Nurtured By Nature (NbyN) is a farm which is at the core of Rachna & Dinesh’s journey towards an environmentally sustainable lifestyle. Having spent a large part of their lives in urban spaces, they created this new space about 12 years ago.
"We did not have a fixed template to follow but just had a vision to lead a lifestyle which is essentially healthy, is environmentally sustainable, helps us to live off the land and prods to be mindful of our consumption."
Nurtured By Nature farm is located at Village Top ki Ber and is 8 km on Sabathu Road from Solan town. It is spread across approximately 50 bighas (31 acres) out of which about a third is utilised for farming, where a range of seasonal vegetables and herbs are grown. The farm is interspersed with about 300 fruit trees which include plum, peach, apricot, almonds, figs, walnut, apple, pear, lemon, nectarine & kiwi. Besides these there is a variety of other trees including cyprus, deodar, chinar, soapnut, jacaranda, silver oak to name a few.
"The journey has shaped us in many ways - experiencing and experimenting with things which we had never imagined. Besides elimination of artificial chemicals from food, we use natural alternatives for household usage based on bio-enzyme and soap nuts."
The entire farming is based on principles of organic and natural farming, with a focus on afforestation, water harvesting, soil rejuvenation and a general lifestyle which is in harmony with nature. Prevention of wastage or proper utilisation of farm produce has motivated Rachna & Dinesh towards food processing - resulting in handmade jams and preserves of various fruits, sun-dried herbs and garlic, and artisanal cheese making from milk of the native pahari cow at their farm.