Farm in Visuals - Nov 15

Finally the photos have come after some adventure.  The browsing centre in Valliyoor had sent this in 4 Mb file each in 10 mails. I wanted to teach him how to compress the photos.

Subbu is not a good photographer..  There were many important snaps that were shaky and blurred. I remove them.  Advised him to install whatsup.  This camera that worked past 4 years have to be retired soon.

Bamboo near the room. Somehow it is not rapidly growing as expected.

The coconut tree is growing fine.

The new jasmine plant

The pond is full with recent rains.  The water will not raise this level as there are drain pipes in the side for safety.
The total depth is 5 to 6 feet.

Sapota plant

Another angle. The fence is new this year and it works. I am happy now that atleast people will be cautious to cross.
the level of water can be further increase, but we are waiting for the bund to get strengthend after top soil erodes.

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Some stray plants came on its own.  In the background are the sick banana. It was decided
to leave it as is. The babies will grow in the new rains and the mother can be removed later
typical natural farming practice

Vettiver has picked up significantly. I am happy the hardwork paid off. Now we need to transplant them
to prevent soil erosion. Now now may be a month or two after.

Nice view of a corner

In the front compound. Bogan villa I dreamt will grow taller and thicker. Perhaps I have to wait for few years.

Near Row of trees near the wind tower

Trees have grown taller and stronger.

Some Morning Thoughts on the Farm

Whenever there is a "break" in the "routine", it takes a long time to catch-up with work.  The team in the farm had a picnic last month. But still they have not come to a routine.   We have been waiting for rains for the past 7 months. Now plenty of rain and water is there. But the following is preventing brisk work;

a)  Labor is not available.  All are busy with their own fields or working on some other projects. It is difficult to get farm labors as everyone are doing some activity.

b) There is water logging.  water must drain otherwise it will kill small plants.

c)  Grass/ weeds is growing faster than expected.  Recently we had ploughed a plot of land near the cement tank with tracktor.  But weeds have grown immediatly.  In the words of subbu "They are very happy".  Initially he suggested we re-plough the land. But after seeing the looseness of soil, did not want to spoil that.  Therefore decided to go for manual de-weeding.

d) There is no focus with the staff.   They are attempting to do something which is obvious and easy to do.  I expressed my displeasure to Subbu that work is not happening at all.  Kandan has gone to look after his own farm.  After rain, every day is precious.  But team out there had planned only for planting Onions and sweet potato besides re-planting bananas.  That is not enough for me.

I wanted more and more vegetables to be tried, even in small quantity.  Otherwise we cannot achieve a sustenance level and invite small peddlers, or vendors to sell them.  Growing large quantity of mono crop is a loss if market conditions are poor during harvesting season. But growing small number of many things will definitely help fetch money if not atleast satisfaction.

I told Subbu that we must try all vegetables - Brinjal, Lady's finger, tomato, chillies, onion, pumpkin etc. He said he will buy vegetable seeds in valliyoor and try it out right away.  No waiting for labor. Do it yourself as we have now everything - we have nursary shade, polythene bags,  space, water etc.

Meanwhile the photographs that i asked yesterday is yet to come. I believe the browsing centre was closed yesterday.  today I hope to get them. Meanwhile I advised Subbu to install whatsup in his phone to instantly exchange photos.  Earlier it was not possible. Now I have given my used smart phones. There is also sufficient data coverage in the farm.

***

Rain, Rain only Rain

It has been raining like Dog in the farm for the past few days. Not only here but the entire Tamil Nadu is drenched.  Due to a low pressure in the atmosphere or some cyclone, there is continuous water flow.  Some more rain is predicted by Met man.

As far Subbu, he is not getting the manpower. Currently all are busy sowing in various fields. Even obtained, there is rain and water logging to do any useful farm work. We should wait for water to recede.  I can only give lecture over phone on organic farming,  energy independence and power generation in captivity.  I asked him to send photos of the farm with water.  Even for this he is unable to venture out.

There has been serious causalities in this part recently due to lightning strike.   One should not venture in two wheeler in country side, lest you become the lightning arrestor.

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Reports The Hindu Paper as follows

Rain lashes Tamil Nadu; schools, colleges closed

Updated: November 13, 2015 12:04 IST

  

Heavy rainfall brought daily life to a grinding halt across Tamil Nadu, as seven districts announced holidays for schools and colleges.

Tirunelveli, Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts have announced a day’s holiday for schools and colleges, while Kanyakumari’s District Collector has announced a holiday for schools.

Many parts of Chennai were marooned under water after a torrential downpour since Thursday night.

Puzhal recorded the highest volume of 21 cm rainfall on Friday. The weather stations in chennai and Meenambakkam recoded 15 cm and 12 cm respectively following a thunderstorm.

According to the IMD bulletin, the trough of low at mean sea over south Andaman sea and neighbourhood now lies over south Andaman Sea and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal. It is likely to develop into a low pressure area over southeast Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood during next two days

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I am missing the Farm once again

The Farm activity is going ON in full swing without me there.  I am missing the action. Anyway,

a) 100 Banana siblings have been re-located around the Wind Pump.  They were uprooted, kept for 2 days to dry and planted again evenly.  That means by next few months there will be lush green growth around the wind pump on both sides.

b) Subbu will go to a nursary to purchase some more trees. We have decided we will have;
1) Coconut trees - 10
2) Lemon trees - 5
3) Teak to replace gaps where casurina did not grow - 20
4) Any other fruit trees - Sapota few

Around 30 seeds of Country palm has also been sown.

