Hands-On Approachㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
But you can truly learn when your feet and hands are on the field. The greatest knowledge is that which is applied to daily life. Home » Blog » Hands-On Approach Hands-On Approach 25 November 2025 · Fabio Karlino “Nowadays everyone could become (intellectually) a farmer.We have books, schools, courses, youtube videos …”But you can truly learn when your feet and hands are on the field.The greatest knowledge is that which is applied to daily life. And this happens in AuroOrchard.Ideas are welcome, brainstorming is magnificent, vision is encouraged.But let’s start from the ground, let’s start talking with naturebecause farming is a conversation with nature and with ourselves. First, as humans, we should grow discipline in the orchard of our good habits.The discipline to be constant, be patient and wait for the seedsthat we’ve planted with love, welcome them by preparing their bedswhere they’re gonna sleep, breathe and live. Why farming?What does it mean to be a farmer?How could human artificial activity be called ‘natural farming’?The mind is hungry for answers. Be patient, the answers will come through experience.You don’t need to rush to search on the artificial web,look inside you, wait for the universe to provide you the keysnot encapsulated in words and concepts but feelings, experiences. Then a good talk with another human,especially if it is an experienced one like Anshul,could really help to recalibrate and transfer learning. The core of farming is food.This is the basic but fundamental starting point.Around this first principlehumans create families, communities, organizations. To be a farmer is not just being on the land with dirty hands,Farming means planning, forecasting, researching, experimenting.It’s an equilibrium, a balance between physical and intellectual activity,between materialism and spirituality for the parallel evolution of both. Natural farming does not exist. Have you ever seen a farm naturally grow somewhere with no human intervention?What we define natural farming are all techniques and practices used in agriculturein order to mimic the natural processes. Just like in a forest the leaves naturally cover the soil making it humid and fertilein the same way we are mulching by putting branches and leaves from the pruning.The bio inputs of the animals and microorganisms that live in the forestare replicated with a layer of compost and biomass. Is there room for improvement? Of course.What will the future of farming look like? We are creating it.What’s the best way to learn? Hands-on approach. Previous ArticleNext Article Featured Articles Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 28 Nov 2025 Abundance Product of the Month 22 Oct 2025 Flow of fire and water on the farmㅤㅤ 03 Dec 2025 Hands-On Approachㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 29 Nov 2025
Discovering the Golden Eggfruit…
Over the last few weeks at Auro Orchard, I’ve been spending most of my days around the fruit trees, observing, tasting, and doing small bits of research on the fruits growing here. Since I mostly eat fruits throughout the day, this kind of work feels very natural to me it’s both nourishment and exploration at the same time. During these walks, I came across our eggfruit trees, and noticing the bright yellow fruits hanging from the branches felt almost like spotting little suns tucked among the leaves. Harvesting them was a fun experience on its own, and a couple of ripe ones had even fallen perfectly to the ground, soft and ready to eat. The moment I opened one, the texture really stood out: dense, creamy, and yolk-like, almost like scooping out a rich egg yolk but in a sweet, custardy form. The flavor is unlike any other fruit I’ve tried, intensely sweet and extremely satisfying, the kind of fruit you can have only half or one at a time because it fills you up so quickly. Home » Blog » Discovering the Golden Eggfruit: A Sweet Journey at AuroOrchard Discovering the Golden Eggfruit: A Sweet Journey at AuroOrchard November 2025 · Charan Over the last few weeks at Auro Orchard, I’ve been spending most of my days around the fruit trees, observing, tasting, and doing small bits of research on the fruits growing here. Since I mostly eat fruits throughout the day, this kind of work feels very natural to me it’s both nourishment and exploration at the same time. During these walks, I came across our eggfruit trees, and noticing the bright yellow fruits hanging from the branches felt almost like spotting little suns tucked among the leaves. Harvesting them was a fun experience on its own, and a couple of ripe ones had even fallen perfectly to the ground, soft and ready to eat. The moment I opened one, the texture really stood out: dense, creamy, and yolk-like, almost like scooping out a rich egg yolk but in a sweet, custardy form. The flavor is unlike any other fruit I’ve tried, intensely sweet and extremely satisfying, the kind of fruit you can have only half or one at a time because it fills you up so quickly. Eggfruit, also