Book signing event at Bangalore!
Had a great time signing books, meeting friends and catching up! Sandhya Renukamba, Debmita Dutta, Poornima, I'm still basking in the warmth of your kindness. Thanks so much for making the time to meet me! Had an unforgettable time with you! Will cherish these moments forever ❤️
Thank you @Bookhome for your amazing hospitality. I had a wonderful time!
My heartfelt thanks to @thebookhive for hosting me.
I'm Grateful beyond words to Srishti Publishers & Distributors for making all of this possible! Thank you Arup Bose my publisher, Stuti Sharma Gupta my wonderful editor, Prashanth, sales manager for coordinating the event so well and Suhail Mathur The Book Bakers for representing my book and bringing it into the world.
Finally thanks to all my amazing readers! Please continue to shower your love for my book 🙏😊
Until next time Bangalore! Lots of love!
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#booksigning #farmersutra #memoir #srishtipub #thebookbakers #nonfiction #bookworms #authorsoffb
Farmhouse project underway...
Style theme - Shabby Chic French Country
With Corporate Sessions done for the week and School Farming wrapped up for this Academic Year, it's time to focus on my farmhouse interiors. I waited 5 years for this...3 years since I could clearly envision it.
Weekend was spent blissfully working on bedroom wallpapering and painting. Doing it all "DIY style" with minimal profesional intervention.
That means tons of YouTube tutorials and researching. Lots of self-doubt and goof-ups but what a huge learning curve! I gotta tell you, nothing is more soul-nourishing as dreaming up something and then making it happen with your own bare hands! ✨
Tired to the bones working all day, (and past midnight on both days)...phew, but super happy! Totally satisfied by how things are progressing...
This summer I am bringing my 5 year dream to fruition.
The whole process will be up on my YouTube channel shortly.
Let me know if you'd like updates on what all I am working on currently...
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#farmhouse #diyinteriors #diy #shabbychic #frenchcountry #farmhouseinteriors
What a wonderful closure to the farming session at HLC International
Kids performances were outstanding. Such creativity in their presentation of all they learnt through the year in farming!!!
Different aspects/topics of farming, be it sowing, transpanting, clean food, importance of local & seasonal eating, insects and pests, why organic and many more, brought out in the form of skits, songs, puppet show, debate, demos and much more. Music composition, props and dialogue writing, all done exclusively by students of grade 4 & 5, mind you...
So heartwarming ❤️❤️
Thanks a ton to teachers for guiding them and supporting their creative outlets so beautifully. A big hug to my darling kids for an astounding presentation of their learning in such a fun and engaging manner.
Kudos 👏👏👏
This was presented to grade 1, 2 and 3 students and teachers as a way of sharing their learning. Loved how every single student took part in this activity💚
When someone asks, "how does teaching farming to small kids help"? All I can say is, it not just helps them but in turn they take home the message and deliver it quite powerfully, transforming their parents, extended families and community members at large. I have witnessed it year on year in schools and have received amazing feedback to this effect.
Children are strong proponents of nature and if we teach them the right things, they can transform the world!
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#schoolfarming #teachfarminginschools #kidsandgardening #natureschool
This is how we concluded our school farming session in one of the schools...
What a happy ending to a glorious year of farming!
Waiting for the next session soon...
Until then, we break for the summer holidays.
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#teachfarminginschools #farminginschool #schoolgarden #farmtotable #educationoncleanfood #initiativebykalpavrikshafarms
3 times a year, my little tree gives me 100s of water apple. And to say that I didn't even know this fruit existed until I bought this sapling and grew it myself!
I know I can't grow an apple tree in Chennai but I surely have my water apples!
It feels like "Mere paas Ma hai" moment from Deewar movie 😂😂 Oh how I crack myself up!
But seriously, I just love it!
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#waterapple #roseapple #chennaifarm #organicfarm #kalpavrikshafarms
The first year of planting on our farm was quite interesting as we played the "guess the gourd" game everytime we lost the name tag or forgot to place a nane tag after sowing.
To learn to identify the different varieties of gourds using their leaves was so much fun and exciting!
Can you identify your gourd plants by looking at their leaves?
Also let me know a regional recipe of yours please. I am having a lot of harvest coming in every week and need to up my recipe game.