As per latest information the pond is full with water and overflowing.

Meanwhile Subbu and Paramu had attempted to try their experiment on windpump to increase the sweep length. It is raining over there.  He called from wet phone to say that they had some issues - a wrong welding which needs correction.  A visit to nearby town to do proper welding got delayed due to power cut.  I am still wondering what device Paramu has made - after we discussed on my visit.

I have asked for photographs of the farm and the device. Subbu wanted to send me photo after making it success.  This is the problem with we Indians :-)

******

Farm Back in Action after Holiday Break

The entire crew of the farm had been to Tirupati - a pilgrimage centre.  Subbu's Son was having tonsure. Kandan and Paramu also attended with family. They went by train for around 3 days and came back. They have arrived safely.   A sort of outdoor for the staff.

Meanwhile two lady temporary workers were running the show. There are many activities that need to be done in the farm as we have received sufficient rains.

a) The mud pond has filled itself for 3/4th of capacity.  That is good news.
b) Due to continuous windpump action, the cement tank has filled to its half capacity.

Today/tomorrow the banana siblings - Indian Country variety - will be uprooted and re-planted near the tower where earlier we attempted growing red-banana. That crop was a failure.  Now both sides of the windpump there will be banana trees.

Meanwhile the old dried out mother plants will be carried to the compost pit.

The late banana plants that did not yield - next to the cement tank - will be removed entirely. Using tracktor that will be ploughed. We intend to put vegetables over there.

The newly planted Jasmine plants have survived and is budding i heared from Subbu. that is good news.

Lots of work ahead this week........

Farm Update 26-Oct-2015 - Fragrance everywhere in the farm

Looking the success of Jasmine plant growth even in drought conditions,  It was decided earlier to expand the jasmine plot.  The other reason is, the existing 50 odd plants are giving only 200 to 400 grams of flower per day. This quantity is not sufficient for taking to market. Presently it is going waste.

Presently there is enough rain in the farm. Windpump is also giving more water. There is no scarcity and there is excess water.  Now is the time to plan all activities.

jasmine plant at Farm

Subbu had ventured to the town of Rameshwaram, the birth place of Dr. Abdul Kalam to get the Jasmine saplings.  This jasmine variety I am told is very special.  He had brought 500 of them @ Rs. 5/- each along with a companion in Bus. He had to stay overnight.

Today with help of JCB, another 75 holes have been dug.  Each hole will hold 4 saplings togather to create a bush.  Earlier we made a mistake of plating just one plant per pit.  Someone had advised to plant 4 at a time. It makes sense.  Jasmine is a bush variety.

Already the plantation has started with help of temperory workers.

FarmYard Manure Purchased earlier was waiting
for this season. Some quantity
will be put in each of the holes.

Subbu is going to Thirumala on pilgrimage for 4 days this week end. All other activities will be postponed for his arrival. He is taking Paramu and Kandan along with him for pilgrimage. The main event will be tonsure for his son.  On his coming back we need to do the following

a) Purchase additional 15 coconut saplings and plant them near the mud pond.  The coconut is growing well. Boosted by Panjagavya, it is the best plant suited for the soill

b) We also need to plant some more fruit trees, say 10 more

The existing Stock.  Not a bad growth with good care.

c) The space around the cement tank is not fertail. The banana crop has failed. I asked to clear that place and put navadhanya (9 grains) for fertility. But subbu has other plans. He has some assignment to be given to the lady workers  who will take charge in his absence. That includes planting bitter gourd, snake gourd, cucumber and onion around the water tank.

d) meanwhile I want the ladies to plant Ponnanganni Spinach (Alternanthera sessilis, Dwarf Copperleaf) around the resting place to prevent soil erosion.  We have seen this spinach grows faster and needs very less care. It will also be nutritious and is idle for arresting soil erosion. I hope so.

e) On the windpump experiments on fixing the new gadget on experimental basis to pump more water, I asked him to hold till he completes his tour. Let it be BAU activity for now.

***

Farm update 17-October-2015 - Innovation at Farm

I guess Paramu's device
must look like this. This should amplify
the strokes

Innovation at the Farm :  More Water 
The water harvest using Wind pump is more than satisfactory.  With slight wind, there is more water that is getting pumped. The new foot valve or increased pipe diameter or a combination of all has done wonders.

Not stopping at this, we want to further experiment more.  This time, Subbu and Paramu has gone  ahead with some design which they say will work.  We discussed this during our visit to the farm. We were on a bus to Palaymkottai when I sketched the Figure 1 to explain my mind.  Now Subbu and Paramu claims to have distilled a thought and has visted a workshop in Valliyoor to fabricate.  I sent some money for expenses.  Subbu says, the design is ready and they will try tomorrow.