known as canistel, originally comes from Mexico and Central America and later spread to countries in the Caribbean and other tropical regions. Even though it has been around for centuries, it’s still not widely known in India. The tree itself is slow to mature and typically takes around eight years before it begins to produce fruit, which makes the harvest feel even more meaningful. Here at the orchard, as we continue enjoying these unique fruits, we’re also exploring different ways to process them, especially turning them into ice creams and simple frozen desserts to see how their natural creaminess transforms when chilled. It’s been a lovely discovery and definitely one of the more fascinating fruits I’ve spent time with recently. Have you tasted this fruit before? We would love to hear your experience. Over the last few weeks at Auro Orchard, I’ve been spending most of my days around the fruit trees, observing, tasting, and doing small bits of research on the fruits growing here. Since I mostly eat fruits throughout the day, this kind of work feels very natural to me it’s both nourishment and exploration at the same time. During these walks, I came across our eggfruit trees, and noticing the bright yellow fruits hanging from the branches felt almost like spotting little suns tucked among the leaves. Harvesting them was a fun experience on its own, and a couple of ripe ones had even fallen perfectly to the ground, soft and ready to eat. The moment I opened one, the texture really stood out: dense, creamy, and yolk-like, almost like scooping out a rich egg yolk but in a sweet, custardy form. The flavor is unlike any other fruit I’ve tried, intensely sweet and extremely satisfying, the kind of fruit you can have only half or one at a time because it fills you up so quickly. Eggfruit, also known as canistel, originally comes from Mexico and Central America and later spread to countries in the Caribbean and other tropical regions. Even though it has been around for centuries, it’s still not widely known in India. The tree itself is slow to mature and typically takes around eight years before it begins to produce fruit, which makes the harvest feel even more meaningful. Here at the orchard, as we continue enjoying these unique fruits, we’re also exploring different ways to process them, especially turning them into ice creams and simple frozen desserts to see how their natural creaminess transforms when chilled. It’s been a lovely discovery and definitely one of the more fascinating fruits I’ve spent time with recently. Have you tasted this fruit before? We would love to hear your experience. Previous ArticleNext Article Featured Articles Abundance Product of the Month 22 Oct 2025 Monthly Updatesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 22 Oct 2025 The Unstructured Calling: Finding My Rhythmㅤㅤ 30 Nov 2025 Hands-On Approach 29 Nov 2025
The Unstructured Calling: Finding My Rhythmㅤㅤ
Five months ago, I dedicated myself to a period of deep self-experimentation focused on health. Having spent years consuming raw, plant-based foods, I already understood the immense power of food. Yet, the true revelation, refined after a year spent back in the accelerated pace and sterility of city life following my earlier farm volunteering experiences, was the profound importance of a daily, tangible reconnection with nature, the sun, and, crucially, the soil. That time away crystallized what was missing: the rich, microbial life of a natural farm/forest. Home » Blog » The Unstructured Calling: Finding My Rhythm and Resilience in AuroOrchard’s Soil The Unstructured Calling: Finding My Rhythm and Resilience in AuroOrchard’s Soil November 2025 · Astha Khandelwal Five months ago, I dedicated myself to a period of deep self-experimentation focused on health. Having spent years consuming raw, plant-based foods, I already understood the immense power of food. Yet, the true revelation, refined after a year spent back in the accelerated pace and sterility of city life following my earlier farm volunteering experiences, was the profound importance of a daily, tangible reconnection with nature, the sun, and, crucially, the soil. That time away crystallized what was missing: the rich, microbial life of a natural farm/forest. I wasn’t just looking for just physical work; my purpose was to reconnect with the land to enhance my personal growth. Having volunteered at farms with rigid schedules before, this time I sought something different: a place that would honor my slow pace and allow me to explore without a structured plan, enabling me to truly understand where I could contribute. That search led me, quite naturally, to AuroOrchard, the source of my weekly basket. When I shared my interests: working with the soil, embracing food, and developing recipes to preserve nutritional integrity. Anshul’s response was one of profound trust: “Just come to the farm and explore for a week. Engage in whatever you feel like.” That openness made me feel I had truly found my place. I began simply by observing the farm’s daily rhythm: the conversations, the