You can feel it a day before it comes. The wind turns, the egrets gather, and the dry fields hold their breath. When the first real rain finally falls, the whole farm changes character in an afternoon.
Preparing the nursery
We raise our native paddy in a small nursery first, on a bed enriched only with country-cow compost. No urea, no growth promoter, nothing that forces the seedling faster than it wants to grow.
- Soak the saved seed for a day, then keep it warm until it just sprouts.
- Sow thinly so each seedling gets light and air.
- Water gently and let the rain do most of the work.
Three weeks later the seedlings are strong enough to move to the main field. We transplant into standing water, give the soil its jeevamrutham, and then mostly stay out of the way.
Natural farming is less about what you add and more about what you have the patience to leave alone.