Garden of the African Pavilion

Today I was asked to go and help at the vegetable garden of the African Pavilion.  A volunteer is looking after it but she is finding it heavy weather.  She is a very willing worker, but wants more direction than the person looking after the garden is able to give her.

I tried to help but had to be careful as it not my garden.  The people there have to decide what they want, not me.  The soil needs a lot of work on it.

First sweet potato

These are our first sweet potatoes from New Horizon.  They are huge although a lot of them have got bugs in them.  I think the plants suffered from the very poor soil in the field.

Auroculture

Went and had a nice chat with Auroculture who is moving to her new place, in an assisted living facility, on March 7^th.

I don’t think she is that keen on going, but she seems a lot brighter than she was.  At least she will have the garden and will be able to make her flower compost.

After Ganesh comes Buddha

Today a group of local women farmers arrived just as I was off to yoga.  Oh how I wish people would book properly!  They had arranged to come in the morning but that would have meant missing a trip to the Matrimandir. I have been so busy today and wasn’t willing to give up the yoga class. 

I was able to talk with them for a few moments and fortunately Rajan was here so was able to take them around the farm.  They probably enjoyed it more being told about the farm in Tamil.  Just before I left they gave me this lovely Buddha picture.  I wanted to put it in the office but Rajan said that it has to stay in my house for a while because it was handed to me.

Elsie

This picture of Elsie came into my inbox today.

She expresses such joy.

Love this picture

Yesterday afternoon we did the Udavi school session when I took this photo which I really like.  I think because it does seem to express the working together and relative harmony that I feel in this group.  They are doing very well with most of them doing the work without having to be told to do so.  Today one group planted out the first seedlings that they had grown themselves from seed.

Had first discussions about setting up a proper vegetable garden here for the next academic year.  Very exciting.

Got it again!

Spent quite a time this morning cycling around doing various jobs.  One of them was to pick up this precious letter from the Auroville Foundation office that I need to get my visa.  Then I had to make an appointment to go to the Residence Service office next week. 

I have to make an online application for a new visa which apparently takes one hour!  I also found out that I am one of the people who will have to wait up to six weeks because my visa has to be sent to Chennai.  As the original visa was not obtained through Auroville.

Got it!

Got my new phone today but it has been a bit of a hassle to set it up.  Mainly because I have been trying to do it in the few minutes I have to spare between all my other jobs.

Already I feel that eventually I will be better with something a bit smaller.  But lets get this one going properly first so I can see how it feels to actually use it every day.

Not what I wanted

Didn’t manage to get my new smartphone today although I did manage to pay for it.  Looking forward to the next step of actually getting it.

Meanwhile everything very busy……

A lovely present

Today I had my last interview with Ulrike.  She gave me this little musical box from Austria as a thank you gift.  The design is from a Klimt painting and what is really nice is that the box can be opened to see the musical mechanism.  I can’t wait to show it to Sam.

This afternoon I bought my first smartphone.  It’s a second hand one that seems like really good value although it is rather on the large size.  I am getting it tomorrow.

All wrapped up

Today I had a surprise when I went into the garden this morning and found Ganesh all wrapped up in a tarpaulin.  Angurajan, one of the volunteers, explained that they did this last night to protect the sculpture.  Apparently he had to be wrapped in a new piece of cloth (donated by Rajan) and has to keep wrapped up until various rituals are undertaken that will energise him.

So now we have to find someone who can do that.

A surprise delivery

Had a lovely surprised when our new Ganesh arrived.  This is the team who set him up looking towards the rising of the sun.

Visa extension time

Did the first step of extending my visa and residents permit today.  They have changed the system.  I need several letters from various people in Auroville, then a trip to the Regional Registration Officer who will need to send the application to Chennai and then another trip to the RRO to pay.  I note that British nationals pay more than anyone else for the privilege.

Its all truly mind boggling but hopefully it will all happen before my present visa expires in April.  And surely before I go to the UK in July.  

Our students

Had a good session with the school students this afternoon.  Last week we found the seeds had disappeared and so we used nets and thorns to protect the new seeds that we planted.  Today we found that those protected by thorns did much less well than those protected by nets.

We decided to get nets for everyone but they will have to wait until next week to use them.

Farmers' visit

We had a group of farmers from Andhra Pradesh come today to look around the farm.  This was part of a sustainability course they were doing in Auroville.  From our conversations it emerged that not only does the Andhra government provide free electricity to farmers but also free irrigation.  So unlike Tamil Nadu farmers they are easily able to save  water.

