FarmLadpuri · Khairthal-Tijara · Rajasthan

The story of the farm

Regeneration

From one tree
to five thousand

Regenerating Aravalli land, one tree at a time: five acres of scrub and dust in the Aravallis, bought with a single tree standing on them. Today: a forest, an orchard, ten colonies of bees, cows, geese, peacocks, and people who come to stay.

From the air The farm from the air in January 2022: bare ploughed ground in the foreground, bright mustard fields and a track beyond, hills on the horizon

January 2022, from a drone. Bare ground in front, mustard fields over the boundary. This is where it began.

2021

Scrub, kans grass and bare patches under a wide sky, a power line crossing above

Before there
was a farm

Wind, kans grass and a power line. Open ground, and one tree.

Photographed from September 2021.

2021 to 2022

Early days

Two years,
in the order
they happened

Kans grass in September 2021, a cut bank that November, the first rows from the air, and two huts in a garden by the end of 2022.

  1. September 2021

    Wild ground

  2. Scrub and bare patches under a wide sky, a power line crossing above

    25 September 2021. Open scrub under a power line. Five acres and one tree.

  3. Kans grass in white flower with yellow wildflowers, hills behind

    25 September 2021. Kans grass in flower, the Aravalli ridge behind.

  4. Green scrub and a sandy track under a blue sky

    25 September 2021. Scrub and a track, before a single cut.

  5. November 2021

    Shaped

  6. A tractor and an excavator on dark earth at dusk

    16 November 2021. Dusk, and the machines still at work.

  7. A black pipe laid along ploughed contours, a pylon on the horizon

    16 November 2021. Pipe laid along the ploughed contours.

  8. A man standing beside a freshly cut bank of sandy earth

    21 November 2021. A new bank, cut to follow the fall of the land.

  9. 2022

    Raised and planted

  10. Ploughed rows from above with the first planting visible

    January 2022. The first rows, from the air.

  11. Two thatched A-frame huts in a green garden under a blue sky

    November 2022. Two huts in a garden.

  12. Young saplings on bare ground, a pickup on the track, a pylon on the skyline

    November 2022. Saplings in, and the track leading on.

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Built by hand

Two huts,
raised in a day

On 21 January 2022 a crew raised two bamboo A-frames, wove the thatch by hand, and swung each roof into place with a crane.

The making of the huts Bamboo A-frame going up, a thatch panel being woven by hand, and a crane lifting a thatch roof into place

The making of the huts. Bamboo frame, hand-woven thatch, one crane. Press play.

Five steps, one day

  1. Twisted grass rope coiled on the ground, a worker's feet beside it

    1 · The rope. Twisted from grass. Every joint in the frame is tied with it.

  2. A bamboo frame raised to a ridge, lashed together

    2 · The frame. Bamboo raised to a ridge and lashed. The rest is skin.

  3. Thatch panels woven flat on the ground beside the frames

    3 · The panels. Thatch woven flat on the ground, where a person can sit and work.

  4. A crane lifting a thatch roof panel onto a bamboo frame

    4 · Lifted. A crane swings each roof into place.

  5. A worker at the apex of the A-frame, finishing the ridge by hand

    5 · The apex. Finished by hand, standing on it. Both huts were up by the end of the day.

Two thatched A-frame huts in a green garden under a blue sky

Late 2022. The same two huts, in a garden.

Trees

Then
came the
trees

First rows in raw earth. Then citrus, amla, mango, moringa, native forest and a food forest planted in layers, so there is fruit for birds and animals as much as anyone.

Young plants in long rows of freshly ploughed red earth

Today

Five acres. One tree to start.

Five thousand
trees

5,000Trees, from one

11Fruit species

10Bee colonies

5Acres

The farm from above today: dense green trees, a lawn and orchard rows

From above, today.

Peacocks on the thatch. Bees in the orange blossom. A farm that was dust is now green from every direction.

Kinnow ripening on the branch

Kinnow, ready in January.

Quick answers

Questions, answered

How was Swechha Farm regenerated?

It began as five acres of scrub and bare ground with one tree in 2021. The land was shaped to follow its contours, water was laid in, huts were raised by hand in January 2022, and trees, an orchard and a food forest were planted. Today there are about five thousand trees.

When did the regeneration start?

The earliest photographs of the land are from September 2021, with earthworks in November 2021 and the first planting and huts in January 2022.

How many trees are there at Swechha Farm now?

About five thousand trees on five acres, including about 200 each of kinnow, amla, nimbu and moringa and about 25 mango.

The door

Come and
see it grow

Five acres in the Aravallis, ninety minutes from Delhi, and a different farm in every season. Dogs welcome.

Stay on the farm Plan a visit The orchard About the farm