![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vserver3.auroville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DSC_8013.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vserver3.auroville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DSC_8015.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLearning by Doing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the early 90\u2019s, starting up a project in Auroville was not very linear and bureaucratic. If you had a plan, an idea, you just did it. It was pretty straightforward. Myself, Gemma and Muni started Solitude Farm in 1993. We built a hut, a kitchen, we were milking our cow\u2026 We didn\u2019t know how to do these things at first, you had to learn by doing.\u201d Krishna stayed on the farm as it grew with the help of volunteers and a permanent resident community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This non-interventional way of farming developed organically on the farm. Today, Solitude has a great little restaurant which serves only local food grown in the bio-region. The food is a mixture between the local Tamil culinary tradition as it is embraced by creative travelling chefs. The Green Papaya Coconut Soup is an exquisite example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Krishna, the important message of his work is always about local foods. \u201cThey have very specific characteristics, they belong in this environment; if they grow in abundance they are easy to grow, making them economically viable and non-exclusive. Drumstick spinach for example is considered one of the best foods in the world and it is said that it was eaten locally by kings as well as beggars. Eating locally grown produce is a great way to consider the environmental impact we are having on our planet. Our mainstream agriculture has moved from growing local crops towards monoculture. These single crop fields require more pesticides to yield greater profit. This has a huge ecological cost.\u201d Because of this, Solitude Farm is exploring alternatives to this industrialization of agriculture which has a large impact on our planet, hoping to inspire more people to connect to their local, naturally-grown foods.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vserver3.auroville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DSC_8023.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vserver3.auroville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DSC_8020.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLooking Back to Move Forward<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
It may be that if we look back at what great civilizations have done, local solutions re-emerge. For Krishna, a the connection to tradition and food is clear: \u201cThe Indian culture and in particular the ancient Tamil culture, with its awe inspiring temples, Ayurveda and Siddha tradition, Tamil \u2013 a classical language still in use today, Bharatnatyam, Karnatic music, the Nadi palm leaves, are all part of a culture whose people had <\/em>a direct relationship with their food source. Today, we are disconnected from our food source and thus disconnected from these local traditions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The food grown in Solitude actually represents a \u201cRenaissance\u201d of well-being for our Auroville community, an example which can be replicated all over the world. When one goes in the fields of Solitude Farm one starts to see that every single plant has its benefits. \u201cIf we start being strategic and assume we can control nature, without considering the environmental impact of our choices, it will continue to lead us to empty water taps. It has led us to the global crisis that we have on the planet today which is now expressing itself on every single level; nutritional, medicinal, economic, social, cultural and even educational. We need to teach this non-intrusive method of agriculture for future generations to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solitude tries to do just that through educational workshops and awareness campaigns, for example through the yearly Lively Up Your Earth (LUYE) eco-music festival. There are farm tours every Saturday starting at 11:30, Wednesday permaculture workshops from 9:30-12:30, and more intensive weekend workshops where everyone can learn to make their own garden and bring local food to their plate daily.\u00a0If you live in the neighbourhood, you can also subscribe to their \u2018basket\u2019 ,where you can get locally grown food thrice weekly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fruits of Labour<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In order to grow in abundance, it is just as crucial to understand the soil as divine matter.
Krishna explains that there are millions of microorganisms, molds, bacteria, insects, earthworms,
fungi, small animals, which are part of the mycelium, the communication network under the
earth. The intelligence in the soil and the fertility of the soil are real and physical. It\u2019s the life in the soil that feeds us. Today, Solitude can produce over 150 edible plants regularly throughout the year. These sustain a restaurant, residents, weekly food baskets and local products for sale on just 6 acres of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKrishna proudly brings out this week\u2019s harvest. It includes drumstick spinach, spring onions, plantain, bottle gourd, drumsticks, cucumber, green papaya, snake gourd, lady fingers (okra), chicken spinach, a juice kit (includes soursop, hibiscus and blue flowers) and a salad kit (potalaka), chilies and rosella. An Ayurvedic treasure chest!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Krishna finds that if we want to address the environmental crisis and the water crisis in the region, we need to consider moving away from supporting unsustainable farming and distribution methods. These methods include pumping water out of the aquifer at alarming rates and consuming non renewable resources in the process. What would happen if we decided, as a collective effort, to eat more locally-grown food? Krishna dreams of a culinary revolution that brings local farm produce to a plate in our homes, office canteens and community kitchens. If everyone would grow locally in their garden, in their neighbor\u2019s garden, and eat from the land, a change could happen. \u201cThis is what we want to inspire and promote, so that we may all live off of local abundance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n