sprinklers or rain gun in future.  It looks like a decent monobloc pump would cost around 6K. I wanted to atleast make the sprinkler up and running before I leave. I wanted to ensure all spares are purchased like bent pipe etc. Because Subbu is famous for leaving a job half done. We returned in bus by 11 PM.

In future if this is successful I want to go for rain gun. It costs around 7K for the metal one and another 2K for the stand.  It will be a project of 15K to secure everything. I hope this will be useful to wet the farm in all nook and corners from one place.  The idea is to fill the cement tank from borewell. Then pump the cement tank water using minimum force for irrigation.

The sprinklers would have to be welded on tripod stand.  Back in farm, next day Paramu and Kandan went into action. While we were waiting in shade, these guys went about setting up the sprinkler with existing pipe to be driven with pressure from submercible pump.  It worked.

Subbu came and pitched a stump. Paramu tied the sprinkler to the stump. Lo it worked.  We enjoyed it rotating for quite some time, measured how much radius it covers with water etc and returned.

I came back from tour. Subbu was supposed to weld them. But he has gone on vacation. This work will be done next week.

My Farm Visit April, 16 to 20, 2018 (Revised)

I had visited my farm as part of vacation in the last two weeks with family.  I had family function, marriage, temple function, sight seeing etc combined.   However this time we determined we will spend quite some time in the farm.

As luck would have it, the entire family of four (Self, wife, two children) were able to spend entire day in the farm working.  We ate lunch there. It was memorable. After that i alone visited the farm twice and encouraged the team.  Here are some excerpts in visuals.

(I had posted visuals from my mobile phone earlier. Due to roaming coverage or otherwise, I guess it did not post properly. I have removed that post.  I am sorry for those who visited the page and got disappointed)

God Sastha. The neighbourhood deity.  He is just at the entrance of the farm and facing the farm.  The temple has now got a proper roof and the damaged idols renewed by the family who worship him.

This is the road leading to the farm. On the left is a tank that gets filled once a year. This year however it got filled and drained fast as people had sucked water for farming using motors according to Subbu.

Well, our first mango.  Very tiny tree. But mango was large. The plants that we purchased from Ramji nursary is good. 

There is eucalyptus tree too in the farm. Couple of them. It brings my ooty memories. Just squeeze a single leaf. The entire area will smell of eucalyptus thailam.

Myself, Subbu and my son Muthu.  Having a chat on the stone table in the farm near the windpump.

Kandan inside the banana patch.

Banana Flower.  Maintaining the farm free of chemicals is giving back dividends. I can see honey dripping in the flower and honeybee (wild variety) sucking the same.  

The good old wind pump. Working. (Separate post on that later).

This is the first tiny tank that we dug near the windpump. Those days for us this was looking big.

The vegetable patch at last !.  You must search for the small plants. Ask subbu he will list a dozen vegetables. But will say that without interest. He is still not convinced. (Separate post on that later). However I am forcing.

Kandan near the jasmine patch. The Jasmine plants are yielding now atleast around 200 to 400 grams per day. But not enough for market.  When we were there, we plucked and gave to temple. It was of good quality.

Jasmine flowers.

The pond. It is dry now. But I want to preserve the complex micro eco system that it has. So no further digging. (Separate post later)

Coconut tree fairs well. The windmill at the backdrop.

Me. Sitting on the stone table.  The purpose is accomplished. However it was hot. Need some shade. Not a priority though now.  Adjascent trees are growing to give shade.

Drum sticks. Looks good. Perhaps I must grow them more

I donot know what is this. But this is not lemon. No one knows. But must be some useful tree. Because we purchased only known ones from Ramji nursary. One day I must bring someone who can identify such trees. Presently let us grow them well.

A wonder and welcome development. Honeybee in toilet ceiling. That is a certification that this farm is organic and pest friendly.

Well I made this small patch myself. Kandan is finishing it. This is where I have sprayed the miscellaneous seeds that I carried from pune to farm. I hope the bricks lining will stop the tiny seeds from floating off when watered. 

Family chatting with staff and tasting mango pieces.

I am not sure. This giant tree has grown near the windmill. It will grow taller than windmill next year. Not sure when we brought this and what is this tree variety.

This patch is barren now. Subbu is planning more bananas. Currently he is on vacation.

Subbu showing the tapiaco freshly dug from mud. He has planted them near coconut trees so that they get water automatically.

The rice (paddy) grain after harvest. For the small plot the yield is good. Not sure what variety it is. Subbu has kept in the room for polishing later through a rice mill.

The farm as it appears from the road.

Jasmine flower being plucked. My daughter in the foreground having a bag full of jasmine buds.

Farm update in Visuals - 29-Mar-2018

These photos were take a month back. Neverthless it is more relevant.   I am not sure what is the relationship I have with my employee - Subbu and Kandan.

There are certain things they DO. There are certain things they DON'T DO.  This is irrespective of whatever level of motivation you do.

Like nature, we need to understand human behavior.  Sometime I get irritated. I must not show that in words. Everyone has a story and a version for that. They too have. They have priorities and I must be sensitive to that. Be very attentive and ears on the ground.

At first sight these photos reflect a water starved ill maintained farm. (Inspite of two full time employees). But on a careful look and talking, it will reveal the kind of hard work and toil that has gone into shaping this up. It may also show the future potential.  Rest in Pictures.

Paddy Field

The paddy field. Ready for harvest. Subbu's own farm needs his time. They will do this when they get labor. But he never projects this to me. Apparantly because it is not come upto expectations.  As mentioned earlier, I left it to him to chose the seeds. Next time it will be country variety.

The Vegetable Plot

The Vegetable Plot: The most disappointing one. Where I vested my hope and aspirations for several months/years now. Not coming up properly. I am creating huge pressure on Subbu to keep planting relentlessly. In Parallel, I am preparing an aunty in village to sell this.

I will be visiting the farm in April 3rd week during vacation. Subbu is aware of this. He is working overtime to get this make-up. Let us see. I am not going to give up.
Yesterday I had asked Subbu to delivery 400 Gms of Jasmine and 6 banana flowers, some citrus fruit for pickles and drum sticks to the Aunty in Nanguneri. She is to sell this today. There is a utsav (Festival) going ON. I want the word to spread. Her house will be the first organic store. The flower will be garlended to the deity. This could be my first sale this year.

Banana

The banana has come to fruitition. It grows well in this farm. Only need more water. I am sure this will be successful crop. But selling is a problem. This time I want to sell this by boxing it in small quantities.  Few bunches at a time.   Let us see.

The not so fertile plot of banana. Not growing well. This is what I pointed out to Subbu and we had some bitter exchange.  He was very much upset after i spoke. It too 3 days to pep him up back to action. Anyway I wanted to convey the message that Kandan is not working.

Not so fertile piece

The Lemon. This road is small internal road going to Windmill. This is the only road.

.

Moringa

This grew on its own. Yielding nicely. Perhaps why not plant this more ? Seriously.