why do we complain about the weather? all the time, almost like an all-weather complaint system.
madras is hot now. like early 40s in deg C.
happens each year.... unfailingly.
rains in bombay, fairly incessantly during the monsoon.
delhi is cold winters, each and every winter.
but each year, we keep hearing incessant streaming complaints from far and near .
what is it in our make-up that makes it 'india whining' at the most natural and predictable of weather occurrences.
other international friends can throw light if this is solely a desi trait.
goddam sweat is pouring off onto the keyboard. this heat, i tell you.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query weather. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query weather. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
cold freezes northern hemisphere
the comments on the weather from the earlier post today took me around checking world weather - another of my pet muses.
US freezing
UK freezing
China in deep freeze
Korea - record snowfall
Cold wave in North India
Flash floods in Brazil
and of course - the oddest of them all - pleasant weather in chennai.
US freezing
UK freezing
China in deep freeze
Korea - record snowfall
Cold wave in North India
Flash floods in Brazil
and of course - the oddest of them all - pleasant weather in chennai.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
building our house - part 2 - brick making
a house should and can be built with one's own hands.
before the advent of congested cities and the resultant high-density-high-rise models of residences, people and societies have traditionally built their own homes with locally available material and labour.
even today, rural folk continue to abide by these ecologically sustainable and low environmental impact (and thus low cost) tenets on models of housing construction.
following such traditions, we are building our walls with the adobe brick maker....
this is not part of the adobe acrobat suite; this is a method of making simple, strong and unfired (aka sun-fired) bricks for house construction.
adobe is simply a mixture of soil and water and some straw/dung which is cast into cuboid shapes and dried in the sun.
this method saves cement (neither the mortar nor the plastering will use any cement).
it is a batch process, i.e., you can complete making the bricks fully prior to starting construction (as against cob walls which have to be made as the clay is being mixed).
we also contemplated rammed earth walls, but felt that we did not have the necessary experience to take it on (both cob and adobe bricks have been already used for the construction of the kitchen and bathroom).
ok...here it goes.
of course we need tons of dirt/soil. so dig it up with the mini excavator.
this resultant hole in the ground could be a mini pond, foundation pit for another house, etc.
then comes the first of the exhausting acts. lugging this dirt to the mixing spot.
then piling it up. we made piles with around 30 containers of soil per pile (the one being loaded onto my head in the earlier pic).
then make crater-like holes on the pile and fill it up with water.
neat, isnt it?
then mix away. the second of the exhausting acts.
we have a video of this mixing process and will upload that separately.
add the chopped straw. this is the same concept as fibre reinforced plastic.
do the tribal dance. this step is super vital for the complete and effective mixing of the water into the clay.
the shovel mixing and dance mixing is done around 3-4 times to get the correct pastiness of the soil mixture.
this is the final mixture. our subsoil dirt was a bit gravelly and hence it looks grainy.
it is best to allow this mixture to remain overnight.
the wetness just spreads more and evenly.
the mixed soil is poured into these brick moulds.
dimensions of larger mould is 10" X 14" X 3.5"
first wet the mould and place on ground.
then act 3 of the exhausting trilogy. ferrying the mixture to the brick layers.
pack the mixture into the mould. tamp the edges well to get the smooth and straight edges.
use a scale/thin plank to even out the top.
straddle the mould and yank the mould (almost at once after filling) slowly while gently shaking it.
if your mixture is done well, the brick will retain its shape. also observe edges for smoothness to check the effectiveness of the tamping.
after 2 hours of brick laying, here is how our first batch looks.
in this weather, we were able to turn the brick (on their edge for quicker and comprehensive drying) within 48 hours and brick is fully dried and ready to use in 7 days (of decent sunny weather).
there is a strength test recommended - dropping a brick on its edge from 4 feet.
strong. barely chipped the edge
there is also a strength test which is not recommended.
total bricks needed ~1700
total containers of dirt ~2300
i.e., upwards of 23 tons of soil will need to be dug, ferried, mixed, laid, stacked and made into walls.
before the advent of congested cities and the resultant high-density-high-rise models of residences, people and societies have traditionally built their own homes with locally available material and labour.
even today, rural folk continue to abide by these ecologically sustainable and low environmental impact (and thus low cost) tenets on models of housing construction.
following such traditions, we are building our walls with the adobe brick maker....
this is not part of the adobe acrobat suite; this is a method of making simple, strong and unfired (aka sun-fired) bricks for house construction.
adobe is simply a mixture of soil and water and some straw/dung which is cast into cuboid shapes and dried in the sun.