mulching, the sowing, the weeding, and the processing. I was just watching, slowing down, capturing little observations, feeling that magnetic pull to return every morning. The Science of Feeling “Called” This daily, effortless call back to the earth aligns beautifully with the science of the Gut-Immune-Brain Axis. The sense of peace and belonging is not abstract; it’s rooted in measurable biological mechanisms. Working near and engaging with the soil exposes us to environmental microorganisms, notably the “feel-good” bacteria Mycobacterium vaccae. This exposure through inhalation of bioaerosols released during farming can stimulate serotonin production in the brain, inducing states of greater happiness and relaxation, and providing a powerful buffer against stress and anxiety. It is, in essence, the body’s co-evolved response to the presence of these “Old Friends” from the natural world, which our immune systems rely on for proper calibration and resilience. The Grounding Moment and the Salad’s Genesis I’ve spent my initial days just watching… observing the harvesting, mulching, and sowing. (Visit my Instagram profile @dhanyawadearth and check the ‘November Notes’ highlight to see all my observations so far) After a week of gentle observation, my role became concrete. I walked in one morning to find Anshul and Ruben discussing the launch of a new seasonal salad box. “Ruben ask her, she only eats salad” Anshul joked, Soon, I was tasked with walking the farm with Ruben, harvesting every edible green we could use for a sample salad. As we harvested together, Ruben mentioned, “Astha, thank you. I’ve been so occupied in kitchen experiments that I haven’t visited the farm, the soil in so long. It feels so good to be back.” That spontaneous moment was a powerful demonstration of Earthing or Grounding. The human body is electrically conductive, and direct physical contact with the Earth’s surface, like placing bare hands on the soil, allows it to absorb a continuous supply of free electrons. These electrons function as systemic antioxidants, neutralizing the unstable molecules that drive inflammation. The sense of relief and calm Ruben and I both felt was not just emotional; it was a physical electrical reset, reducing our inflammatory load and enhancing our overall well-being. This biophysical connection is a vital, yet often overlooked, part of preventative health. The Nutritional Mandate: Preserving Life Force The subsequent creation of the Farm Seasonal Salad box, which is now happily finding its way into weekly baskets, was guided by principles that bridge soil health and human physiology: Honoring the Seasonal Offering: We prioritize plants that grow robustly in their home climate. This practice ensures plants produce maximum secondary metabolites, yielding higher polyphenols and, consequently, superior antioxidant potential. This is the critical, indirect link to the human gut microbiome: plants grown in microbially rich soils yield nutrient-dense food which, when consumed, provides the best substrate for a diverse and healthy gut ecosystem. Maximizing Micronutrient Retention: We serve the produce raw because essential compounds like Vitamin C, folate, and many carotenoids are heat-labile. By offering a raw, same-day harvest, we ensure maximum micronutrient retention. Digestive & Antioxidant Support: Raw Papaya contains powerful proteolytic enzymes (papain and chymopapain) that assist protein breakdown and improve gut transit. The Chlorophyll in the greens, molecularly similar to hemoglobin, is studied for its ability to support hemoglobin status and act as an antioxidant defense. The successful launch of the Farm Seasonal Salad box is a true testament to the team’s dedicated work and our collective commitment to nutritional integrity. Since the launch, Janani, Raghu, and Ruben have been actively involved in every meticulous step of production: harvesting, cleaning, sorting, drying, chopping, grating, mixing, and packaging. I am particularly proud of how this initiative operates in a closed-loop system, allowing us to receive immediate feedback from customers and act upon it, be it perfecting a dressing or actively seeking sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging, such as our experiments with banana leaves. My time here – from figuring out kitchen revamps to harvesting the
COMPOST TEA: A Natural Probiotic for Soil and Plants
