A trip to Savi Trail

Bengaluru: It was a pleasant Saturday morning when the PG students of National School of Journalism (NSoJ) visited Savi Trail for a much-needed break. This quaint farm is located in Kolar, in Karnataka.

This is a great place if you want a quick holiday away from the hectic city life. Savi Trail is a 45-minute drive from Bengaluru. We reached there by 9:30 am and were given a warm welcome by the owner of the farm, Meena Seshadri. They believe in sustainability and almost all of their food is homegrown.

We were offered homemade snacks such as banana and chikoo milkshake grown on their own farm, a special Sankranti dish, which Meena jokingly calls ‘Indian trail mix’.

After we refreshed, we were given a tour of the farm on a tractor. It was exciting for many of us as it was our first time on a tractor. Ms Seshadri explained to us all about different farming techniques they used in their orchard such as rainwater harvesting, sprinkler system for trees, a first of its kind underground drip irrigation system, grafting techniques of different varieties of mangoes, sustainable ways of retaining soil fertility among other things.

She also spoke about different types of government schemes, some of them free of cost, available to farmers of Karnataka to combat areas with water supply problems. One of them is the Kushi Bhagya initiative.

Thereafter, we hiked across the landscape where we spotted a blackbuck, saw pugmarks of wild boars, and saw the dogs playfully chasing birds. We also plucked and ate berries straight from the trees.

After a tiring hike through shrubs and bushes, we reached the farm where we were treated to a delicious meal consisting of different types of chutneys, three different types of rice, puris, two different curries, and finally ended the meal with dessert. Most of it was homegrown in their own farm.

After the meal, we all lazed around in the garden. It was a great end to the day until it was time to hop on to the bus and leave.