this method saves cement (neither the mortar nor the plastering will use any cement).
it is a batch process, i.e., you can complete making the bricks fully prior to starting construction (as against cob walls which have to be made as the clay is being mixed).
we also contemplated rammed earth walls, but felt that we did not have the necessary experience to take it on (both cob and adobe bricks have been already used for the construction of the kitchen and bathroom).
ok...here it goes.
of course we need tons of dirt/soil. so dig it up with the mini excavator.
this resultant hole in the ground could be a mini pond, foundation pit for another house, etc.
then comes the first of the exhausting acts. lugging this dirt to the mixing spot.
then piling it up. we made piles with around 30 containers of soil per pile (the one being loaded onto my head in the earlier pic).
then make crater-like holes on the pile and fill it up with water.
neat, isnt it?
then mix away. the second of the exhausting acts.
we have a video of this mixing process and will upload that separately.
add the chopped straw. this is the same concept as fibre reinforced plastic.
do the tribal dance. this step is super vital for the complete and effective mixing of the water into the clay.
the shovel mixing and dance mixing is done around 3-4 times to get the correct pastiness of the soil mixture.
this is the final mixture. our subsoil dirt was a bit gravelly and hence it looks grainy.
it is best to allow this mixture to remain overnight.
the wetness just spreads more and evenly.
the mixed soil is poured into these brick moulds.
dimensions of larger mould is 10" X 14" X 3.5"
first wet the mould and place on ground.
then act 3 of the exhausting trilogy. ferrying the mixture to the brick layers.
pack the mixture into the mould. tamp the edges well to get the smooth and straight edges.
use a scale/thin plank to even out the top.
straddle the mould and yank the mould (almost at once after filling) slowly while gently shaking it.
if your mixture is done well, the brick will retain its shape. also observe edges for smoothness to check the effectiveness of the tamping.
after 2 hours of brick laying, here is how our first batch looks.
in this weather, we were able to turn the brick (on their edge for quicker and comprehensive drying) within 48 hours and brick is fully dried and ready to use in 7 days (of decent sunny weather).
there is a strength test recommended - dropping a brick on its edge from 4 feet.
strong. barely chipped the edge
there is also a strength test which is not recommended.
total bricks needed ~1700
total containers of dirt ~2300
i.e., upwards of 23 tons of soil will need to be dug, ferried, mixed, laid, stacked and made into walls.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
learning from leaves
i heard about this intricate design of nature at a workshop over 2 months ago.
it was about what was the difference between green biomass (fresh leaves/grass) and brown biomass (leaf litter).
the leaf, as it prepares to fall from the stem/branch, gives back much of its nutrients to the stem/branch in a true display of low wastage.
this link explains the process very beautifully.
to leave one's life richer than one found it is what the leaves do. it is what we must also do.
it was about what was the difference between green biomass (fresh leaves/grass) and brown biomass (leaf litter).
the leaf, as it prepares to fall from the stem/branch, gives back much of its nutrients to the stem/branch in a true display of low wastage.
this link explains the process very beautifully.
But why do trees (and of course shrubs) drop their leaves in winter? Surely this is terrible waste of resources as the plant then has to replace them all – plus a few extra – during the following spring?there is much to learn from leaves.SO WHY DO TREES DROP THEIR LEAVES?The winter season is always guaranteed to bring two things. The first is far lower light levels while the second is terrible weather..
With the lower light levels leaves will become increasingly unproductive, but with a drop in temperatures the plants metabolic rate is also reduced and so photosynthesis can effectively stop.
With regards to poor weather conditions, a combination of strong winds, snowfall and freezing temperatures would provide any large broad leaved tree a serious risk from damage if they kept their leaves in place. Firstly, heavy snowfall would remain in the canopy placing huge stress on the branch framework, and if you combined that with strong winds you’ll definitely have a recipe for disaster. Of course, the leaves of deciduous plants are particularly sensitive to freezing temperatures anyway as internal cells are easily ruptured when exposed to large enough ice crystals.The lesser of two evils is to absorb as much of the available and usable nutrients that are within the leaf structures as possible and then lose the remaining ‘leaf husk’ before snow appears. Of course – as with many things in nature – nothing is wasted as the following leave litter is broken down further by bacterial activity to create a humus rich mulch.
to leave one's life richer than one found it is what the leaves do. it is what we must also do.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
orissa - climate change
one of the 'hottest' topics these days on all spectra is global warming.
there are enough local signs each of us are experiencing which indicate changing weather patterns.
