Wednesday October 27th 2021 In the kitchen

 

Today was very exciting.  The people putting up mosquito netting in the kitchen put up all the aluminum pieces that will keep the metal mosquito netting in place.  Being aluminum it should stop the metal mosquito netting from rusting.

Now 'all' that has to happen is for the mosquito netting to be cut to size and put between the metal windows and the aluminum.

Although as the weather gets wetter we wonder how long it will be before this happens.

Tuesday October 26th 2021 In the kitchen

 

Was very relieved today when a group of workers came to put up new mosquito netting at the windows of the community kitchen.  

For the last weeks I have been increasingly annoyed by the mosquitoes as I pack sprouts first thing in the morning in this kitchen.  There are so many of them and they are extremely hungry at this time of the morning!  So much so that I've started taking the sprouts to my house to pack. 

Originally we put up nylon mosquito netting at the windows which worked fine but didn't last very long.  This time we are going to do the job properly with metal mosquito net although this means working on the windows and securing the net with aluminum strips.  

Once in place the kitchen will become a nicer place to work for the increasing number of volunteers coming who work remotely.

Monday October 25th 2021 Same job but never the same

 

I was thinking this morning about how the reality of our work on the farm is that we do the same things again and again.  Like the raking up of the leaves in this picture, or the grass cutting and raking up of the grass.

Except that it never is exactly the same.  At different times of the year there will be a different frequency in the different jobs.  With rain the frequency of the grass cutting and raking increases.  This time of year, although there are still leaves to rake up there is nothing like the amount that comes during the hot season when many trees shed their leaves.

Even although these jobs sound the same, doing the jobs is never the same.  The only thing in nature that doesn't change is the fact that it is constantly changing.  As a result, to me, it always feels as if there is something new to experience.  I think that is why I never find the work boring and continue to enjoy it very much.

Saturday October 23rd Going red with the microgreens

 

This morning I noticed the sun sparkling on the intense red colour of these microgreens.  I also noticed how the plants have this intense colour  as soon as the seeds starts to grow.

These are beetroot microgreens.

Growing this different variety of microgreens is all part of our continuing development of this harvest.  Demand for our microgreens continues to rise so we thought we would try out some new varieties.  Beetroot grow much slower than our normal radish plants but they look and taste good.  Given the intensity of their colour only a small amount needs to be mixed in with the radish plants to make a very interesting looking mixture which I think is delicious.

I call this 'the microgreen field' which is in our nursery.  Putting out the trays here takes up a lot of nursery space.  With rising demand we've either got to create a new nursery or find better ways to grow them using the existing space.

Our latest idea is to grow the trays of plants on shelves as in this picture.  This is our first experiment with this method and so far seems to be working fairly well.  Although we think we will need artificial lights and to re-engineer the misting system to make them grow more evenly.

With the monsoon coming and the nursery being a nice dry place to work we've chosen the right time to carry out such experiments.

Friday October 22nd I do love blue flowers

 

Blue is not my favourite colour and I rarely wear it, but I do love blue flowers. Like this one which is flowering all over Buddha Garden at the moment.

Clitoria ternatea is its official name and its also called; blue pea, blue vine, butterfly pea, pigeon wings, mussell-shell creeper.

Mother's name for the flower was 'Krishna's light in the senses',  which apparently is the the first step towards transformation.

Thursday October 21st A work morning that started wet and fresh and clear....and muddy

 This morning it started to rain very early before we started to work at 6.15am.  

By the time we started the sky was washed clear and it was deliciously cool.

Raindrops hung like jewels.

And the temporary entrance path across the nearby field was very muddy.  although it didn't put off our volunteers.

October 19th 2021 Keeping the cows out

 Recently we have been having problems with cows that were coming through a hole in the fence.

We could hear the cows which were sloshing around in water filled trenches just the other side of the two trees you can see in the background.

With new barbed wire and thorn bushes we repaired the fence.  

We thought we had solved the problem of cows getting into the farm but it looks like they have found a way to get through a fence opposite the new temporary access.

Its a fence like this which looks pretty cow proof, but it seems is not.  Someone has watched a cow get in.  The cow pressed against the fence which lifted up and the cow somehow managed to get under the fence.

Very determined those Indian cows!