Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Liner Great to hear.
Do you have that kind of time at one go? If you do, i will put you on to someone.
Alternatively, look up bhoomi college in sarjapur. I have been meaning to go meet them myself one of these days.
What kind of PDC'S have you done so far and with whom? |
Please note that I've ended up writing a long post, some of it is redundant information and came out of surplus of time and emotions.
===
As you guys discussed, stipend may be out of question unless its a real long term that you are volunteering for. What I have learnt is they provide very basic accommodation (at some places it's just tents) and amazing food for sure. Also, ones practicing permaculture may not go real hard on rules, one of the principles is 'fair share'
Some of them are asking for commitment of a month officially, but I'm sure if I request for 2 weeks, they may allow me. However, a month would be ideal for learning and one may need more than a few of such experiences to go past that romantic/honeymoon period. I can spend 2 weeks at a go and another 1 week at a go in a year. Please let me know if you know someone/place I can spend that kind of time and learn and contribute.
I'm going to share about the places I know and should surely benefit others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by condor But to get a good idea of farming, one would need to be at it for a sufficiently long duration. Even a single veg crop cycle can be about 4 months. |
Some did not mention about the number of hours, except Aranya where they mentioned around 6 hours or so and one around Vagamon was mentioned around 5 hours or so a day. But yes, serious places would ask for long term volunteering so they can benefit some.
Quote:
Originally Posted by condor How much space do you have at home ? While you are looking for opportunities, you could try it on a smaller scale. Will give you a small head-start about sowing, saplings, |
Thanks, a good friend (ex-colleague) of mine has some land close to Thally, he was also suggesting me to take land on lease besides his land and start experimenting. He also offered me to come over on weekends or even for longer terms to learn what he does. I really am looking for longer term activity so that I can learn, a weekend may be bit too short of time, this is one place and person I have in mind who can provide good suggestions and help. However, he's not following all permaculture principles it seems, but he is the one who first briefed me about natural farming, Subhash Palekar, jivamrit etc.
Some places that I know of.
- Navadarshanam Farm - Gumalapura, right around the KA/TN boarder, beyond Anekal.
This is the place I have been most attached to I feel. It's about 120 acres of land where little under 20 acres used for farming, dwelling, community and staff quarters, rest has now grown into a huge shrub forest from a barren land it used to be long ago. We used to go here to spend our weekends for literally doing nothing. Here's where I got introduced to the permaculture and principles in details when I attended a 3 days workshop on Permaculture principles and organic farming. Totally run by the volunteers for many years, founders acquired this land on the boarder of forest. The community was formed around 1990 but I guess the land was acquired even a few years before that (may be another decade and half ago), founder members (owners) are currently living in other parts of the country - I'll let you go over website for those details.
One thing that attracts me here is their (main volunteers, couple of them, living there for close to 10 yrs now) underlying purpose of spirituality. A few programs/workshops they do in a year are great! A couple of them I attended were on permaclture principles (3days) and a silent retreat (3days).
They have inspired many urban dwellers to start farming under the theme 'going back to the land', many of them have moved to their farms, looks really happy! couple of those even home-schooling their kids!
They run a community supported agriculture initiative, all with the help of volunteers, provides naturally grown veggies/fruits/groceries to members and to some stores like Namdhari's. Overall, Navadarshanam has become a bit popular name among organic farming communities around, some of you may already heard or known about it.
It may not be beneficial unless I dedicate a couple weeks or more for volunteering here, especially during certain seasons, yet to figure out right time.
- John's farm - sarjapur road
I have met this guy only once, but very kind and different person, he is from US, has got a mango orchard / farm on Sarjapur road. I can't comment a lot about him, but to me it looked like inner peace, living happily and sustainable are something that he is after.
A friend has done some long term volunteering here while working, I'm going to check with him in the similar lines as well, it'll be a great idea to get that kind of opportunity.
- Swyyam open shell farm - Yellachati
I attended a workshop (3days) by Rico Zook during first week of this month. A beautiful farm land, rejuvenated by a lady who moved from Bangalore. Quite a few principles in action out there and this place is open for volunteering. However, it seems they'll be happier to accept long term ones.
Aranya Farm - multiple farms in AP
- Run by Narsanna and his wife, they started a couple decades ago, Narsanna was part of the board of permaculture association of India prior to that.
This is the most popular place in India for permaculture enthu folks it seems. They do conduct PDCs throughout the year, inviting good instructors from around the country and world, Narsanna is supposed to be one of the highly regarded instructors in India.
They have a PDC coming up from Nov30 - Dec 15, I'm still thinking if I should go for it or use that two weeks for volunteering some place. I may just go for it.
They have clear details on their website about the volunteering opportunities around their farms.
- Sadhana Foest, Pondicherry
I have communicated over email with them, they seem to be regrowing the forest cover in the area where they are located, some good building construction, composting, energy recycling concepts they have and practices in the India location. I planned a visit to volunteer a few months back and had to cancel, they do let you volunteer for minimum of 3 days I guess, the plan is still ON to ride to Pondy, pitch a tent there for 3-4 days, volunteer and learn, waiting for a long weekend / leaves ahead.
This shall also provide an opportunity to learn about Auroville. I stayed in Auroville for 3 days during my motorcycle ride last year, missed visiting Sadhana forest (they are close to Auroville) though. Auroville seems to have some real good community whos interested in natural farming etc, heard people can buy land there, but I failed to get more details while I spent most of my time riding around this beautiful country with wife.
I live in the apartment so balcony space is all what I got and can encroach some of the common gardening space as well, please feel free to share information about starting something in such small place.
Regarding leasing, I feel I may keep that as last option, getting a place, rejuvenating the soil naturally may take anywhere between 3-5 years, or sometimes more before you can start expecting some yield. Not sure if it's worth doing on a leased land.
I'm from GJ, dont have farmer status (pani, khatedari etc.) from my state either so going to be tough to start. I was looking at BeForest and other community farming initiatives around, Befoest (BeForest.co) looked bit appropriate to me when they talk about growing forests, permaculture etc, but again its going to be managed and one may not get a lot of freedom moreover, its very costly affair overall. But the concept isn't bad, what they are doing with such a large community, I think we can do it in a smaller group and still get the benefit of both the worlds.
I want to start small and slow, its going to be an experiment to start with, I wish it turns out to be a lot more than that.
Let's keep in touch if you guys have similar interests, we'll surely have something to share.