This coming weekend of April 13 & 14, we are inviting people who are passionate about farming to come be part of the farming activities at our village. Vaksana farms is an idyllic 9 acre farm set in a beautiful village called Rettanai, near Tindivanam.
This volunteering opportunity would be ideal for people who are exploring farming as a way of life or for city folks who want to experience rural life.
Recently, I was part of an organic farming workshop where a bunch of people passionate about farming got-together. Working on the farm became such a fun activity because of the bonding and team work. That’s when I decided to open up my farm too for people. Its a great win-win situation.
So, here’s the plan. We leave for the farm from Chennai at 7pm on Friday evening. On Saturday and Sunday, we wake up early and get ourselves busy with lots of activities. We start back to Chennai at 6pm on Sunday evening.
Transportation
Option 1: We all meet up at Koyambedu bus stand at 7pm on Friday night and take a bus to Tindivanam and then to Rettanai. There are plenty of buses available. All buses that go to Villupuram, Trichy or Madurai is good for us. This is a cheaper option and all of us pay our own fares.
Option 2: We car-pool. It’ll be a fun road-trip. We share the fuel cost. Gives us flexibility for us to check out a few farms on the way.
Either of the two options is good.
Accommodation
Accommodation is taken care of. We have a lovely small house right in the middle of the farm. It has a large hall and a mezzanine dorm. There’s no electricity in the farm and this is a blessing in disguise. Its a very unique experience.
Food
We typically buy food from a hotel in the nearby town. We go dutch and food is fairly inexpensive. Alternatively, we have a working kitchen and we can attempt to do group cooking. Will be lots of fun.
Activities
OK, here’s what we plan to do over the weekend.
1) Plan and plant a complete living fence. ( a fence made completely from plants)
2) Take care of the Millet and Paddy nursery.
3) Plant mango and coconut saplings at the fruit orchard.
4) Mulch and manure the fruit tree saplings.
5) Crete a balcony railing from Bamboo stems.
6) Plough and till the land and create 3×10 feet vegetable beds.
If you are game, please call me at 9841597744 or email me at Kiruba @ Kiruba.com. Look forward to having a very productive, sweaty, fun weekend !!
