Surviving the HEAT wave '07 ...

After the hail storm hitting the farm in Himachal we had to try and figure out a way to survive the heat wave that hit Delhi in June after the pretty cool month of May . The temps touched the 44 deg Celsius mark on a every day basis and the cows lost their apperite and thus leading to a drop in their milk production .

To keep them safe from the effect of the heat we have installed a fogging system where they rest but in this heat the foggers also didn't seem to work wonders but yeah they were definitely better off than the animals in the neighboring farms . There is only so much we cud do , and if possible we wud have luvd to install AC's for them ;-) , but obviously that would have been asking the members to pay an extra 10 bucks behind every litre which I don't think they would have agreed to , but shall ask them for next year .

The heat also got to my dad and me .. which resulted in my dad packing his bags , starting the car and driving of to Himachal to re charge his batteries in the cooler environment . He's gone for 10 odd days and shall be back before our members start to return from their vacations and result in increased work load at the farm . I on the other hand just couldn't get myself to speak with prospective members though I had about 10-12 women who were interested in the membership programme. The heat just seems to shut my mind of and I don't see myself being able to run for a vacation this year though I'm dying to get away to re charge my batteries as well . Maddie on the other hand also decided to take a short vacation and headed of to meet her mom & brother thus leaving me and Shadow all by ourselves for a few days .

The members base hasn't increased by too many in the past week or so due to me not calling anyone , but since it cooled down over the last 3 days I have again gotten the phone stuck to my ear and been making the calls and have had about 9 more added to the list . Also with vacation about to get over we are gearing up for a hopeful surge in demand . We are going to be buying 6-7 more cows in the next 10 days and then keeping fingers crossed that our members do spread the word and we have lots more ppl signing up over the next few months .

Also there has been a huge demand for paneer and curd by our members and we are looking at starting to make the paneer for now , curd shall be looked into a lil later . Unfortunately the vegetables in HImchal also seem to be making trouble for us , the pests have really taken a liking for our fields and attacked with a vengeance . Huge losses suffered but I guess it makes us more determined for next year . So as of now we havn't been able to offer any to our members but our getting the fields ready for the winter season at the Gurgaon farm , and we hopin that goes off better than the summer season . All in all its been a tough year so far in the field .....

The last 3 days have seen the rains come down which has given us all a respite from the heat and we praying that heat wave has gone for good . Though we all know that of late the weather has started behaving strangely so never know what can happen next . There is nothing better than the rain inspite of all the traffic snarls it creates , the smell of dampness in the car , the get wet situation when Shadow insist he has to do his job inspite of it pouring outside ( need to get a raincoat ) and not having ones favoritre tee dry in time for the party . But lets hope it keeps raing like this from now on .... will allow us to till the fields and grow some green grass which will help in the soil getting in some Nitrogen before the vegetables are planted .

I guess its time to call another lady .... so signing out for now !!! Shall try and post a bit more often from now on , I know thats what I said last time also .

Cheers