They were a very interesting group and I think enjoyed what we had to show.  

Colours

These are ripe vegetables drying in the sun before we take out the seeds and dry them for the next season.

I love the colours.

An adult playpen

Yesterday someone came to put a fence all around the office building.  Its Vivek’s idea to keep out the dogs and stop people using it as a sitting space.

It seems to me like a playpen for adults, but I think it will do the job very well when the gates are put up.

An outdoor classroom

It looks like we are going to have some money left over from our two educational projects.  So we are thinking about using it to create an ‘outdoor classroom’.  This would have a smooth floor and be covered with a light roof to keep off sun (mostly) and rain.  We are thinking to build it behind the kitchen in an unused corner where it would also be good to use for meetings.

This is a sketch I did of what we discussed and we will talk with Vivek about it when he comes back.  

Sun in the morning

As is usual this time of year sunrise is a very beautiful time.  Although it doesn’t come through in this picture very well as the sun is much more red than the picture shows.

It’s a special day today what with it being Pierre’s birthday, full moon eclipse and a comet appearing.  

First ever lettuce seeds

These are the first ever lettuce seeds grown in Buddha Garden.  Obviously the trick is to grow them early in the season when it is still cool.  Every time before I have tried to grow them in the hot season and no seeds came.

I am delighted as lettuce and roccolla seeds were the only seeds we were not growing ourselves.  It looks like the roccolla seeds are coming but need more time.

Seedlings gone missing

Students came to their gardening session today to find that a lot of their seedlings had disappeared.  Of course it could have been rats/squirrels but some of them were convinced they could see footprints in the soil.  According to them all the seedlings were there when they checked on Monday.  A lot of the vegetables were also missing – there wasn’t one chilli left on the chilli plants.

The picture is what they did to make sure it didn’t happen again.  Using a baby net on the right (with bricks all around the outside) and thorns on the left.  I really hope that something works because they were all so disappointed.

Very busy day

Had such a busy day today with a Farm Group meeting in the morning which has generated a lot of work.  A lot of emails that have to be answered and a yoga class this morning.

I’m really pleased that in the few minutes I had this evening I managed to produce the above outline for the Udavi school session in the garden tomorrow.  Last week they planted some seeds in some coconut shells.  Each week they are going to draw how one of the plants has grown to make a timeline of their growth.  

Looking back and looking forward

Yesterday Ulrike came round (for the third time!) to continue the interview about Buddha Garden and me.  We looked at photos of Buddha Garden from 2004 and talked about them. 

It was funny to see pictures of Selvam and Rajan when they were apprentices here in 2004.  Now both of them are married with a child and they are still connected to Buddha Garden.  Rajan has even become part of the Buddha Garden team.

Today we talked about the new accommodation agreement that we are creating for Buddha Garden.  It is very exciting as we decide how the accommodation is going to be arranged for our work over the next year.

Plumaria gift

Went to see Auroculture today and as I was going she told me to pick up one of the plumaria flowers that were lying around. I gave it to Buddha when I got back.

One of the thing it means ‘New Creation’ which is very appropriate right now as far as Buddha Garden is concerned.

Things move

Had a meeting about housing in Buddha Garden today.  We came to a solution that was beyond what all of us had thought about.

Somehow this picture of Elsie seems to resonate with that.

Birthday lunch

Had a lovely birthday lunch catching up with Joost. 

So much better than this time last year when I was having to lie around in bed getting over an infected foot.

Rice harvesting

Went to look at the rice harvest in Annapurna farm with the school project today.  The rain has made the fields wet and the rice is starting to germinate.  This means it will not be a good crop and that the harvesting process is much more difficult. 

I love this picture of the ripening rice.

I also had a very tempestuous session with Jo.  I feel a lot has changed but I can’t talk about it yet.

How to harvest

With the new research project that we will start very soon we have to think about the harvesting.  I have been having a hard time weighing everything, especially the huge amounts of second quality roccolla and lettuce.  Its been very instructive to see how much goes to waste when we can’t sell it because there is a glut.

I have decided to make a ‘How to Pick’ book that we can give to volunteers.  Then everyone can be clearer about how to pick different things and what has to be weighed.

A lot of talking

I seem to have spent all day talking to various people.  One of them was Ulrike who is doing a very long interview for her website.

This is the picture she sent me for my birthday.

Another surprise

Had another surprise today when a volunteer turned up with this conch shell.  I loved the way that he had wrapped it in a banana leaf.

Today is Shantam’s birthday so I have accepted it as a present for him.  Its just the kind of thing he would have liked.