Move over, tuvar dal
In most South Indian kitchens, there are the Big Four dals or paruppus – tuvar (tovarai), urad (ulundu), channa (kadalai) and moong (payaru). In the north, they have masoor as […]
Category Archives: Natural farming
All the perfumes of Arabia
I have spent the last few days brewing a terrific stink! Usually Anilodharani is the sweetest smelling place. We have champaka, roses, jasmine – wild and domestic, angelonia, tithonia, water […]
The sweetest chikoos
If you’re lucky enough to have a chikoo/sapota tree in your garden, the witching hour is at hand! I see chikoos in the market almost all the year round, and […]
A river runs through it…
Not really! But almost. We have four small ponds in various parts of our land to catch and store rainwater. But despite really good rains this season, the ponds weren’t […]
Ruminations on cows
We don’t have a cow. As a 90 percent vegan, I’d like to give a pair of bullocks a retirement home. But I still haven’t managed to persuade Srini that […]
Discouraged by pigs, encouraged by tubers
Yesterday was a pig day at the farm. The wild pigs got into the fenced groundnut field — the precious no-till experiment — and had themselves a feast. Meanwhile, the […]
Who’s whose?
When we first bought this land, there was a proud sense of ownership. I would look out from the terrace, follow the boundary of our four acres with my eyes […]
Sweet potato loves us back!
We’re having to start everything from scratch after the lockdown eased. Most of our veggies are a distant memory. But not these sweetie pies, who have been working hard while […]
No-till: Readings and action plan
Did you know that soil erosion is one of the biggest threats to the survival of humankind? According to the experts, depletion and degradation of the soil brought about the […]
Dodonaea viscosa and pea sticks
First of all, I’m not 100% sure I’ve identified this right. So please correct me if it’s not Dodonaea viscosa, but something else. This pretty bush, which grows wild in […]
The Long View 