Kuzhitura Farm in Amritapuri

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One of my goals for the last week of my trip was to visit the garden/farm south of the ashram as well as the one across the bridge near Amma’s Amrita School of Ayurveda. The land in both places is very dry, and water is scarce, so developing the gardens has been a process of trial and error over many years. This year the change was mind-boggling. In both places, I felt like I was walking into paradise.  This post will be dedicated to the garden south of the ashram which is now called Kuzhitura Farm.

When I visited this farm last year, I had learned that they were focusing on using permaculture techniques. One of those techniques was the banana circle. I still remember how shocked I was when I researched bananas and banana circles later and learned that banana palms are not trees, they are actually considered a grass! (Banana Circles in Amritapuri).

When Premarupa and I arrived at the farm this year, I was struck by how different it looked. It is amazing how fast trees and plants grow in the tropics. While there are vegetables growing throughout the area, the big vegetable garden I remembered from the previous year wasn’t even in the same place. My guess is the trees and banana palms had grown so big that there was no longer enough sunlight in the original area. There is now a garden that is about triple the size of the previous one a distance away.

Here are pictures of the farm this year.

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water retention pond
tulasi plant
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(Click to enlarge pictures)

This property is also now home to Amritapuri’s food composting and vermi-composting (worm composting) centers.  I will share more about those projects in the next post.

15 thoughts on “Kuzhitura Farm in Amritapuri”

    1. I’m glad you want to go and hope you do. If you are referring to my trip back to Seattle, it was as easy as a trip that long can be! I arrived back here in Seattle yesterday. I will be putting up several more India posts.

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  4. I love the water retention pond. I thought I saw tomato starts (next to the pathway of cardboard boxes). How much of the food is actually eaten at the ashram, do you know? Welcome back, Karuna.

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    1. Those aren’t tomato starts. I was told what they were but I’ve forgotten. I will ask Premarupa. The food is definitely eaten at the ashram. Some, probably most, is used by the kitchen and some is sold. We had spinach in the soups that Sreejit makes frequently.

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      2. Premarupa is an ashram resident that wanted to see the gardens with me. It was fun to go with her, plus she knew a lot about the plants.

        Actually, it doesn’t feel as cold as I expected it would.

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  5. So beautiful, Karuna!!! feels like heaven when I look at these photos and imagine I am there rather than here under the snow. Although, I am pleased with the snow today…it is fluffy like talcum powder:)

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