Vṛkṣāyurveda: the knowledge of plant life
About a thousand years ago Surapāla wrote down how to choose land, sow, water, feed and protect plants. We read his text, and the farming practice around it, beside modern agronomy — and set out here what they prescribe, with the source named.
What the texts and the tradition prescribe
Three preparations, each marked for where it comes from: a classical text, an old practice, or modern natural farming. Each is made on the farm. Ojas makes none of them, and none is offered here as fertiliser advice.
Liquid manure from animal remains
The text's liquid manure: animal remains boiled in water and left to ferment.
- Animal flesh, fat and marrow
- Milk
- Sesame oil-cake
- Black gram
- Honey and ghee
The five products of the cow
The cow's milk, curd, ghee, dung and urine, mixed together.
- Milk
- Curd
- Ghee
- Dung
- Urine
A fermented dung-and-urine culture
The cow's dung and urine fermented with jaggery, pulse flour and a handful of soil from the farm.
- Dung
- Urine
- Jaggery
- Pulse flour
- A handful of the farm's own soil
Growing medicinal plants on contract
The aim is a contract a grower can plan around: who buys the crop, and to what standard, agreed before planting. No contract is offered and no price is quoted. These are plants Indian growers already trade, and the part of each that is sold.
अश्वगन्धा (Aśvagandhā)
Withania somniferaशतावरी (Śatāvarī)
Asparagus racemosusब्राह्मी (Brāhmī)
Bacopa monnieriतुलसी (Tulasī)
Ocimum tenuiflorumRaw botanicals on the shop
Roots, leaves, seeds and resins are listed on the shop by the sellers who supply them, each on its own product page. Farm inputs made from the shed are not among them.