Fruiting Acres

Fruiting Acres · The Almanac

The Almanac

Pieces about the place itself — Chaptari, Purola, the upper Yamuna valley, the deodar and chir-pine belt, Kedarkantha, and the Garhwali year. Written from one hillside in Tehsil Purola, District Uttarkashi.

  1. Ripe golden Himalayan raspberries (hisalu) on the bush at the upper boundary of the farm in mid-May.

    food

    Wild fruits of the upper Yamuna valley — hisalu, kafal, burans

    Three wild fruits ripen on the slopes around Chaptari each year — hisalu in May, kafal in May to June, burans (the rhododendron flower) earlier still. What they are, where they grow, and what to do with them.

    4 min read

  2. View south from the upper terrace at Chaptari onto the cup of valley below where Purola sits, layered green ridges.

    place

    Purola — what the town was, what it is

    Purola is the small market town at the head of the upper Yamuna valley in Uttarkashi district. A short history, what is there today, and how to get to it.

    4 min read

  3. Chir pine forest at the upper boundary of the farm, looking north towards Kedarkantha.

    trek

    Kedarkantha from Sankri — a beginner's high-altitude trek

    Kedarkantha is the 3,800-metre summit thirty kilometres north-east of our farm. The trek from Sankri is well-trodden, takes four days, and is the easiest big peak in the Garhwal Himalaya for a first-timer.

    4 min read

  4. Looking up through a deodar canopy at the upper boundary of the farm, green needles and high sun.

    forest

    The chir pine and the deodar — two great trees of the Garhwal forest

    Most of the forest above Chaptari is one of two trees — chir pine below 2,200 m and deodar above. They look similar, they are not. What each does and what they tell you about a slope.

    5 min read

  5. A meadow of small white daisies on a farm terrace at Chaptari in early May.

    season

    The Garhwali farming calendar — eight seasons, not four

    Flatland India divides the year into kharif and rabi. The Garhwali hill farmer recognises eight seasons, each about six weeks long. Here is what each one is and what it asks of the farm.

    4 min read