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#gourds #ridgegourd #organicfarm #kalpavrikshafarms
Planting a variety of banana saplings early on was one of the best decisions we ever made!
From 4-5 different varieties of bananas, raw plantain, banana flower, to banana stem, these trees have been giving us so much...not to mention banana leaves.
Even during pandemic, when we couldn't visit often or plant much, one thing was assured, that we never left our farm empty handed.
So grateful for this!
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#banana #regionalplants #organicfarm #locallygrown #homegrown #kalpavrikshafarms
Clove beans! Another Heirloom crop that I grow on my farm. Getting to grow these varieties which I can never buy from a market gives me such a high! Also growing these varieties keeps the seeds in circulation helping prevent extinction of this rare variety.
Did you know we have lost over 93% of our heirloom crop varieties to hybrid invasion?
Breaks your heart, doesn't it!
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#clovebeans #mookuthiavarai #heirloom #heirloomcrops #preserveheirloom #growheirloomcrops #organicfarm #chennaifarmer #kalpavrikshafarms #farmersutra
Farm to plate food be like...
🌿Murungai keerai masiyal (Drumstick leaves cooked with dal) add to steaming hot rice with a spoonful of homemade ghee and its heavenly!
Side dishes include Turkey berries cooked with onion, tomato and garlic, Ridge gourd curry and Lady's finger stir fry.
Yummm 😋
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#farmtoplate #growyourown #organicfarm #farmtotable #kalpavrikshafarms #todaysharvest
Huge shoutout to the legendary bookstore Higginbothams in Chennai. It's not just a bookstore but an iconic, historical landmark which was established in 1844.
I also want to take this opportunity to request that as much as possible please support bookstores by visiting and purchasing your books from them. It goes a long way in helping them maintain these stores despite heavy competition from online portals.
Drop in and pickup a signed copy of Farmer Sutra!
Thanks to my amazing team at Srishti Publishers & Distributors for all their support and love.
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#booksigning #authorlife #farmersutra #memoir #nonfiction #farmingjourney #organicfarming
Love for heirloom varieties is inevitable if you start organic gardening/farming! Am I right?
The amount of transformation this journey leads to is unimaginable.
You think, all you are going to do is grow some food for your family right...oh you have no idea what you are getting into (bwahaahaa...insert evil laugh) Boy oh boy...the things are you in for guys... it's mind-blowing!
Sorry for dramaticing. But it's absolutely true. Be very careful! The things it will make you do...
(Psst...I have written all about it in my book "Farmer Sutra", do read it before you venture any closer to organic farming)
Don't tell me later that I didn't warn you...🤫
PS: I can be such a drama queen sometimes 😜
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#farmlife #farmerlife #heirloomcrops #reviveheirloom #redokra #redladysfinger #organicfarmer #bringbackheirloom #farmersutra #growyourownfood
When you meet farmers and aspiring farmers while signing your book... 😍
Had an amazing time interacting and signing my book "Farmer Sutra" at Crossword Bookstores Express Avenue Mall, Chennai.
Next time you are in Crossword Bookstore don't forget to pickup a signed copy of my book!
@crosswordbookstores thanks for all the love and fabulous support. So grateful ❤️
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#booksigning #authorlife #farmersutra #crosswordbookstores #nonfiction #memoir #chennaibookstores #bookshelf #urbanfarming #booklovers #naturelovers #bookworm #authorsoffacebook
After yesterday's exhilarating Book Signing Events, this is how we relax! This is how I like my Sundays... how about you?
Mid-morning barbeque and lazing under the Four-Tree Point in my farm. If you have read my book Farmer Sutra, you would know which place I am referring to! I had designed this place around the 4 coconut trees. I hope you can picture that...
This is the next in the #bookcomingtolife series.
Did you connect this visual with the book? Let me know in the comments...
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#sundaysbelike #organicfarm #farmstay #familyfarm #farmersutra #authorsoffacebook #farmersoffacebook #bookcomingtolife #barbequesundays #slowandlazy #familytime #farmlife #farmmemoir #nonfiction #bookstagrammers #bookworm #booklover #naturelover
This exquisite beauty is clove bean flower! Known as mookuthi avarai in Tamil, it's an heirloom bean variety which is hardly propagated anymore and not available in the market.
I have shared a detailed post about this on my blog many years ago. You can check it out. (Hope you caught the bean in the last slide of the video..)