there is again much debate in the scientific community on the ayes and nays regarding the impact of carbon emissions on global temperature, etc.
i almost come across an article everyday in mainstream media.
here is a series from the sidelines on the state of weather in orissa:
read part 1
read part 2
read part 3
read part 4
there are enough local signs each of us are experiencing which indicate changing weather patterns.
there is again much debate in the scientific community on the ayes and nays regarding the impact of carbon emissions on global temperature, etc.
i almost come across an article everyday in mainstream media.
here is a series from the sidelines on the state of weather in orissa:
The state has been declared disaster-affected for 95 years out of the last 105 years: floods have occurred for 50 years, droughts for 32, and cyclones have struck the state for 11 years.
read part 1
People like my mother remember six distinct seasons -- grishma (summer), barsa (rains), sarata (autumn), hemanta (dew), sisira (winter) and basanta (spring).....
Today, there are no such signs. Orissa has only two seasons: the rains and summer, with winter being a mild transition between the two.
read part 2
Constantly pushed back by the sea, the local residents find themselves in a unique situation: technically they are encroachers as their legal documents show their lands are somewhere inside the sea. In fact, the government still asks for land revenue and the villagers pay it to maintain their legal status.
read part 3
Going by the Indian Meteorological Department’s cyclone statistics for 1877-1990, the Orissa coast has been hit the hardest. Of the 964 cyclones that crossed the east coast during this period, 422 struck Orissa.
read part 4
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
crazy weather in TN
ooty is in grips of a freak weather scenario.
coastal TN has seen some abnormal rainfall along with cyclonic winds. see this seasonal rainfall totals.
this was the satellite map in early april. the cyclonic formation in the bay of bengal is clearly visible. this looks like late november.
whats up mates.
coastal TN has seen some abnormal rainfall along with cyclonic winds. see this seasonal rainfall totals.
this was the satellite map in early april. the cyclonic formation in the bay of bengal is clearly visible. this looks like late november.
whats up mates.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
the summer of these contents!
dec 29th 2011 cyclone thane – 21cm rain in less than 12 hours
june 22nd 2012 – 173 days and counting of no rain since above
this summer has been different for obvious reasons...
- its been hot hot and hotter. we must have had about 30-35 days over 40 deg C between april - june and its still going strong
- we have been indoors - sweating and cooling it off.
- we sowed some summer veggies in march but very few survived the hostile weather. the ones that did survive did not produce much. we see nearby organic farm produce some veggies (okra, cluster bean, bitter gourd etc) in the summer but they seem to have pumped their soil and plants with a high quantity of water and fertility. it will take us a few years to get the soil to a level when we can grow summer veggies with our level of watering.
- last couple of years we had had about 100 mm of rain by this time (apr-jun). this year we are yet to receive even 5mm.
- our standard summer crop, ragi also failed - repeated attempts at raising a nursery never took off as ants took away most of the seeds we broadcasted and rabbits nibbled clean the ones that sprouted. they too were desperate for food in this weather and so we let it be. with no summer showers, we gave up the attempt and decided to take it up again in the next season.
- we lost 4 of the 5 sapota saplings and a few coconuts we had transplanted last year inspite of regular watering . we also lost a few forest trees we got from the forestway. :-( very painful indeed.
- our laptop hard disk got fried in the heat and it took a couple of months to get it replaced.
the brighter side (pun unintended) to all of these has been..
- we scaled up on tubers. 40 yams, 30 tapiocas and 5 vethalavalli kizhangus all growing well.
- our solar cooker has been working overtime giving us more leisure time. In addition to rice, dhal, sundal, sun dried tomatoes we have perfected making kheers and ragi mudde in it. fill it, shut it, forget it (well not entirely, just little tilts of the mirror ever so often)!
- one of our mango trees produced some 20 odd fruits. we let the fruits ripen and fall from the tree and they were delicious. its been exciting to walk around the tree every morning looking for 'today's special' :-)
- we have had tons so sweet papaya this summer.
- with all this free time and nothing much to do on the field we have been reading and re-reading anything in print. Some of the treasures have been
regenerating the soil by claude bourguignon (a must read classic for all farmers)
the ecology of commerce by paul hawken
an agricultural testament by sir albert howard
collected works of dharampal on panchayat raj, education, science and technology
rediscovering india by dharampal
an omnivore's dilemma by michael pollan
- surprisingly, we have been able to take this onslaught of heat and resultant inactivity in our stride.
