Farm Update April, 2021

Lot of  Miscellaneous things :

Overall there had been no new activity in the farm for long time.  A kind of lethargy has set in along with boredom in the minds of Subbu and Kandan.  I have not heared about Kandan for some time now. I come to know about him only through Subbu. Kandan doesnot own a phone, nor talks to anyone. His routine is he comes early in the morning to water the trees and retires back before sunshine.

Subbu as usual has been active, but on his own personal front.  He had tilled the soil in some places.   The notable work is restoring the faulty electrical circuit. I belive the fuse had burnt from behind and was hard to find that out.  Pump was not working, but everything was looking fine. Short circuit was found and rectified.

I completed my Vertical Axis Wind Pump and kept him updated with progress now and then. My job was crucial last month racing against deadline to send one piece to my first customer (more details

separate post).  May be this inspired Subbu also. What he kept pending for several months, now he started working on it.  Namely repairing the windmill.  But before that I had been asking him to erect the 40 feet ladder. Only 20 feet was in place and another 20 feet ladder installation was pending.

Subbu always believes in his known contacts only.  That is what makes every job very delayed also. Because those contacts seldom provide time for you. One such guy is a boy who can do welding on top of tower.  Obviously it is a risky job and not many will do that.  So wait.... Now things are moving. Rest in pictures.

As per latest information, some welding work has been completed fixing the ladder. But we wanted to make a stand atop the tower for standing and working on windmill. This was another long pending work (more than 2 years).  Subbu mentions that needs a support structure to be made for the boy to stand and weld the frame for which he has already prepared some ground work.  Therefore that support structure building through another skilled person using sticks is the next work in this week.

An elderly person troubleshooting the electrical box.

appears to be short circuit.

Finally the short circuit is due to wire burning behind the fuse which is very rare. May be due to heat. Subbu identified and changed them.

General view of the farm as you enter. I had asked him to hang this for some time now and he has done. When I visited last time, I had searched for this in the market, could not find the right one.

View of the farm with the old man and Kandan. Permanent shade has set in. Must be good to move here.

These are relatively young trees planted last year.  Growing fine.  I think trees are coming fine in this land compared to other crops.

 

Sometimes some of the snaps are baffling for me also to recognise from where this would have been taken. The angle of view is very confusing for me also.  Time to visit there.

The much awaited welding boy is setting up his work near the tower.

This is how they do their job.  No comments. Dirty but practical. I donot know if I were there I will do the same or diferently.

Meanwhile one of my facebook friends, who had visited the farm earlier had taken this picture.  You can see the mynah nest atop the tower.  The permanent ladder is being fastened to reach this rotor unit atop the tower.  

Farm Update 17th January, 2021 in Visuals (around the farm)

 Its been a quite a gap now in updating the status. Several reasons. Let me get to the point. Both self and Subbu (my farm manager) were in depression.  Some due to challenge in progressing on anything that we plan. The other is I had tremendous workload from my office. Now that we are working from home, staff availability is taken for granted. Consequently meeting calender is full, short notice and more critical things are discussed.  Overall Job is going fine. But farm is maintaining its status que.  Farm power bills are a shocker. More on that later.

Meanwhile Subbu fell terribly ill past 1 month. Typhoid he said.  He was not picking the phone continuously for 15 days. I gave up. Later he called to say he was admitted and did not have mind to answer calls. Fine.  I advised him to take care.  I cannot put any pressure for some more days to come.

On the day he recovered, he ventured not into the farm, but around the farm and clicked these pictures. Generally local guys donot pay attention to obvious and simple things. Nor they communicate. But since he came from hospital bed, must have felt of re-conquering all that he left.  I compare this with animals marking their territory to assert themselves.  Rest in pictures.  These are rare and oneoff pictures  around the farm. 

This is how it looks in front of the farm gate.   It was plotted long back. Hardly
anyone would have purchased from that real estate company. Anyway it is a potential threat as well as 
opportunity for my farm.

This is the approach road to the farm gate from the main road.  Sastha temple is visible.
Sastha is the deity that overlooks my farm and protects us.

The sastha temple as it is appearing.  I can understand how Subbu would have felt as a thanksgiving
he would have visited the temple after curing himself from typhoid

The pond inside my farm. Cute and filled with water. Coconut trees are healthy

This is how the farm looks from main road from front of Sastha temple.  Banana trees are visible

Adjascent to Sastha temple is this pond. Nachankulam is the name.  One one side of road is this pond. The other side is my farm.  This gets hardly filled with water. Even if it fills, it dries quickly.  But this pond is the reason
for ground water in my farm.   I wanted to plant trees on its bund. Subbu is not taking interest. Perhaps there are
hasseles with local corrupt Panjayath officers who may object

  

A look outside from one of the fences of the farm.  Single Palm trees are nostalgic for me. Because 
when I surveyed this land, i was only accompanied and greeted by single lonely Palm tree that gave
hope !

Jasmine bush.  This is supposed to yield but not doing when prices are high. Jasmine sells at 1000/- per KG
this season. But hardly any flowers.  Small quantity is plucked by Subbus wife or his girl friends. I donot mind

Subbu told me recently that he had planted some moringa branches. May be it has sprouted. I donot know what this bugger wants to tell me. He never explains by word of mouth.

Another part outside the farm.  Look at the dry ness.  I deliberately sharing this to show the contrast my
farm would have created in this arid desert.,

Inside the farm. Coconut trees are maturing with life. Must be good to be in. I miss this.

The area that got burnt, now recouping.  

One of the new batch of trees. Safe and growing.  This is inspite of issues like Kandan absent, water bills
Subbu completely absent etc.

Near the room and toilet near the entrance.

