Summer holidays were a time when my father would take the family to the gaon. It was fun when we were kids, but as we grew up, our preferred destination was Chandigarh. Our excuse was, “Gaon mein bathroom nahi hai!” Forty years later, I still have vivid memories of those visits to our pind Mustafabad, on the Jalandhar-Amritsar GT Road. I remember sitting around the chullah eating, as my tayi served us hot rotis. Playing with the phoonkani, trying to blow and fan the dying fire. I had picked cotton, seen a cow giving birth, watched a rahat lifting water from a well, and swam in the ‘bein’ flowing next to the fields. And, also looked for a suitable and dense bush to go behind to do my business! These memories remained with me, and they did play an important part when I realized how significant a patch of land is! Suddenly, soil was like gold and I had 28 acres of it to experiment with.
A week after I landed in Chandigarh, I was at my farm planning my first set of crops. I put four acres aside. In my first year I grew nine crops. I experimented a lot, people came, saw and laughed too, as organic farming was an alien idea to them. Today, in my fourth year of farming, I have identified a set of native/desi cereal grains, pulses, and oil seeds which are grown according to the seasons.
Farm Mustafabad is 170Km from Chandigarh. As a conscious consumer, it is extremely important for you to know who is growing your food and where it is grown. Get in touch with me and I’ll be happy to help plan a walk through the fields.
I promise you don’t have to find a bush anymore to do your business!
A conscious consumer is always a farmer’s best friend! An increase in demand for organic food will always translate to farmers dedicating more land to grow safe food. We have added another 6 acres of organic land in the Village Rohti Basta, near Nabha. I will keep you updated on the grains which will come from this farm.