About Us
Haritha farms have been
said to be one of Kerala's
best kept secrets .But we
make no secrets of our
aims here. Amongst the
treasure trove that is at
the heartland  of this
fertile area .We grow
spices , food and  fruits ,
that were once an integral
part of the landscape and
we are returning to our
roots by re-planting many
of the crops which were
lost to the rubber
plantations .This is so
different and more
environmentally   friendly
than growing spices  and
crops in the cleared forest
ranges in the mountain or  
the filled mangrove forests
in the backwaters .Stay at
the Pimenta in one of our
four comfortable cottages
and you will experience
the sights ,sounds and
tastes of original Kerala

In short we are combining
local agriculture,    
traditional   wisdom  and
local cuisine presented in
the  true way
Background

Why The Pimenta ? This page is about what we do here and why
we do it. If you want to know more please read on .

Combining the local agriculture, traditional wisdom and local
cuisine presented in the real way.  This is an alternative to mass
tourism in Kerala from Haritha Farms.


In the early 14th century, Kerala was ruled by three major
kingdoms; Travancore in the south, Kochi in the middle and
Zamorin of the Calicut in the north. These kingdoms also had very
powerful principalities inside them. One of the principalities of
former Travancore is called Vadakkumkur, comprising the present
day Muvattupuzha, Thodupuzha and  Meenachil areas. The Pimenta
was the name for the area called Vadakkumkur of the Travancore
Kingdom where the world's best quality pepper is grown.

This land was the European explorer's dream and Vasco da Gama,
the Portuguese captain, discovered Kerala and Pimenta. Today's
traveler can find Kerala but is not able to explore the treasure
trove of the Kerala Midlands because the "Lonely Planet" and most
of the other so called guidebooks and accommodation directories
have not discovered this place or any of the other interesting
places in the Midlands. This gave us the idea of opening up a place
in our garden for travelers, which is in the heart of The Pimenta,
formerly known as Vadakkumkur. We named it "THE PIMENTA"
and it is a place where you can genuinely experience the culture,
cuisine and life of the Kerala Midlands using the principles of
sustainable as well as responsible tourism.
The Pimenta Background

The   Keralan  midlands are the place where spices, food and fruits
were naturally grown in homestead forest gardens that were
eventually lost to rubber plantations. Spices were moved up to the
hills where the forests were cut and plantations were established,
damaging the ecosystems in a significant way (monoculture
plantations e.g. tea, coffee, pepper and rubber). Here, we are
making an effort to bring back the glory of the Midlands by
establishing a homestead forest garden (with bio organic farming)
and growing spices in their natural habitat. This is quite different
and environmentally more sensible than growing spices and crops
in the cleared forest ranges in the mountains or the dense
mangrove forests in the backwaters as a monoculture. We are also
trying to conserve the biodiversity of the region by raising lots of
medicinal herbs in the garden itself; a self financed economically
viable conservation initiative by the family in the region. As part of
the conservation activity, we also preserve the recipes of the
region and use them on a day-to-day basis. Of course, this is
something different for travelers who like to enjoy variety and  in
depth experience.
Philosophy
HARITHA FARMS
HARITHA (meaning GREEN) is a spice and coconut garden of 2.5
hectares situated on a hilly area of land facing paddy fields and a
small hillock. Established in 1962 as a rubber and coconut garden,
sustainable farming techniques were introduced in 1990, and the
use of pesticides and weed killers was stopped. In 1993,the rubber
trees were removed and we stopped using chemical fertilizers for
effective sustainable farming while maintaining the biodiversity of
the area.

Plants now include coconut, pineapple, bananas, different types of
yam, tapioca, spices such as pepper, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon,
turmeric ,vanilla and other tropical fruit trees and medicinal herbs.
We utilise the biowaste for in situ composting in the garden. Our
endeavor is to develop a role model for economically viable eco-
farming. This is simply a return to traditional farming system called
‘The Thodi’ (tropical home garden garden, which was the
backbone of the Kerala agriculture and ecology

In 1995, we started day visits to the farm for travelers who are
deeply interested in the culture and food of this area. The pressure
from the travelers led us to open accommodations  to guests in
1996, to supplement the farm income. Thus, we became pioneers
in eco-agro-tourism in Southern  India. The response from the
early visitors was inspiring and encouraged us to continue. The
interactions were also very beneficial to both sides. Now the
accommodations is offered in newly built cottages, named as 'The
Pimenta' close to the farmhouse, but at the same time ensuring the
guests' privacy.
Minimum number of guests

We take care to keep the
number of guests limited
so as to serve them better
and to minimize the
impact on the village. This
also helps to create an
atmosphere of informality
or a" home away from
home", yet maintaining
privacy among guests as
well as the hosts.

There are also possibilities
for study groups such as
university students or
people interested in
development studies,
school students etc to
make day visits and have
lunch at the farm. The day
visit groups are restricted  
to one group per week.
The forest garden is  run
by
Mrs. Mathew, wife of
late Prof.T.C.Mathew, her
son Jacob Mathew an ex
-  lawyer and his son
Ranjeet Mathew Jacob
who is a law student. She
is helped by Mr.Madhu
Shanker who is
responsible for Guest
accommodations and
food, and by
Mr.Chandran who takes
care of the day-to-day
activities on the garden.
Helpers from the local
area are also part and
parcel of the activities in
the garden when we
need more human labor,
such as at planting and
harvest times.
Acknowledgement

To the Almighty who made possible this small venture and still go
in the same way we planned .We really thank the guidance,
inspiration and appreciation of all the guests who have been with
us. A lot we owe to our earlier guests who helped by creative
criticism which helped us to stay in the position as well as
continuing the effort we are doing now. Lot of thanks to every one
who contributed pictures to the site as well as personal collection
and those who helped with the creation of this website.
©Haritha Farm's -The Pimenta, Kadalikad Post -686670,Kerala,India
Tel:-+ 91 485 2260216,+91 485 2263006,     Mobile +91 (0)
9447302347
Email harithafarms@yahoo.com
www.harithafarms.com
From the pioneers in Eco-Agri-Tourism in South India.  Kerala tourism commended Farm
stay since 1995
The Pimenta - An exotic experience of Kerala's midland Life, History, Culture and Cuisine...



Here you can learn about us and what we do here.