Near the windmill tower.  Euclyptus must have grown fast. Can see its dry leaves.

Under the main resting shelter. Relatively kept very clear. I appreciate

Another beautiful view.

End of post.

Windpump Repair

 There are several unrelated things. I will cover them at brief.

Recently I was upset about Subbu's lack of focus on the farm.  Till date he comes with some excuse for not attending to any given work on the farm.  He went on his personal trips to Coimbatore, then came and went to Trichendur, then he said some death in village, then couple of marriages, then attended his family farm and so on... days and months went by. I spoke to him rather sarcastically saying I will call 1st of every month.

The main issue was the windpump is under repair. He was not attending to small repairs which led to complete downtime. At this time electricity bill is coming exhorbitant. Had he fixed that sincerely I would have saved thousands of bugs.  Anyway automatically he now started paying attention to the farm.  We are exchanging notes on how to mend the windpump. 

The issue is when the windpump turns its direction, it unwinds the connecting rods. It could be on surface or 50 feet down below. Everytime it needs labor and time to pull everything out and fix it. THis has been happening for several times. Now the root cause is found. It is due to stupidity of Subbu and his friend that they had welded the rods tightly as against the factory design resulting in this mistake happening. Now I made a video of how to repair with a small model and sent him.

As of today he is on the right path. Had he sent photos earlier properly, I would have given right solution instantly last year itself. That would have saved more money.

Rest in visuals.

This is the part that needs to be repaired. The bearing that is welded in the middle is a mistake and needs to be removed.

Work in progress on the tower

Another view

This is the bore head right under the tower. The pipe and rod assembly being removed.

As of now, he has removed the bearing. Now this need to be assembled. Meanwhile 
on the borewell itself, the rods will be replaced with new rods. Total 80 feeet.

Farm Update Sept, 2020

 Slight drizzle at the farm.  Subbu is very busy on his own work paying less attention to the farm. He had a mouthful from me.  I was upset due to very very high electricity bill that was received. Not his fault though. But consistent ignorance of windmill has resulted in running pump on electricity resulting in high bill.   Kandan is not keeping well, but is managing to attend daily.

Farm is growing fine. But no new activity though. I want to start more cultivation. So far there is no monetary output, but satisfied that a complete ecosystem is working there. Some of the pictures

The above is a satisfactory sight of the palm tree for which we were waiting for long time. Growing well. Now it will grow fast as it is the native tree.

Orange fruits taking shape

Gives a garden look. Must be good to spend some time here.

green coconut and red coconut.  Shaping well

This is the immediate place after the main gate and to the left towards toilet. Full of shade now.

Worker assistants are fixing the windmill pipe that got unscrewed.  Actually this is the pain point for me that Subbu has not taken care of this because there is electricity and deep borewell pump resulting in huge bill. Now i need to cut down everything. Which is why I am pushing them. 

Fresh sprout seen from the plant that was scrotched by Kandan when he lit the grass instead of cutting them.  Good hope.

A portion of the farm which used to be infertile. Some signs of life.

Neem tree trunk. The size shows it is growing well. 

I am particular that current wires are secured properly. IT used to loop down touching the ground. First time i see they are properly kept in place by a series of poles.

Farm Update 18th July, 2020

Its been a while that I have updated this blog.  Partly it is the boredom and depression due to continuous lockdown due to Corona. I am frustrated here in Pune where i reside.  1000 kilometers away, my caretaker  of the farm,  friend Subbu is also frustrated as his mobility is severally affected by local lockdown there. Less about me and more about farm now.

This time, it is difficult to get workers or material near my farm. Once Subbu went to Tirunelveli with a vehicle to purchase few hardware. He was stopped enroute and sent back by police.  Normally villagers are not used to such restrictions and they have never seen one like this in their life time. In short life is crippled. His children are at home and smartphones are used by them for studies.

Kandan, another worker is not showing interest, disciplined and not listening to Subbu. That is one frustration.  Our toilet pit need to be re-constructed, so also few things like putting a strong door to the farm room for safe keep of things.  These hardware items have been purchased, but our friend contractor Paramu has refused to come. He is either too lazy, or too cautious about corona or too frustrated. I believe he delayed so much Subbu got frustrated to look for another guy.  Because cement will get spoilt.

Now some visuals of the farm.

Above is Banana patch near the windmill tower. Looks good. But looks parched for water.  Water from windmill is less. Mostly pumpset is run for an hour or two.

The new patch of trees growing fine. This exactly requires tender care. And that is where Kandan is failing and subbu is frustrated.

Just asked Subbu to take closeup of few trees just to read their personalities.  After a long time just watching the trees grow which were small when I visited.  This gives satisfaction of having visited the farm.  Ideally if not for corona, I would have made a visit or two to the farm in this part of the year which is peak summer.

Well this is the reason for Subbu getting more frustrated.  Kandan had burnt a portion of the farm. Actually he was supposed to clear the grass with help of two workers. Subbu had arranged labor. But due to laziness, he had lit the grass which burned substantial portion including some of the upcoming plants.  May be a dozen.  Subbu was not having any mind to speak to me or send photos. I sensed some issue.  Made a heart to heart talk and came out this.   I pacified him.   Nothing can be done. This is part of life.  we cannot change a grown up man like Kandan who must be around 45 to 55 years of age.  

This is very classic. Look at the tall trees behind. one or two are eucalyptus, my childhood favourite ( was born in ooty), now growing in my farm.  In a remote future, I may start a small distillation unity for Jasmine and may be eucalyptus.  Plan is ready. Otherwise waiting.

The jasmine patch. Great going. Only the yield is always 400 grams or less. Not enough for market.