- with no laptop, we have had blissful two months of no access to current events, popular media, breaking news etc. now that we are connected, we spend far less time on the net. this has been a pleasant and unexpected development.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
heat is on - again
the last 10 days has been a relentless heat spell.
the weather in chennai is a close approximation of the weather at pR.
inside the pavilion, the heat has reached upto 40 deg C (on May 27) and has hovered in the high 30s otherwise.
10 am to 4 pm is strict indoors time.
the plants are getting their regular share of watering and care.
many are struggling through this phase. we may have lost one cucumber vine and many that we planted post the rains have just not germinated.
a good set of lessons to learn about may heat and growing vegetables.
last time i cribbed on the heat is 3 years ago.
the weather in chennai is a close approximation of the weather at pR.
inside the pavilion, the heat has reached upto 40 deg C (on May 27) and has hovered in the high 30s otherwise.
10 am to 4 pm is strict indoors time.
the plants are getting their regular share of watering and care.
many are struggling through this phase. we may have lost one cucumber vine and many that we planted post the rains have just not germinated.
a good set of lessons to learn about may heat and growing vegetables.
last time i cribbed on the heat is 3 years ago.
Saturday, March 05, 2016
sign of the times
Dec to april every year is the best
growing season for this part of the world for apparent reasons –
cooler weather and abundant water. Most lands are under cultivation
with either paddy or groundnut or more recently water melons. With
deficient rainfall over the last couple of years the area under
cultivation had dropped.
Over the last six years we have noticed
that there has been no addition into the agriculture labour force
year on year. Young women from the rural areas are being employed in
'companies' in the SEZs and most young men either become drivers or
go into catering. Quite understandably these are preferred over hard
labour in the sun on the fields.
This year due to unprecedented rains,
100% of the area has been cropped uniformly post the monsoon thus
increasing the requirement for farm labour. MGNREGA also was in full
swing in order to fulfill the year's quota before the close of
financial year. With relatively easy work and good pay under MGNREGA,
more and more labour are choosing not to work in the fields (rightly
so for why would anyone labour in the hard sun if not out of necessity).
Unfortunately we chose this year to hand harvest our paddy and ended
up doing most of the work ourselves due to lack of labour. We had to
put in over 6 hours a day at a stretch for over 25 days to complete
an acre and a half of paddy. It was a frustrating experience
expecting promised labour to show up and continue working alone due
to no-show. Tempers ran high and we thought people were delibrately
giving our work a miss. But we noticed most fields in the
neighbouring areas were being laboured on by lone woman or couple due
to lack of helping hands. It pushed people to their edge what with
Jan and Feb being quite hot!
This also happens to be the marathon
season...
16000 runners – chennai marathon –
jan 2016
40000 runners – mumbai marathon –
jan 2016
4000 runners – auroville marathon –
feb 2016
our village is roughly inbetween
chennai and auroville....assuming everyone ran (expended work) for
atleast 50 hours over two months including training, thats a whopping
20,000X50 = 10,00,000/5hrs = 200,000 person days - not to include all the gym times people put in. Imagine utlilising
this level of energy for agriculture. Cannot see how this is not a
win-win!
Wendell Berry's nails it in his essay
titled 'Sanitation and the small farm',
“...physical exertion for any useful
purpose is looked down upon; it is permissible to work hard for
“sport” or “recreation”, but to make any practical use of the
body is considered beneath dignity.”
and the man also said..'eating is an
agricultural act'!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
season premiere - rains
the rains across tamilnadu finally landed at our doorstep just after midnight, a brief drizzle in the wee hours of April 22 and resumed in a earnest blast in the wee hours of April 23 - a total of 2.5 cms to start the 2011 rain counter.
we should have been overjoyed at this early gift....
but our mud house did not have a roof and we were, in fact, praying for a deferral when we heard news about rains in other parts of TN around April 20.
but the brief drizzle of April 22 had (literally and figuratively) roused us from our sleep and got us to do a minor mid-night roof covering operation.
realising that larger a downpour was imminent, we rushed to do a temporary cover-up of the wall and do a mock installation of the roof just to protect from this rain spell.
and how timely was it....a chorus of collective sighs of relief rendered this part of zamin endathur as the downpour of April 23 morning greeted the village.
this is the pre-roof situation from the last day of construction.
setting up the pipes to hold up the sheets and the tarpaulins.
the final roof mock-up assembly just prior to the downpour.
and it held :-)
and now we are enjoying some seriously wonderful weather and so are the trees and the plants.
we should have been overjoyed at this early gift....
but our mud house did not have a roof and we were, in fact, praying for a deferral when we heard news about rains in other parts of TN around April 20.
