Visit to Bellwood Farm

Bellwood Farm is the property that my brother-in-law Hamlin and I bought in April, mentioned under a previous entry titled "Hillside Paradise"! Actually, that was the title of the advertisement used by the previous owner. The land is part of the old Bellwood tea plantation, which has been subdivided many times for various purposes, mainly for distribution among landless people. Bellwood Farm is 17 acres in extent.

One morning, we started off from the Hantana house and traveled through the beautiful Hantana tea plantation on the way to Bellwood. Despite its proximity to Kandy town, the plantation is amazingly tranquil; for about 10 kms, we hardly encountered any traffic on the road. Of course, the road, like many such rural roads in Sri Lanka, was in very bad shape. But the lovely, carpet-like tea bushes, the smiling, curious faces of plantation workers and their children, the quaint churches (one dedicated to St. Sebastian) and Hindu kovils, the stunning valleys and pine plantations, the cool breeze blowing in through the open windows, kept us enthralled.



Our party consisted mainly of Fawzia's cousins Dudley, Shaan, Fati and their children. After about 10 kms of travel, we came to Galaha, a typical plantation town providing supplies of fertilizer, pesticides, weedicides, and small equipment to the surrounding plantations and provisions to the workers. In a country torn by ethnic strife, Galaha is unusual in that Sinhalese, Tamil, and Moor residents appear to live in harmony.

Three more kilometers of bone rattling roads and we were in Bellwood Farm. At Hantana, the elevation of about 2000 ft. and Bellwood is much higher, closer to 3500, so the climate is even nicer. We felt this as soon as we alighted from the van.



Bellwood is awash in greenery. Virtually anything grows there. The photo below shows coffee and pepper. Jak, cardamom, cloves, avocado, guava ... the list goes on. However, the land had been neglected in recent years and most of the produce has not been harvested.



The more verdant part of the land is steep, with a perennial stream flowing at the bottom. Beyond the land, this stream divides, one providing water to local rice farmers and the other forming a "spout" where locals come to take a bath and wash their clothes. This is also the opportunity for villagers to trade gossip and catch-up on the local news.

We are thinking of tapping the stream and to start bottling water. "Bellwood Spring Water" has a nice ring to it!



More than half the land consists of a grassy hillside, formerly planted with tea. Tea is fetching very good prices now and Hamlin is thinking of planting tea in the hillside. This isn't cheap: the cost of planting tea in an acre of land is about Rs. 300,000 (US$3,000).



I was pleased to see that Hamlin has already started some cultivation. Part of the land had been cleared and planted with carrots, tomatoes, celery, and other vegetables. They were sprouting, and two labourers were at work. Sarath, the caretaker, told me that the temporary fence they had constructed around the area was keeping out the wild boar, rabbits, and porcupines, although the seeds were attracting wood pigeons. When the tomatoes ripen, he expected the monkeys to arrive in droves. Farmers never have it easy: in the dry zone, it's the lack of water. In other areas, it's the animals and birds that destroy their crops.

A problem that dairy farmers face is the low wholesale price paid for milk. When we bought Bellwood, there were three milking cows, but the caretaker Sarath was not keen to keep them because the price paid for mild was less than that for bottled water! So, the cows have been sold.