The Tamil name is so beautiful; mookuthi literally means "nosepin" and as the bean resembles the traditional solitaire diamond nosepin, its got the name I guess.
I almost missed seeing this flower bloom as it's a nocturnal bloom which opens up only in the evening. I was just gathering my produce for the day and went around my vegetable patch one last time when I caught this blooming. Right on time! It was like a miracle unfolding...✨
I am going to capture a video of this flower blooming the next time for sure...Missed it this time.
This is one among the biggest joys of growing my own food. To grow heirloom varieties and enjoy their rare beauty not known to many, is a blessing I cherish.
I have written about it in my book Farmer Sutra as well. The love for heirloom varieties is something that gets ingrained when you become an organic farmer. That's just how it is!
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#heirloomcrop #heirloombean #clovebean #mookuthiavarai #reviveheirloom #heirloomrevival #organicfarmer #farmersutra #growyourownfood
Farm to my spice jar 🎉
Now that that's worth dancing for, don't you think 💃
One of the first spice I grew in bulk and haven't looked back on store-bought turmeric ever since. My stock of turmeric replenished again. No worries for another year or two!
A detailed video is on my YouTube channel. Let me know if you need the link to the video.
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#homegrown #farmtotable #organicturmeric #growyourown #turmericharvest #processingturmeric #homemade #homemadeturmericpowder
This year's bumper harvest of turmeric!!! Currently my home smells of turmeric as we are busy slicing, dicing and drying them in preparation for turmeric powder 😍
Hands are yellow, nails are yellow and clothes are yellow but smiles are pearly white 😁 #iykyk
#turmericharvest #kalpavrikshafarms #urbanfarmer #chennaifarmer #organicfarmer #farmerlife #abundance
I have umpteen reviews of my book stating that my readers so desperately wanted to visualise what I had written in words. One such popular request was of the pictures of Bougainville in my farm.
On page 117, there's a mention of bougainville and bamboo lining my fence.
And on page 156, there's a paragraph mentioning the idea of a pergola entrance forming a canopy of pink and white Bougainville...
So here is a series that I am starting today where my book will come to life for you to visualise the things I had shared in Farmer Sutra.
I am sure you would enjoy this visual treat as much as I do!
Let me know what else you want to see. I'd love to share it in this special series #bookcomingtolife
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#farmersutra #bookcomingtolife
#kalpavrikshafarms #bougainvillea #pergola
How to make DIY bodywash/handwash using old bits of soap:
1. Chop/grate soap bits.
2. Mix it in hot water and boil it for few minutes
3. Make sure it's dissolved completely
4. Let it cool and pour it into a bottle of your choice.
As a soapmaker I use bits and pieces of my soaps effectively using this method. You can use any of your last bits of soaps to do the same.
Note: Grating helps the soap dissolve faster. I like to boil the water foradded benefit of disinfecting and sanitizing the liquid. Always start with a small quantity of water and add more or less depending on the thickness/consistency you desire of your end product. Add glycerine to make it more moisturizing and hydrating. I don't add it because my handmade soaps have tons of glycerine in it.
Try it and let me know. It's super simple. Save it for later.
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#diy #repurpose #lowwastehacks #hacks #sustainableliving #sustainablesolutions #diybodywash #diyhandwash
Thank you so much for your inspiration to write my book Farmer Sutra 🙏
This is one of the best kept secrets of handmade soapmakers.
I love my all natural, absolutely pure soaps so much that I cannot bring myself to waste even a small bit.
So every time I cut my soaps, the bits and pieces and unshapely ones all go into this hot water pot to make it into a luxurious bodywash! How wonderful and sustainable, right!!!
Occasionally one of the soap batches don't turn out the way I want, like this one, which was a chocolate and vanilla soap. How delicious right? Though it was beautiful to look at, the cuts were uneven and so, off they went into making a silky smooth bodywash ❤️
You don't have to be a soapmaker to try this. You can use your bits and pieces of soaps as well, and make a handwash or bodywash out of them.
Hope you liked it.
Let me know in the comments if you want a full video of this.
PS: My soapmaking students here will know this one 😂
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#SustainableLifestyle #hack
#sustainabletips #soapmaking #soapmakersecrets #cpsoap #bodywash #sustainableliving #reuse