but the brief drizzle of April 22 had (literally and figuratively) roused us from our sleep and got us to do a minor mid-night roof covering operation.
realising that larger a downpour was imminent, we rushed to do a temporary cover-up of the wall and do a mock installation of the roof just to protect from this rain spell.
and how timely was it....a chorus of collective sighs of relief rendered this part of zamin endathur as the downpour of April 23 morning greeted the village.
this is the pre-roof situation from the last day of construction.
setting up the pipes to hold up the sheets and the tarpaulins.
the final roof mock-up assembly just prior to the downpour.
and it held :-)
and now we are enjoying some seriously wonderful weather and so are the trees and the plants.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
scorching summer
bombay has just recovered from a hot march.
april has eased off from the high 30's that was almost the entire march. but still there is a solid urban island effect which i am not sure if the weather vanes are catching. with so much more concrete in our roads, this in only likely to get worse.
also march was drier dead heat like pune and delhi have and not the regular sticky, sweaty heat that coastal cities get.
almost all over the place, the summer is becoming hotter.
check out pune over next five days. sizzling.
bangalore is hotter than chennai. weird things happen.
april has eased off from the high 30's that was almost the entire march. but still there is a solid urban island effect which i am not sure if the weather vanes are catching. with so much more concrete in our roads, this in only likely to get worse.
also march was drier dead heat like pune and delhi have and not the regular sticky, sweaty heat that coastal cities get.
almost all over the place, the summer is becoming hotter.
check out pune over next five days. sizzling.
bangalore is hotter than chennai. weird things happen.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
cycling solution in thane
just after my scathing post on transport mayhem in urban india, i stumble across this timely recreation of the Paris velib bicycle solution in thane - FreMo.
short for freedom to move, it will, hopefully, give the city-folk required breathing space.
my cynicism will point out to the muggy weather and monsoons as reasons why the thanekar will dump this idea.
but keeping that aside, best wishes to the team and CEO, V Ramesh at FreMo.
inspiring effort at a much needed time.
short for freedom to move, it will, hopefully, give the city-folk required breathing space.
my cynicism will point out to the muggy weather and monsoons as reasons why the thanekar will dump this idea.
but keeping that aside, best wishes to the team and CEO, V Ramesh at FreMo.
inspiring effort at a much needed time.
Monday, December 06, 2010
no respite - chappar phad ke
you must have read about our rained in status.
as if we have not had enough, here is the latest weather map - Dec 6th 2010 @0800 hrs
and add the serious cold in the air (today morning was a jaw dropping 14 deg C).
as i type this at 1430 hours, it is still an unbelievable 17 deg C.
(yes, yes...our temp gauge works.)
add the wind chill, it is quite something. (this wind is what is keeping our power situation above water with the solar panels totally packing up for this period).
sweaters, socks, monkey caps are all out and in full use.
we are safe, dry, well stocked and enjoying the darkness and the season in each others' company.
as if we have not had enough, here is the latest weather map - Dec 6th 2010 @0800 hrs
and add the serious cold in the air (today morning was a jaw dropping 14 deg C).
as i type this at 1430 hours, it is still an unbelievable 17 deg C.
(yes, yes...our temp gauge works.)
add the wind chill, it is quite something. (this wind is what is keeping our power situation above water with the solar panels totally packing up for this period).
sweaters, socks, monkey caps are all out and in full use.
we are safe, dry, well stocked and enjoying the darkness and the season in each others' company.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
monsoon update
this year surprised us with a very early start of rains in mumbai. june 6th and 7th (the very first weekend of june).
till date the records (in colaba and santa cruz weather stations) show that we are more than on track in mumbai.
the records, however, do not seem to play out in reality.
there has been more and longer dry spells during the last 40 days.
and maharastra has announced a drought-like situation.
if one sees the monsoon map of maharashtra till date, it is clear that the monsoon has been a little truant this year. except the western maharashtra belt, the rest of the state is far below the expected rain levels.
since the already low rainfall areas are getting less than anticipated, the cropping patterns will certainly get delayed/affected, etc.
so we could expect the farmers of vidarbha to have another tough year ahead of them. hope they bounce back from this better than the earlier years.
till date the records (in colaba and santa cruz weather stations) show that we are more than on track in mumbai.
the records, however, do not seem to play out in reality.
there has been more and longer dry spells during the last 40 days.
and maharastra has announced a drought-like situation.
if one sees the monsoon map of maharashtra till date, it is clear that the monsoon has been a little truant this year. except the western maharashtra belt, the rest of the state is far below the expected rain levels.