As Dr. Elaine Ingham said, “there is no soil on this planet lacking nutrients to grow plants”, in other words there is intrinsically food (organic matter) in the soil, that we actually just enrich with mulch and compost in farming, according to the needs of our crops. However, sometimes there is not enough microbes to eat that food and release nutrients for the plants. Excess of food can turn into excessive oxidation and there is no conversion back to nutrients. Then compost becomes interesting because it contains a diverse amount of beneficial microbial population which contributes to the decomposition of the organic matter. In that sense spreading solid mature compost can be a solution, but it can be hard to do on a large cultivated area (heavy physical efforts, time consuming process). Turn it into a liquid form seems to be an easier way to do it on an agricultural scale. Dr. Elaine Ingham is the one who helped create the modern version of it : a compost tea using aerobic reaction. Home » Blog » COMPOST TEA: A Natural Probiotic for Soil and Plants COMPOST TEA: A Natural Probiotic for Soil and Plants July 2025 · Lucile As Dr. Elaine Ingham said, “there is no soil on this planet lacking nutrients to grow plants”, in other words there is intrinsically food (organic matter) in the soil, that we actually just enrich with mulch and compost in farming, according to the needs of our crops. However, sometimes there is not enough microbes to eat that food and release nutrients for the plants. Excess of food can turn into excessive oxidation and there is no conversion back to nutrients. Then compost becomes interesting because it contains a diverse amount of beneficial microbial population which contributes to the decomposition of the organic matter. In that sense spreading solid mature compost can be a solution, but it can be hard to do on a large cultivated area (heavy physical efforts, time consuming process). Turn it into a liquid form seems to be an easier way to do it on an agricultural scale. Dr. Elaine Ingham is the one who helped create the modern version of it : a compost tea using aerobic reaction. Compost tea is an organic liquid fertilizer made by brewing mature compost in water with the aim to extract and multiply the beneficial microorganisms present in this compost, through aerobic processes, and introduce it to either directly to the roots or plants to rebalance and enrich the microbiome life. Using compost tea is a permaculture practice that respects the life in the soil, understands how important it is, helps it grow without harming it while still allowing farming to continue. The main intention is important : to make all systems more efficient, in other words an healthy system which works on its own and not with the aim of exploiting the soil. Compost tea can be poured to the roots of the plant to enrich microbial life of the soil as we just explained or it can be applied as a foliar spray by sprinkling it on the leaves to strengthen and protect them. More precisely, compost tea protects the pores on the leaves (called stomata). Because they are open areas, bacteria can deposit there. In general, good bacteria in the compost tea can live on the stomata protecting them from bad bacteria. To make compost tea we first need to start with good cultured mature compost (6 month to 1 year in age). Mature compost means material that only grows beneficial organisms. It is important because we must be sure that nasty elements like pathogens and parasites in the compost have been killed by the composting process, which requires high enough temperature for a long enough time. As a reminder, compost should be made of green and wood materials that help bacteria and fungi grow, and their growth causes the temperature to rise in the compost pile. Of course compost must be made based on what our soil needs. If we need more bacteria, we add more green materials. If we need more fungi, we add wood materials. It depends on what the soil is missing and what biology we want to bring back. Then, to permit our starting culture to grow we need a specific favorable environment who provides space, medium, food and a process to make our compost tea : it’s our machine. In this machine we have : Contents : The tea tank : who should be round shape, with no sharp corners to helps water and air move freely, avoid collect and bacteria from growing and be easy to clean. A tea bag : used to hold the compost during brewing, who will be able to block solid particles and allows microorganisms to pass through. Perfect mesh size is 400-800 microns. The bag should be placed where water and air can flow through it easily and be partially filled to do not block water flow. The medium : Water to extract the beneficial organisms off the solid surface of compost. Water have to be free of chlorine and chloramine which might effect the organisms in the compost extract. For that purpose we use humic acid which is adequate to kill any toxic chemicals that are present in the water. Humic acid also causes the dark brown color in the compost. By chlorine, chloramine, sulfates it decolonizes the humic acid so it is therefore its easier to notice their presence and adapt the concentration of humic acid. Water we brew have to be at room temperature so that the microbial growth is flourishing. The food : The type of food we add to compost tea will influence which kinds of microorganisms grow. It all depends on what we want to achieve. If we want to develop bacteria, we use foods that promote fast bacterial growth. If we want to grow fungi, we need to feed the fungi directly with more complex foods. Here are some good options : Jaggery (unrefined sugar) who helps develop bacteria, promoting rapid microbial growth during brewing.
