The millet plantation in Solitude Farm.
Millet is a cereal very popular in Tamil Nadu and especially in Solitude.Here, it is cooked as flour in porridge or dosai or by accompaniment with rice. This week we have prepared several fields before planting a variety of millet called "Ragi".
First, we have cleaned these fields by removing weeds by hand. Of course we had the right to use some tools to help us.
Then we sow directly Ragi across the field. To better promote germination and reduce the work later, we made tranches and strips of land called "beds".
Then, we covered the "beds" of organic matter to avoid the weeds come back and to improve the quality of the soil. This technique is called "mulching" and it is very important in practice "natural farming".
Once the small plants of Ragi came out, they must be replanted elsewhere if they are too tight. They will grow better and give more grain. This step is called transplanting.
Now there's nothing left to do before the harvest will be in three months!Then we will write a new post to explain how to cook this delicious millet.
See you next week!
The Volunteers.
October 4, 2011 9:00 PM
So, three months later we are waiting for millet's recipe :-)