For people setting up a farm
Farm coaching, not consulting. Yes, there's a difference.
One-on-one mentorship for new and aspiring organic farmers setting up their own farms in India. We take on three or four new farms each year. Engagements run from a single season to two years.
Who we work with.
The people we coach are setting up different kinds of farms, but the common thread is that they're new to farming and serious about doing it organically. Most fall into one of these:
- Homestead farms: people growing most of what their household eats, with some surplus to sell.
- Peri-urban farms and farmhouses on the outskirts of a city, often weekend-led at first, scaling up as confidence grows.
- Small mixed commercial farms: smallholdings designed to generate income from vegetables, fruit and other produce for local markets.
- Agroecological farms: people building a farm around organic, natural, regenerative or permaculture principles, depending on context.
- Reviving family land: returnees and next-generation farmers bringing an ancestral plot back into production.
Common threads: limited prior farming experience, being willing to learn the business of farming and not just the romance of it and being prepared to do the unglamorous planning work before putting seeds in the ground.
This isn't for you if you're looking for a weekend gardening course, generic how-to content or someone who will tell you farming will make you rich quickly. We don't do any of those.
What we cover.
Coaching follows three phases. Most engagements start in Phase One, but people with existing farms often come to us mid-arc.
The work most new farmers skip and most new farms pay for later.
- Your goals, honest, specific, written down
- Land assessment, soil, water, sun, wind, drainage, neighbouring pressures
- Farm layout and zoning
- Irrigation and water management plan
- A three-year cropping plan grounded in your climate and local market
- An honest capital and operating budget
Usually four to eight weeks · one or two on-site visits plus structured remote work
Bringing the farm to life.
- Sourcing seeds, saplings, compost, tools, knowing what to insist on and what not to
- Finding and training farm labour
- Demonstrating the core methods we use
- First-season planting cycles, staged over the growing window
- Setting up record-keeping that will actually be used
One full growing season, typically six to eight months in most of India
When the first season is in, the harder questions begin.
- Who will you sell to? Direct, restaurants, CSA-style subscription or wholesale?
- What's the pricing logic?
- What does it cost you to produce each thing, honestly?
- Which crops are paying their way? Which are vanity?
- Value-added products, which make sense, which add overhead?
- Second-season cropping adjustments from what you learned
Up to twelve months, where most independent farms lose their footing
How engagements work.
Format
One-on-one
Primarily remote, scheduled weekly or fortnightly video calls, with in-person farm visits at key moments.
Duration
12–18 months
A typical full engagement across all three phases. Shorter engagements, a design-only package, for example, are possible when that's what's needed.
Capacity
3–4 farms / year
We don't take on more. If we're full when you reach out, we'll tell you, and put you on a short list for the next cycle.
Investment
First conversation
Shared in the first call. It varies with engagement length and complexity, affordable for serious new entrants, honest about the value of experienced help.
The first step.
A free 30-minute call. We talk through where you are, what you're trying to do and whether coaching is right for you. If we're not the right fit, we'll often suggest a workshop or point you somewhere more useful.
Fill out the form on this page, as much or as little detail as you have, and we'll be in touch within a few days to schedule.
Coaching enquiry
Let's have a conversation.
Share what you're trying to do, however much or little you know right now. We'll write back within a few days with a time for a 30-minute call.