We’ve put up a little temporary nursery for cultivating some seedlings. We are trying to get a few crops to sell to cover our expenses, but between the work and lack of space at the moment, it’s proved hard. Having more people on the farm though has really helped us out – thank you all!
The farmhouse used to be our planting shed, so for now we’ve set it up on the patio. After we’re finished with both buildings and the bathroom, we’re going to to move our focus to creating a permanent nursery. The plan is to create it out of wood posts and the fine netting we already use. If anyone has any recommendations, such as efficient designs that capture and utilise renewable energy and natural resources, please send them our way!
At the moment it’s propped up under the tamarind tree that grows behind the house. The tamarind tree produces long fruit pods with seeds that are used in recipes, traditional medicine and a range of products. They’re high in B vitamins, and calcium, with almost a tangy, sweet, sour flavour, and for millennia tamarind has been used to support good health. The tamarind tree creates a large amount of shade for us in those hot summer afternoons. It yields, provides shade, improves precipitation and ecosystem features, such as beneficial micro-climates and helps as a windbreak to the kitchen. It plays a multi-functional role in the over-all permaculture design. A previous post we made runs through the permaculture principles we implement on the farm.
The little patio under the tamarind is made from stones collected around and about the farm, some were even dug up from the very spot it’s built on. The patio is the result of a lot of hard work. First the soil was dug up to be used to make mud. Then, after a layer of grit was put down, a thick covering of the mud was applied. The stones were then arranged on the mud with an inch to an inch and a half gap between and stone dust and chipping was used to fill the gaps, smoothing out the surface.
When the cafe is up and running, we will be creating a similar patio for its seating area.
So that’s it from us. Another short but hopefully sweet post. Do drop back in, we have a lot going on towards the end of this month. We hope to be blessed with a visit from a group called Mango People. Mango People is a small collection of inspiring individuals travelling the country promoting sustainable architecture.
We’ll be back early January with more information, and hopefully lots of pictures!
Aranya Eco Village 
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