¶ The Orchard · Ratnagiri Coast
1500 acres,
one season.
¶ Origin
The estate sits four kilometres from the Arabian Sea. Salt arrives in the air every evening; the trees taste of it.
We took on the orchard in 2003. It was untended for a decade — twenty-eight surviving trees and a single stone press. We replanted in the gaps with grafts from a neighbouring estate that had been in the same family since 1984, and that is the year we put on the box.
¶ Method
Slow, by design.
No spray
We use neem oil, ash, and patience. Pest pressure is real but manageable when the canopy is healthy.
Hand thinning
Each tree is thinned twice. Fewer fruits, all of them concentrated.
Tree-ripened
We pick at first blush, never green. Yes — the windows are short.
Straw-packed
Wood-wool from the village mill. Compostable, breathable, hand-cut.