Tamarind Tree Farm

A picturesque drive along the Sahyadris on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway leads you to Dahanu taluka, famous for its chikoo 'wadis', eccentric Zoroastrian community and self respecting Warlis.

Located 25 kilometres off the Highway at Charoti in the sleepy tribal hamlet of Sogve is Tamarind Tree. A chemical free orchard situated on the perennial Gorduna river (popularly known as the Ashagad river), Tamarind Tree grows chikoos, coconuts, guavas, sitaphals, papanas and traditional varieties of rice and vegetables. Entirely run on drip-irrigation, the farm has a surface well for its agricultural and domestic purposes. It also has cattle, fish, turtles, dogs and a cat.

This barren piece of land had only two large old trees on it when we moved it -- a Tamarind Tree  and a Pipal Tree, hence the name. Over the last ten years, we have seen it grow and blossom into a now producing farm and its been a long journey.

While the land is predominantly a chikoo farm,  Tamarind Tree has created a space for reflection, debate and discussion. Four ecologically sensitive cottages made of wood, bamboo mats and cowdung (as walls) running on solar energy are used by students, activists, artists, researchers, writers to meet, discuss or simply be.

The Tamarind Tree school has also been started on this land and how has a separate demarcated space with classrooms, as assembly hall and a bathroom block.

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