Newbie starting a permaculture project in India...

Hi folks,

Really happy to be here...

I am starting a new permaculture project on a 2.5 acre hill slope land near Pune, India.
I am new to the permaculture concept and the community. So looking for advice and help.
I am happy to help people and learn- in their projects, if I can.

Half the land is currently a native monsoon forest and I plan to grow veggies, construct a small mud+brick house on the remaining part. The idea is also to cultivate a 'devrai'- regional traditional medicinal plants within the forested area too.    

I have interest in sustainable lifestyle and yoga. Have traveled a good bit in US, Europe, India.
Please feel free to say Hello and ask any questions...
I will keep coming up with my questions soon anyway

Cheers,
Sandeep

Welcome to Permies, Sandeep.

I have spent almost a year traveling in India, working on various permaculture projects there. There are some very inspirational places.

I'll start with a suggestion: once you have somewhere for people to stay (shelter, space for camping, toilets and running water -- or your place) you should register on Workaway and HelpX. My partner and I used these services, along with Couchsurfing, to find interesting projects and like-minded people (both hosts and other volunteers). I imagine you'll get a lot of offers for help and it is a great way to both benefit from the experience (and labor) of others and pass on your own knowledge.

Best of luck with your project.

Thanks for the Welcome Luke!

I will look up the two forums you suggested.

For my project, I am realising that creating a habitable space and food forest within an existing jungle ecosystem - will be the nature of project.
It's a heavy monsoon area which gets quite hot too during summers too.

So it will be fun few years

Cheers,
Sandeep

Sandeep,

It sounds like an amazing project. You live in the ultimate food forest climate - year-round growth and an amazing variety of edible and medicinal plants available to you.

I recall seeing some wonderful household gardens in Goa full of turmeric, Malabar spinach, moringa/drumstick, bananas, papayas, curry leaves, pumpkins and, of course, coconut palms.

Have you made a start yet?

Hi Luke,

I have started planning for now.

-An architect is planning a small mud, brick, stone house for us to stay in. She will also plan for the main access road.
-Reading on rainfall, weather patterns, wind patterns specific to the property.  
-I am reading permaculture material / watching videos and making a draft design for the 2.5 acres. It's really skeletal as of now and I need lot of help in reviewing, suggesting solutions etc.  
-Trying to make some relationships in the local village (I stay 2 hrs drive away currently) - finding people who can work on the plot and also help in local tree, water, regulations knowledge.  
-Making a list of trees and plants types that are currently there on the property forest (just a few added fro now) -and asking some friends about them and their uses.
-Just for fun, I planted some coriander on a small patch yesterday  - hoping to make some lemon - coriander soup in few weeks  
-Enjoying the 2 hr weekend drive to the property- it's monsoon and it's lush green everywhere. The beautiful dam reservoir close to the property is also filling up, with great views.  

Few major questions I have are:
-How to do effective water management (no rains or reservoir water for 2 months) taking into consideration steep slope of the property. Pond design, swail design etc..
-How to plan for guilds around productive trees? I know fairly well which productive trees I need, not sure what to plant along with them at other levels to create a cooperative guild.  
-How to create access across the property- again steep slope is the concern.


If somebody can help me answer these questions, even review what I plan? It will be great.
I have already created a small design document which has links to google earth location, property layout, weather info, plants database, etc.  

Cheers,
Sandeep

Hi Luke/others,

Which forum on permies would be best to post my queries about permaculture design?

regards,
Sandeep

Sandeep,

I'm glad to hear you are observing the land and making note of what is currently growing and living there. It might be worth your time to plot, on a map, where the various species grow as this will inform you of what the local conditions are like and may inform your future planting.

Whilst you have land that you have not yet changed, it's a great opportunity to watch the site and notice how the water, sunlight, wind and other forces work upon and move across it. It might be that an area that seems perfect for a building during the dry season becomes saturated in the monsoon. Perhaps you have already done this?

As for your questions, there are categories for Building, Growing (including a forum for Forest Gardens), Energy and Community that might be relevant to you. There are lots of forums here on Permies but those might be a good place to start!

Sandeep. welcome to the forum.

Your land and plans sound lovely.

Besides the forum mentioned by Luke, there is a "Project Forum" where folks post topics on their personal projects:

https://permies.com/f/69/projects

Within that same Category is one for "Permaculture Design":

https://permies.com/f/123/permaculture-design

I am looking forward to learning more about your plans.  

Hi Luke and Anne,

Thanks for pointing me to the right forums.

I have posted my permaculture design questions with project info into the "permaculture design" forum.
Hoping members there can help validate/correct the design and give suggestions.

Wow- it's exciting!

Cheers,
Sandeep

Hi Sandeep,

Just tumbled upon your post. I'm from Pune as well.
Would be great to connect, share and learn from your experiences.

Regards,
Shailesh