since the already low rainfall areas are getting less than anticipated, the cropping patterns will certainly get delayed/affected, etc.
so we could expect the farmers of vidarbha to have another tough year ahead of them. hope they bounce back from this better than the earlier years.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
the NE monsoon is here
and has been one rain-filled week.
we have received nearly 20 cm of rain over the last one week. yes. that is quite awesome because it has been evenly spread out over the week.
the pond is brimming over.
and there are a few deep ditches surrounding the pond and the windmill and they too are a-brimmin' over.
and overflowing out of the property headed towards the little village lake.
and the swales are all pretty pictures awash with water.
here are aerial shots.
and more rain is expected during the week leading upto deepavali.
this weather is beautiful and the temperatures have dropped to sub-20s.
we have received nearly 20 cm of rain over the last one week. yes. that is quite awesome because it has been evenly spread out over the week.
the pond is brimming over.
and there are a few deep ditches surrounding the pond and the windmill and they too are a-brimmin' over.
and overflowing out of the property headed towards the little village lake.
and the swales are all pretty pictures awash with water.
here are aerial shots.
and more rain is expected during the week leading upto deepavali.
this weather is beautiful and the temperatures have dropped to sub-20s.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
samba wheat experiment - failed
our experiment with samba wheat sprouted and took off quite ok during the first week. it also received constant rains in december and we had reasonably cool weather over dec - mid jan. however the crop did not show vigourous growth after the rains. the test seeds we planted in the nursery grew at a rapid rate but direct sowing did not have the same effect. we will try again earlier in the season this year to see if that works.
Monday, August 30, 2010
planting trees - lots of them
this year we have planned to plant around 400 tree. refer item no. 5 in things are afoot.
we should get upto 350 trees based on our current count.
around 300 will be pongamia pinnata and the rest will be a mix of fruit trees (coconut, mango, sapota, guava, etc)
a lot of tree planting drives are carried out by a variety of organisations, typically on occasions like World Environment Day, etc.
most of them are utter rot.
tree planting is tough work and takes energy and care. you need people with the utmost dedication and devotion - who do not care about the photo ops and the newspaper publicity and the conscience laundering.
we planted around 50 trees in early june when we had a series of wet days. and after 3 months we have 47 survivors. we are proud of this survival rate.
so it all boils down to timing - timing of the rains.
we were readying the plant the remaining 300 trees sometime in september, just after a good spell of rain from the SW monsoon and then the NE monsoon will take over.
we had got an expert pit digger, arjunan, to dig the 300 odd pits. each pit is a cube of length 18 inches. gap between each tree is 25 feet.
his work requires an altogether separate post. filling up a a pit is such hard work, imagine digging it.
and as per his advice, we filled up 130 pits today with 1 cu ft of manure and shovelled in most of the dug out soil. at the next rain, we would plant the trees.
this filling up we did today afternoon under mild, pleasant weather.
at around 330 we were getting ready for our regular evening chores of watering, sickling, etc.
as we set out, the skies opened up for 15 mins. heavy showers.
so stopped all other work.
wheel-barrowed 25 saplings and started planting them.
by the time we were getting to the end, the skies opened up again. yes, again.
almost perfect synchronisation with the rain gods.
the newly planted trees get their first fresh dose of life-giving water directly from rain.
scintillating feeling. maybe this is what giving birth feels like.
targetting planting another 50 trees tomorrow.
we should get upto 350 trees based on our current count.
around 300 will be pongamia pinnata and the rest will be a mix of fruit trees (coconut, mango, sapota, guava, etc)
a lot of tree planting drives are carried out by a variety of organisations, typically on occasions like World Environment Day, etc.
most of them are utter rot.
tree planting is tough work and takes energy and care. you need people with the utmost dedication and devotion - who do not care about the photo ops and the newspaper publicity and the conscience laundering.
we planted around 50 trees in early june when we had a series of wet days. and after 3 months we have 47 survivors. we are proud of this survival rate.
so it all boils down to timing - timing of the rains.
we were readying the plant the remaining 300 trees sometime in september, just after a good spell of rain from the SW monsoon and then the NE monsoon will take over.
we had got an expert pit digger, arjunan, to dig the 300 odd pits. each pit is a cube of length 18 inches. gap between each tree is 25 feet.
his work requires an altogether separate post. filling up a a pit is such hard work, imagine digging it.
and as per his advice, we filled up 130 pits today with 1 cu ft of manure and shovelled in most of the dug out soil. at the next rain, we would plant the trees.
this filling up we did today afternoon under mild, pleasant weather.
