A group of young Aurovillians started solitude farm in 1996. One of them, Krishna McKenzie, inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka developed the farm with the ideas of Natural farming and permaculture. Much like the rest of Auroville, the land needed tending and care. Fukuoka advocated that all the bio-resources around us, such as leaves, weeds, branches, etc., should constantly be returned to the soil to increase soil fertility. We recognized that this technique was the basis of all our work. Further, no pesticides or fertilizers have not used on the land. The farm slowly evolved into 100% non-tillage and the use of machines and tractors has equally eliminated. About 7 years ago, in 2011, with a need for financial sustainability and a refusal to compromise on Fukuoka’s vision of natural farming, it became clear that we had to begin serving these local foods. Starting the café has facilitated our ongoing exploration of this vast treasure trove of nutrition that has really become th...