Ayurveda in the Sri Lankan Hill Country - developing an Ayurvedic Garden.
When my wife purchased the 5 acres estate in Viharagalla, which she later named GlenMyu, it had been uncultivated for many years.
Historically it had been part of the larger Viharagalla tea estate and then used to grow sugar cane.
The land had become overrun by Guinea Grass which was brought in to the country as a fast growing foodstock for cattle. Unfortunately Guinea Grass is invasive and dominates local endemic species of plants and the land was in a poor state.
Lots and lots and lots of work.
There were however, several trees and shrubs that had managed to compete with the invasive grass and there were Jackfruit, Avocado, Coffee, Pepper and Cinnamon growing wild on the land.
Our priority was to build a property for ourselves so we could then develop the estate growing fruits and vegetables for our own consumption.
The Kitchen Garden
We did build a kitchen garden close to the original shack that was on the property and started growing some vegetables early on. Little did we realise that we would be fighting a battle with a host of creatures that wanted to eat our crops.
Monkeys, Wild Boar, Parrots, Bulbuls, Porcupine and an array of insects were challenges to our wish to eat wholesome locally grown organic food.
No drugs, no chemicals, just relying on Mother Nature (and a bit of hard work).
It took some time to protect the vegetable garden and work out what chemical free pest control would keep the insects away. Our steadily increasing collection of orphan dogs were an unexpected part of the solution guarding the land from would be diners.
The estate at GlenMyu is around 100 metres in elevation from top to bottom and the farming practices in the past had made the land vulnerable to erosion. It was essential that we secured the land so whatever we built did not end up at the bottom of the hill.
Neighbours who had restored and maintained their properties were really helpful in giving advice on how to manage and secure the land which we remain truly thankful.
We started planting a variety of trees around the land, ensuring that we had diversity and included a mixture if wood and fruit trees which would lead to a greater level of biodiversity and encourage wildlife to feed and live in security at the estate.
We also contacted to local agricultural department and sourced a variety of trees and plants through them including clove trees, cinnamon and ginger.
Fast Forward Three Years.
Fast forward almost three years since we started developing GlenMyu we visited the Ayurvedic Plant Nursery in Bathgoda which is located around six kilometres away.
We went to purchase a few plants to add some local diversity around the estate with a view to learning about this ancient art and eventually developing an Ayurvedic Garden which would be interesting for visitors to the estate.
We were still getting a bit of unseasonal rain in July which us normally the start of the dry season here in the hills and therefore we though we would make the best of the opportunity and establish some plants in some of the areas we had recently cleared of Guinea Grass.
A larger than expected purchase.
We ended up purchasing over 180 plants and therefore we were committed to the cause. Fortunately we had a night of rain and therefore we could start planting straight away.
My wife knew some of the plants we purchased and some would need research before being sunk into the ground. These plants will be planted around the land and add diversity to the plant stock we have and it will be interesting to see how they develop in their new environment.
The site for our Ayurvedic Garden for visitors is in the process of being cleared and made ready for planting and therefore is a project which will be developed later in 2021. We plan to have a variety of Ayurvedic plants that will be interesting but relevant to our guests and therefore we will be doing a lot of research and preparation during the latter half of the year to ensure we have another place of interest and place to relax with nature on the estate.
The 180 Ayurvedic plants that we purchased are already in the ground which will give visitors a wide variety of species to look at and also provide diversity around the Estate.
Oh No - we need more plants.
It looks like we will be visiting the Ayurvedic Nursery a little later this year again to plant in our Ayurvedic Garden – I wonder how many plants we will purchase on that trip and whether we will break 180 again!