Author: Sagar
-
Food Forest
Many people often ask me, “What is a food forest?” and “How does one create a food forest?” Starting a food forest is a wonderful journey, and I am fortunate to showcase an authentic example at Auroville’s Solitude Farm. This food forest is a magnificent display of plants growing together in harmony, each choosing its…
-
Mango pachadi
To value local foods effectively, one must have different recipes for the produce at different stages (i.e., the same plant produces a vegetable and a fruit). Mango is quite versatile; it can be eaten raw in a salad, made into pickles, and cooked in sambar. Another wonderful way to use it is to make it…
-
Amla Ice Cream
Despite the fact that amla has the highest vitamin C content of all the fruits, unlike the local Tamilians, who love to eat it raw, my kids included! Myself as a British-born, grown up with apples and pears find it too tart. There are many ways other ways to enjoy this fruit, one of them…
-
Mango Pickle
In the summer season, when unripe mangoes are falling from the trees, it is our duty to pick them up and use them!!! It’s harvesting time!! Let’s leave aside the actual pickles for a moment and just look at what making pickles means on a social level. People come together, cooperating on a collective task…
-
Microclimates in a food forest
After many years of creating a food forest with a huge diversity of plants and trees, we discovered that there were many microclimates. In the shade, where this drop in temperature can be found, only certain plants will grow; one of them, we discovered, is Cacao. It was with skepticism that I agreed to try…
-
Passion fruit
How do we get from this to this? First, remove the seeds and wash them. Usually, the seeds are dried and then planted in good potting compost. The little plants grow from this into big plants Then these are planted with a tree on which they can grow up. A neem tree is ideal.…
-
Guava Leaf Powder
Guava leaves can be consumed! Yes, that’s right! At Solitude, we use them in a variety of ways. One way is to dry them and make a powder. This powder can be added to water and consumed as a medicine. As well as helping stop diarrhea, it also helps balance blood sugar and cholesterol, is…
-
Life at solitude
People often ask me, how do we control pests? In India, there is a famous saying that “Everything is God” (shabd Brahma hai). For mankind, though, everything is god except that which gets in his way. What is a pest? When farmers spray chemicals on their fields, they kill off insects that may have been…
-
Insects At Solitude
When I look back on one of the very first videos we did at solitude farm, I see life. Insects, earthworms, mongoose, snakes, birds, butterflies, etc. The narrative of life is synonymous with well-being and has always been integral to the vision of solitude farm. Fukuoka said that “only a fool can understand nature; the…
-
Harvesting and storing mangoes
Mango season is always an exciting season of the year when you see the fruits half eaten by squirrels. You can be sure they are starting to ripen, and it’s time to harvest. The fruits need to be carefully harvested. If they fall from the tree to the ground, they will bruise and easily rot.…