2014 Review: Our cup runs over!

Looking through pictures from our farm taken in the year gone by, we can truly join the Psalmist in saying, "Our cup runs over...".
Here are some highlights...

--> The rains have been plentiful in 2014, much more than in the past 3-4 years. Our "dam" has been overflowing for the past several months, and the sound of the water flowing down, and the children splashing in the waters, remind us of God's goodness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGoIWTUi-14

--> We have succeeded in making "products" from amla. We found some of our old family friends running a trust that makes food preserves, and they transformed our amla into pickle and candy. The native mountain variety seems to be very good for pickle and candy, as testified by so many of our friends who have tasted them. We brought home several small boxes of the candy, and they just melted in our mouths and disappeared overnight.  After the test run, the next batch of pickle and candy is getting ready. Advance orders accepted ;-)

--> Early in the year, we brought home our first dog - a Combai hound bred by our friends in Sanjeevi kennels near Chennai. We named her Gypsy, and true to her name, she's been with us on several trips: Kollam, Coimbatore, Calicut, and of course to our farm in Solaikadu, where she enjoyed being in so much of open space.

--> Water harvesting: We have dug 3 pits to store water. One surprise element was that a friend showed us that we could tap the creek water without pumping, simply by pulling a pipe from a point upstream that was at a higher elevation. Now, as long as there is water running in the creek, we have running water in our farm - now thats a luxury we never dreamed about.

--> Vegetable farming: Two of our tribal friends showed interest in doing vegetable farming, so we cleared some space and created beds about 3-4' wide. We first tried several vegetables, but we had success only with radish, and now carrots. It was such a joy to watch our children enjoying freshly-pulled out carrots that were small, but very sweet! We are now inspired to figure out which vegetables grow and to have enough for us and our friends.

--> More four-legged friends in the farm. Although its been 2 years since we started rearing goats in Solaikadu, it was only in 2014 that we decided to, and found, a full-time person to look after the goats. We've had our share of heartache - thrice, young kids died, and this month, twins. Still, the net number has gone up, and more importantly, we have a sufficient supply of goat manure right there in our farm. We're now again looking for a full-time person, and this coming year we're going to add a couple of cows too!

--> Hope wells up....literally! We had started digging a well, and we had to stop at a depth of just 8 ft since we hit rock. After more than a year of searching, asking, petitioning and almost giving up hope, we finally found stone workers in a village near Oddanchatram, who said they could dig up the rocks without using explosives. They even did a manual test drill and found that the rock gives way after 7-8 ft, and that there is likely to be water beneath it. We're now praying that the workers will come in Jan as expected, and that we'll have our well dug in January.

--> The survey: Several months after we'd applied for an official survey, we managed to get it done in Dec. Well, at least for much of our land. The young surveyor was a sincere person, and he did a thorough job of what was completed, and has promised to come back to finish the last bit. We praise God that we found someone who did not demand any bribes to get this critical piece of work done.

Finally, a piece of encouragement. One of our friends had mentioned to us the Back to Eden website, and the film was such an inspiration. With whatever modifications and adaptations that may be required, we intend to try out the principles as soon as we can. You too can watch this film and be inspired.

http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/

So, lets see what good things God has in store for us in 2015, will keep posting.

The 4x4 camper arrives - at last!

The Bolero 4x4 camper

After several months spent in searching, booking, getting the paperwork done, and a lot of waiting between the steps, we finally brought home the Camper in August. (No, I'm not going into all the twists and turns of booking and getting it registered as a private vehicle....all that would probably need a separate blog :-))

We had never done a test drive of the camper it in the tough terrain of Solaikadu, but when we took our vehicle there, it negotiated the rocks, the curves and the jeep trail without pausing for breath. We were anxious if this would be too long for the sharp curves, and if the length would cause scraping of the bottom....none of this turned out to be true, and it was an effortless ride up.

Some sterner tests await the camper, and we hope it will stand by us through all of that!

Goodbye to an old, faithful friend....

A very significant event in 2014 for us, was saying goodbye to our faithful friend of the past 4 years - our beloved jeep. It has been an integral part of our efforts at Solaikadu, and a dependable workhorse.

Before we bought our farm in Solaikadu, little did I imagine that one day we will own a jeep. Sure, I've always found jeeps fascinating, and like most guys, I've always turned around to look at jeeps driving past. Just that I never thought I'd have a jeep myself.

Even when we first bought our farm, we were just happy to walk up the last couple of kilometers to reach our land. In fact, we thought we should continue walking up so that we get plenty of exercise, and at the same time leave the place as unpolluted as possible.

Our views started changing when, in the first "chithirai" (March-April season) banana planting season, we realized that taking 500-odd banana stumps up the hill by headload or by mules was not an easy thing. Not to mention taking up manure and other input required for our farm. That was when we realized we needed to buy a jeep. Of course, getting a good jeep was no easy task. We looked all around us - in Chennai, Dindigul, Batlagundu...and finally found this in a used-car lot in Chennai. I remember some of the immediate reactions to the jeep. I took a friend of mine with me to evaluate it at the lot; someone had taken it elsewhere and was bringing it back. As soon as my friend saw the jeep turn the corner, he said to me, "Buy it!" After we'd bought it, we took it to a workshop for sprucing it up. As soon as the garage owner saw it, he offered to buy it from us for Rs.10,000 more than we'd paid for it!

Anyway, after having it fixed (which took a lot more money than we imagined), my wife and I drove it all the way from Chennai to Oddanchatram, in the peak of summer. It was a trip to remember!

Well, these four years have flown by, and the jeep has been an important link in our work at Solaikadu. I have carried all sorts of things in it - cement bags, saplings, sand and metal, and of course, every now and then, 15-odd people. After we made the road up the last kilometer to our farm, the jeep has uncomplainingly climbed the steep jeep road.

And as the years have gone by, we realized that we needed more space to carry things, the ability to travel longer distances in better comfort, and lesser trips to the mechanic. When we finally decided to sell and put an ad in OLX, there was an immediate response from Kodaikanal. We got a good price, and I have to admit it was tough seeing someone drive away in the jeep. Well, we're sure it will serve them well in the years to come.

What has replaced the jeep in our lives, you wonder? Read about it in the next post....

New amla season

This year's amla is in season now....not as much as last years, but there are still a couple of more months, and we're hoping for more...