This is a photo of Piyusha, a young MBA graduate who has started a sewing and handicrafts group in her village. There are 9 young women who make the products and Piyusha sells them at various markets. The materials are all recycled materials. She also has, well her family has, an organic farm and they accept people to stay and volunteer on their farm as well (WOOF). She invited us to visit and learn about the group and the farm. She says she has a difficulty selling her products, so I offered to look into different contacts I might have to see if I can connect her with some fair trade stores either in Spain or in Canada. On one of our trips back to Bija Vidyapeeth I (and Hannah), might try and visit her farm and organization.
So today is supposed to be a holiday for the field workers because we finished (well mostly THEY finished) the rice transplanting yesterday! We had samosas and chai to celebrate in the afternoon. Hannah, Beny and I, with the supervision of Girish, transplanted marigolds all around the perimeter of the plots of rice. They look different than our marigolds but smell the same, and we were sure they would die before we got them in the ground because they were all wilting, but apparently that doesnt matter. Marigolds are a natural pesticide and disease deterant apparently. I have been reading up on some of the methods used on the farm and learning some as I go!
What I have learned so far is that the main principles of organic farming, according to Navdanya are: biodiversity conservation (in seed collection of old and ancient seeds and distribution to farmers but also recollection from those farmers. Bija Vidyapeeth is almost exclusively used for seed conservation, so the crops we grow are basically to harvest the seed, although if there is extra crop we eat it.), seed supply (again, to ensure a un-patented way to access seed is available), soil fertility maintenance (through different compost systems, no chemical use, irrigation systems, etc), pest managemnet (using Neem oil and inter cropping), water consumation (collection of rain water and specific irrigation systems), trade/distribution of organic farm produce (Navdanya has a fair trade network. It buys the produce from farmers it works with and sells it at its retail stores).
Here is Giulia and Sarayu spraying the ocra, corn and another legume with Neem Oil:

So thats a quick overview of the farm. How they carry out each one of these principles is quite interesting and complicated!
Like I said, today is supposed to be a holiday for the workers, so I guess we will see who comes and what we will do. Hannah and I have put up the white board with some ideas of things we and the other interns can do to help organize a bit, and are hoping maybe with the farm work on hold for a day we might make some progress.
Yesterday afternoon I spent my time researching for my paper, which is progressing. A couple of girls want to go to Rishikesh this weekend, a mountain town which is supposed to be beautiful, and I might join them if I get a good chunk of work done. Rishikesh is where a lot of Ashrams are, it is quite touristy we´re told, but very nice. We would hopefully stay in an Ashram and learn some yoga.



When we went into town on Monday, it made me realize how nice it is to be living at the farm! It is so crazy in town! I dont know how big Dehradun is, but there were cars, people, animals, trash, everywhere! I didnt feel insecure, but somewhat uncomfortable. This is why it will be necessary to find a place in Delhi near to the green areas, and we have been told to pay the extra bit to live in a colony, which are like gated apartment buildings. So I´m not sure what we will do, but we will have to look!

The birds are really awake and chirping this morning! It is bright and sunny and I think it will get very hot!