The Natural Farm Weblog

I arrived early morning March 4 on an overnight bus from Delhi. Despite bus-lag, the rain, the low, grey skies, and bone-chilling cold (just the previous morning I’d been basking in the Karnatakan sun), I could still tell how beautiful the grounds were...

Ayurveda doctors have prescribed Black Rice (which we grow here on the farm) as treatment for the baby daughter of a lady who lives locally. The lady was married, and the couple had a daughter. Soon after the birth the baby developed Jaundice. The father...

I'm very sad to be leaving the farm. My five week stay here has been a great experience. The farm itself is incredibly beautiful, set in a valley of jungled hills, a river running by, snowy peaks in the distance. The local workers, too, are extremely...

We are pleased to announce the arrival of a new brood of chicks. We will raise these here at the farm, and let them wander around the fields and vegetable patches, eating pests and delivering good manure!

The caterpillars are back. For the last three years, the tomatoes we nurse in the greenhouse have been subject to attention by a specific caterpillar. Just when the tomatoes have reached ripeness, this caterpillar bores a hole in the fruit and enters...

On Thursday 21st May, we began preparing a plot for sowing corn and two types of daal (lentil). Before we started, the field was covered over with various weeds. We decided to remove the two tallest and most invasive of these: a weed with a blue flower,...

On Wednesday the 20th May, we sowed more vegetable seeds in four different patches. The seeds were: cucumber, bean, various squashes, radish, corn, and amaranth. These vegetables are suitable 'companions'. The first patch is small, about 6 feet by 5 feet....

On Tuesday 19th May, we decided to conduct an experiment in growing vegetables in the area under the bamboo lattice. When we started, the area was covered over with various weeds and grasses. Firstly, we cordoned off a section of about 8 feet by 4 feet....

On Thursday 14th May, a group of young farmers from the local area came here to look around the farm, and learn about Fukuoka. There were about 12 in the group, and they were led by an English lady who volunteers at the youth group center where these...

On Monday 11th May, we began the wheat harvest. The harvest usually takes place nearer the beginning of May, but it was postponed due to wet weather. The wheat seems to be strong and healthy. We are cutting very high, about 7 or 8 inches from the head,...