at around 330 we were getting ready for our regular evening chores of watering, sickling, etc.
as we set out, the skies opened up for 15 mins. heavy showers.
so stopped all other work.
wheel-barrowed 25 saplings and started planting them.
by the time we were getting to the end, the skies opened up again. yes, again.
almost perfect synchronisation with the rain gods.
the newly planted trees get their first fresh dose of life-giving water directly from rain.
scintillating feeling. maybe this is what giving birth feels like.
targetting planting another 50 trees tomorrow.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thane super fast!
cyclone thane crossed the coast near pondicherry about 60km from here. we are about 20km from the coast. we had been tracking its movement from monday on imd site and other weather channels and were hoping for some rains for our groundnut crop. what we got was way more than we expected. 20cm of rain and continuous severe gusty winds over 2 days.
we lost a couple of papaya trees, few banana and drumstick trees. we could save some of our papaya trees as we provided support in time against the wind direction. peanut field was flooded and has now drained. we hope there is no lasting damage to the crop. nearby peanut, watermelon, ash gourd crops have got battered. some of the peanut crops had been damaged earlier when as well due to sudden rains 2 weeks ago. the farmers had ploughed and re-sown in the week leading up to thane. its a double blow @ 7k / acre cost each time for someone who barely earns about 20k/acre per year. quite a bad start to the main growing season of the year.
while in the city, any rain anytime is welcome and we would just stay indoors and enjoy hot tea and bajjis. severe cyclone is considered a treat as it brings an extra holiday along with its winds. for the first time we have been amidst farmers sharing their desperation and anxiety over lost money and effort due to crop damage. farming surely is one of the most risky ventures and high risk leading to high return mantra that earns million to investment bankers, does not apply to the farmers. its either normal return or high loss, never high return for the people who produce the single most essential commodity for human existence - food!
there is surely something wrong with the economic order in this world.
we lost a couple of papaya trees, few banana and drumstick trees. we could save some of our papaya trees as we provided support in time against the wind direction. peanut field was flooded and has now drained. we hope there is no lasting damage to the crop. nearby peanut, watermelon, ash gourd crops have got battered. some of the peanut crops had been damaged earlier when as well due to sudden rains 2 weeks ago. the farmers had ploughed and re-sown in the week leading up to thane. its a double blow @ 7k / acre cost each time for someone who barely earns about 20k/acre per year. quite a bad start to the main growing season of the year.
while in the city, any rain anytime is welcome and we would just stay indoors and enjoy hot tea and bajjis. severe cyclone is considered a treat as it brings an extra holiday along with its winds. for the first time we have been amidst farmers sharing their desperation and anxiety over lost money and effort due to crop damage. farming surely is one of the most risky ventures and high risk leading to high return mantra that earns million to investment bankers, does not apply to the farmers. its either normal return or high loss, never high return for the people who produce the single most essential commodity for human existence - food!
there is surely something wrong with the economic order in this world.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
ragi - processing and onwards
as promised on ragi-update, we are a month down from that post and bring to you our ragi post-harvest processing post.
we harvested the ragi in 3 installments due to differential maturing.
this is typically not the norm and is less efficient, but the field was a non-uniform one in terms of fertility, mulch cover and density of cow-pea planted as inter-crop.
ragi processing is quite simple and a fun exercise.
step 1 - maturing the ears
the harvested ears of ragi is piled up as a heap onto a cloth, tied up and allowed to steam inside for 3-4 days. this process matures the batch and all the ears become a beautiful uniform brown.
care is to be taken to ensure that the ears are dry when harvesting, no water ingress in this process and the harvest must be done only in dry weather conditions.
here is the pile
close-up of heap
no this is not our laundry
and they all are brown
after this maturing, the ragi ears are thoroughly dried. depending on the time of the year, this could last 1-4 days.
now the fun part.
those who have driven through rural india would have certainly noticed straw-like grasses spread out on the road and vehicles trampling them.
this is the classic method of loosening the grains.
in our case, we simulated that process by whacking with a log aka threshing.
after adequate bashing up, the pile looks like this. most of the grains would have settled down towards the bottom of the pile and the chaff at the top.
then we winnow. we use the wind to separate the heavier grain from the lighter chaff as we drop it from a height.
and when done, the grain remains on the tarpaulin and the chaff gets blown around the tarp.depending on the breeze, this process completed over 90% of the separation.
and whatever chaff remains is eliminated via the manual winnow.
and here we have the grain and the chaff.
our total harvest was around 12 kgs. considering that this was the second cropping attempt in this field, and the limited amount of external fertility we were able to add, and for a bunch of rookie farmers, this crop is an unqualified success :-)
our field was around 1/20 of an acre (approx 2500 sq feet).
the yield from an acre varies from 1000-1500 kgs.
so our field should have yielded 50-75 kgs of ragi and hence we are at 20% productivity levels.
we have a list of improvements for the next time.
