Flood irrigation is one of the oldest and most common ways of watering agricultural fields—but is flooding an entire field really the best way to give plants the water they need?

In this episode of Permaculture Living with MLG, I explore what actually happens to water after it enters a field: infiltration, runoff, evaporation, deep percolation and groundwater recharge. I also discuss waterlogging, salinity and soil erosion, and why healthy soil may be our most important water-storage system.

Rather than simply asking how much water we give our crops, perhaps we should ask: how long can our soil hold on to it?

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

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Poplar trees grow fast, grow tall, and can become a valuable timber crop within just a few years. At Aanandaa, we planted them along our boundaries and swales—but what have we learned from growing them? In this episode, I talk about why poplar is so popular in North Indian agroforestry, how long it takes to harvest, its timber value, and its pros and cons. And an interesting question: when a tree has become part of your landscape, how easy is it to finally cut it down?

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

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A beehive is an extraordinary little world—complete with a queen, thousands of workers, drones, nurses, guards, foragers and an astonishing system of communication and cooperation. 🐝

After hosting a beekeeping workshop at Aanandaa, I came away fascinated by how bees organise themselves, divide responsibilities, communicate the location of food, care for their young and work collectively for the survival of the colony. In this episode of Permaculture Living with MLG, I share some of these fascinating insights into the lives of bees—and why understanding them makes us appreciate just how important they are to our farms, biodiversity and food systems.

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

Follow us on our social media handles

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What if you made your vegetable beds once—and never had to remake them again? In this episode of Permaculture Living with MLG, I talk about permanent raised beds: how we design them, why we never step on them, and how they help us move towards a no-till system. From permanent pathways and better soil structure to mulching, crop rotation, water management and biodiversity, I explain why the bed should remain even as the crops keep changing.

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

Follow us on our social media handles

FB: https://www.facebook.com/farmaanandaa/

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LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aanandaapermacultureproject/

One of the greatest gifts a farmer can pass to the next generation is not land, machinery or money. It is a living collection of seeds. Because every seed saved today is a promise that diversity will still exist tomorrow.

Today, saving seed has become a planned activity at Aanandaa. We intentionally leave selected plants to flower. Choose the healthiest individuals. Harvest at the right time. Dry them carefully. Store them correctly.

Many of these heirloom seeds are also shared through our seed bank so that they continue to spread rather than disappear.

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

Follow us on our social media handles

FB: https://www.facebook.com/farmaanandaa/

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Growing wheat taught us far more than how to produce grain. It taught us that farming is not just about soil, seeds and rainfall. It is also about markets, logistics, relationships and trust. If we truly want regenerative agriculture to succeed, we cannot only teach farmers how to grow better crops. We must also help them build better ways to sell them.

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

Follow us on our social media handles

FB: https://www.facebook.com/farmaanandaa/

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LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aanandaapermacultureproject/

As our permaculture project pivoted from conservation to productivity, we started thinking about whether to till our land or not. Zone 1 where vegetables are planted were easy to transition to permanent beds. But what to do with fields with crops? They were too big to shift to manual work, and yet all our literature told us not to till the soil. We could not stop tilling overnight - but the journey from tilling to low-till to no-till had to be mapped out and worked towards. 

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

Follow us on our social media handles

FB: https://www.facebook.com/farmaanandaa/

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LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aanandaapermacultureproject/

As our daughters grew up with Aanandaa, so did the nature of projects they began to handle. Teenagers required much more than a fw dogs and mulching beds to keep them engaged, and thats exactly how our digital channels of website, youtube, facebook and instagram came to be. Radha & Ira learnt some valuable skills along the way. They got real life projects which they could mention in their resumes and talk about in college interviews. The farm really did secure them - both ecologically and economically! 

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

Follow us on our social media handles

FB: https://www.facebook.com/farmaanandaa/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/farmaanandaa/

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@farmaanandaa

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aanandaapermacultureproject/

During our time in Gurgaon, it was common for Manisha or Agam to drive up to the farm over weekends and holidays. Sometimes it meant starting really early while it was still dark and there were many adventures on these driving trips. Sometimes, we were accompanied by the children or the parents, but at times we have even carted pets, honey bees and once 75 hens on this 5 hours ride!

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

Follow us on our social media handles

FB: https://www.facebook.com/farmaanandaa/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/farmaanandaa/

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@farmaanandaa

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aanandaapermacultureproject/

The first social interaction we had in the village was attending the wedding of our nightwatchman and first employee Sunil. We had known Sunil from the time he first joined us, and seen him mature into a responsible householder over the last 7 years. The wedding was replete with old world rituals, little children running around, a shy bride & groom, a traditional baraat and festivities. We were welcomed into this gathering with open arms & warmth which is hard to find in urban families today.

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For more information on permaculture, visit www.aanandaa.com. You can contact us at [email protected] and +91 62838 99456. To take courses on permaculture visit www.permaculture.co.in

Follow us on our social media handles

FB: https://www.facebook.com/farmaanandaa/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/farmaanandaa/

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@farmaanandaa

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aanandaapermacultureproject/