Orange

Orage tree, this was planted a year ago and has grown about 5 feet. Orange usually grows in all types of soil provided the soil has good drainage property.you need to have the land well ploughed and levelled for planting.Make sure to avoid water stagnation and water logging during rainy season.Intial year require well watering. We have so far used only cow dung and ellupodi as fertilizers.

MANGO TREE 

Its only been a year since we planted it. Its a grafted type, so its not going to grow tall like the usual types. It might grow up to 10 feet max making it very convenient to care for the tree and to pluck the fruits.

we use cow dung as a fertilizer.once the tree starts to sprouts flowers, you need to make a smoke bed under the tree though not too near the stem. For this you need semi dried leaves and other similar things, make sure you don burn the tree by making fire, you only need the smoke. This procedure helps in reducing the occurrence of pests in the fruits.

once every month lossen the soil around the tree.sun and heat is a necessary requirment for mango trees. you need regular water buy not heavy.

Tip:Raw mangoes makes excellent chutneys and mango curries.
       Riped mangoes gives you the best home made jams and marmalades. 

                                                                  Nutmeg (Jaathi)


This was planted  about 3 years ago. it grew about 7 foot but didn't yield, so we got the budding done last month(december) and we are waiting for the results.We use cow dung and ellupodi as fertilizer once every 3 months.

Usually it starts fruiting when it is about 6 months and grows about 3 to 4 feet high.It doesn't grow too tall.We have 5 of them planted which have started fruiting.The fruit looks like apricot, though it is quiet hard and yellowish in color when it ripes. pluck them once they are ready

A very good hing about this fruit is every single part of this is useful.
The outer shell can be used for making chammanthi( a thick chutney), wine and can be shredded into salads( only a little)
Its very good for better digestion. Add a couple of its leaves to your drinking water when boiling the water. its again good for your stomach.
Once you take its cover off, you would see a black seed in oval shape covered with red line shaped flower around it. The seed is called 'Jaathikka' and the flower is called 'Jaathi pathri'.
Jathikka is used as a home remedy for diarrhoea. Take half a spoon of the jathikka grinded and add equal amount of honey and take it 2 0r 3 times for diarrhoea.
Dried Jaathipathri is used as a spice in many recepies flavour and aroma.

It is also a good option if you would like to make little income from farming because Jaathikka costs around Rs.360 - 380/ Kg and jaathipathri costs abut Rs.1100/kg. Make sure you don't break the flower when you seperate it from jathikka and make it yellowish in shade in drying since unbroken flower with yello shade is considered as the supreme quality.

 

                                                    Elaichi/Cardamom ( Elam)


One of the wel known spices in kerala. it's final touch to many recepies makes it simply wonderful and rich with a special aroma. In any recipe you only need to use only 4 to 6 max.

we got a baby plat from one of the nurseries near by. It needs shade and slight amount of sun. so we planted it under a mango tree.its been about 3 years since we planted it. we have collected elaichi   from it 4 times till now. They are ready to be plucked once they turn green in color and then dry them in shade, do not leave it under the sun.

we mixed the mud with ellupodi ( organic fertilizer) and cow dung for planting. you need to water it really well. In summer, its is better if you could water it twice a day.

Tip: It costs varies for each quality.
        For a finest quality, it could go up and above Rs.800/Kg in idain markets.

            NONI FRUIT




                                                                                                                NONI PLANT


Noni is a fruit that helps in rejuvenating cells in the body. Its been over two years since we planted it and it has grown about 8 foot. It started to bear fruits in about 6 months.This fruit is said to have the ability to reduce the chances of developing cancer.

Directions to use: Pluck them once they turn pale yellowish in colour.
                             store them in a glass container
                             Keep them in the sun every day and in a cool place otherwise
                             After a few days it starts to accumulate brownish water at the bottom
                             after about 2 weeks squeeze the remaining water or pulp out of the fruits and store                               it in an another glass bottle along with accumulated water.
                            start taking a spoonful and mix it with a glass of water and drink it every morning.

Bush pepper (kutti Kurumulaku)

This is an another chilli plant. we opted for the bush type because its easy to care for the plant and to pluck when its ready.The traditional variety of the plant is creeper type. Its very difficult to get people these days to pluck the pepper when its ready if its a creeper type. this can be planted in pots as well, a very good option for people with less land around.

This can also be planted any time during the year and starts yielding pepper in about 3 months. we only used cow dung as a fertilizer.If you find any sort of fungal activities, you could spray organic pesticides available once a month.

Rate per Kg in India : around 500

Tip: Excellent for cold and cough if taken with honey
        Grind it into paste and use for frying fishes along with the other spices you use. Spicy food                 lovers would enjoy it.

Bird's eye chilli (KANTHAARI)

This plant is very commonly found in most of the Asian countries. you could start with seeds or with planting baby plants if available. This plant can be planted any time round the year (generally my mother in-law says anything that bear its fruit underground has to be planted on a different time of the month from the plants that are to bear crops above the ground.)

This is a bush type plant. The fruit is mostly green, red or orange in  colour and smaller in size compare to green chillies.It keeps reproducing untill the plant dries off. you need to water the plant really well at least once a day. Dung is the best fertilizer for this plant.

This chilli can be used in most of the dishes but requires only half in amount compared regular chilles since its very spice. its very good for people with higher cholesterol levels.

Tip: you could make excellent soups,pickles and chutneys with them
      if you also want to make a little extra money, this is a good option as it costs between Rs. 300-           Rs.500/kg and of course its very much in demand in India.

the reason

Hi guys, i may not be that good at communicating, but i wanted to share with you guys about my ideas and experiences on farming and agriculture. I started thinking about farming when my baby boy was born. It felt good to have veggies and fruits agricultures at my own place for that made me feel relived about the pesticides.My sole inspiration was his innocent face and to make sure whatever he eats is really rich with all those vitamins and things as it is supposed to be and not a bunch of pesticides.