1. soil fertility. add fertility prior to crop growing via cover crops, extra mulching, green manure and cowdung manure addition. over some years, the soil will reach and maintain its own optimal level of fertility as we move to fukuoka's natural farming approach.
2. transplanting density. we planted the saplings at 9 inch gaps. this will be halved.
3. intercrop. definitely not using cow pea as intercrop. explore other nitrogen fixing small bush type crops.
we are now enjoying our ragi koozhu breakfasts even more.
we harvested the ragi in 3 installments due to differential maturing.
this is typically not the norm and is less efficient, but the field was a non-uniform one in terms of fertility, mulch cover and density of cow-pea planted as inter-crop.
ragi processing is quite simple and a fun exercise.
step 1 - maturing the ears
the harvested ears of ragi is piled up as a heap onto a cloth, tied up and allowed to steam inside for 3-4 days. this process matures the batch and all the ears become a beautiful uniform brown.
care is to be taken to ensure that the ears are dry when harvesting, no water ingress in this process and the harvest must be done only in dry weather conditions.
here is the pile
close-up of heap
no this is not our laundry
and they all are brown
after this maturing, the ragi ears are thoroughly dried. depending on the time of the year, this could last 1-4 days.
now the fun part.
those who have driven through rural india would have certainly noticed straw-like grasses spread out on the road and vehicles trampling them.
this is the classic method of loosening the grains.
in our case, we simulated that process by whacking with a log aka threshing.
after adequate bashing up, the pile looks like this. most of the grains would have settled down towards the bottom of the pile and the chaff at the top.
then we winnow. we use the wind to separate the heavier grain from the lighter chaff as we drop it from a height.
and when done, the grain remains on the tarpaulin and the chaff gets blown around the tarp.depending on the breeze, this process completed over 90% of the separation.
and whatever chaff remains is eliminated via the manual winnow.
and here we have the grain and the chaff.
our total harvest was around 12 kgs. considering that this was the second cropping attempt in this field, and the limited amount of external fertility we were able to add, and for a bunch of rookie farmers, this crop is an unqualified success :-)
our field was around 1/20 of an acre (approx 2500 sq feet).
the yield from an acre varies from 1000-1500 kgs.
so our field should have yielded 50-75 kgs of ragi and hence we are at 20% productivity levels.
we have a list of improvements for the next time.
1. soil fertility. add fertility prior to crop growing via cover crops, extra mulching, green manure and cowdung manure addition. over some years, the soil will reach and maintain its own optimal level of fertility as we move to fukuoka's natural farming approach.
2. transplanting density. we planted the saplings at 9 inch gaps. this will be halved.
3. intercrop. definitely not using cow pea as intercrop. explore other nitrogen fixing small bush type crops.
we are now enjoying our ragi koozhu breakfasts even more.
Monday, April 30, 2007
crushed
those who have had sugarcane juice must have really enjoyed it. but do you think the sugarcane would have enjoyed the bone crushing experience. trust me, surely not.
was in 2 back to back train journeys which evoked in me the deepest sympathies as expressed above to the pauvre ganna (btw - ganna is oos in marathi...so it goes as oos juice).
both were at times least expected.
a 945pm fast local to borivali from grant road. and a sunday afternoon 1PM slow local from thane to cst. a little bit more into the entire suburban rail network in the city.
added masala was the nice and pleasant weather. sweltering heat and a tight squeeze make a nice travel day.
but in the end, the companionship even in this rush was amazing. one guy was offering water to co-passengers and shouting aloud as well to those who could not see him (which would be all but the 5 right next to him).
phew
was in 2 back to back train journeys which evoked in me the deepest sympathies as expressed above to the pauvre ganna (btw - ganna is oos in marathi...so it goes as oos juice).
both were at times least expected.
a 945pm fast local to borivali from grant road. and a sunday afternoon 1PM slow local from thane to cst. a little bit more into the entire suburban rail network in the city.
added masala was the nice and pleasant weather. sweltering heat and a tight squeeze make a nice travel day.
but in the end, the companionship even in this rush was amazing. one guy was offering water to co-passengers and shouting aloud as well to those who could not see him (which would be all but the 5 right next to him).
phew
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