My guess is they must have designed as in Figure 2.  the deviation from verticle will be handled by a ball bearing that they say have been purchased.  Let me wait for results...

Cropping

Meanwhile I reminded Subbu that we must do farming !.   Well there is some slight drizzle in the farm which has made the climate cool. However it is not sufficient to plough the field. Neverthless we need to prepare ourselves for coming season.

a) I have asked him to prepare the land for Groundnut sowing
b) We need to purchase Jasmine Samplings from Rameshwaram as was discussed earlier.  Subbu will travel there in few days time to bring about 100 of them in the Bus.
c) I also wanted him to look for some grown up trees instead of small saplings to speed up the fence tree plantation
d) We also need some coconut trees and Subbu has already identified where it should go in the farm.

My guess is that if it starts raining, the water will be sufficient to go for next 3 to 4 months. meanwhile windmill should produce excess water that will be stored and sustained for another 6 months.  By which time I must come with some Solar Concentrator apparatus.

***

The Phase I Change is success - More water now

The new pump after installation seems to be successful. Though the air stands still even now, from whatever small wind that was there, the pump seems to be working smooth and draws more water.  Now we are ready to go to next step.

The next step is to increase the travel length of the central transmission rod.  I guess this is done by increasing the length of eccentric that is rotating in this video. I consulted and given assignments to local guy Paramu and ABS company engineers, with different ideas  But I have different plans if they donot work.  Need to go back to basics.....

Meanwhile there were some visitors to the farm from Bangalore.   Deepak Reddy and his father along with uncle had driven all the way from Bangalore by road to see the windpump. They are in the process of finalising their purchase with ABS.

Here are photos that Deepak sent to me.  It is nice to see the farm from someone's lens.  Note how the sky looks.  Clean and Deep blue as if from space.  This is bad news for having no rains. But good news for me to implement my concentrated solar project.

Visit to the farm 27-Sep-2015 - Part 3

The pump and Filter are being unpacked.

They are being assembled like a train.

Chainblock being tested

The tall windpump standing still

Green Paint decorating the water tank frame

Subbu and Kandan assembling the chain block.

Short Rehersal of lifting the old pump using chain block.  We did not have 2" extra clamp. Shops were closed.
By that time, Paramu's Son had minor accident (scratches) in bike. So he left. We re-assembled everything back and
postponed the activity.

Well, we were shifting the chain block to workplace on shoulders. Front is Kandan.
Rear was me also taking photograph

Cinematic View of the Wind Pump

Another beautiful view

The team has priority to save these trees

The elegant machinery at the wind pump behind the propellers. I have something to share in my next post on increasing
the water output.

Visit to the farm 27-Sep-2015 - Part 2

Field after Banana Harvest.  The mother trees are left to feed the suckers
as there is no water.  The suckers will be replanted once it rains.

The fence trees are looking healthy.  But they share water for maintenance

The other Banana Patch is dried due to water scarcity

Another view. Needs Patience

There is nothing you can do now to save them.  We need either rain or more water.

The priority now is to save these few jasmine plants and multiply them.

Some Solace

Natural manure is ready for jasmine. Waiting for one rain.

The experiment with Tomato is a flop

We could save the Vettiver atlast after another courier mishandling and delay
atleast it is growing and we can replicate this near the pond

Good but not good enough to sell. These are being given as feed to birds.

Visit to the farm 27-Sep-2015 - Part 1

Visiting our own farm is always a thrill. It generally starts with great expectation, eagerness followed by some disappointment, reconciliation then some encouragement and moment of triumph and proudness when we part.  The thoughts will linger for long time to come in memory and photos.

Last week I had been to my farm.  Had some domestic work which I combined with one day farm visit.  Preparation for this visit however started two weeks back.

The following were the main accomplishments;

a) The 83mm new pump sent by ABS was delivered after chasing the TCI-XPS logistics.   In the so called most modern Logistics company, they were shifting the consignment back and forth between Kanyakumari and Salem without delivering en-route. I wonder how the courier operates without any proper coordination. At  last We intercepted the consignment on highways at-last and brought to the farm.

This pump is now installed in my absence and seems to be working fine. But full potential is unknown as there is no wind.

b) The chain block was put to use when I was there.  It is very convenient to lift very heavy objects with just one person.  Very nice purchase.  Subbu was smiling all the way.

c) Presented the team with some tea shirts and incentives for others to buy new cloths. We made black coffee at the farm and had good meeting chat.

The rest in Visuals.

Every Farm visit starts with Worshipping God.  Sastha is in front of my farm and is now having new Roof.  He 

By and Large the farm is dry. There is no greenary. Even the toughest of the weeds are dried out

Another view from the road (in front of Sastha Temple).

The mud pond with new fence made from iron angle rods and matching GI wire with sleeves

Pond waiting for water.  The inlet and outlets are cemented and ready.  There is a rock in the left which cannot be flattened.  I am not satisfied with JCB work. Anyway....... Once it rains, hope the mud will settle down.

The coconut is growing well

The compost tank and the nursary are unutilised still. No focus on that now.  Water is the priority.  There is
no agro activity to generate biomass.

The resting place or kutir is very useful.  This is the meeting place