BENGALURU: Garudapalya, is a village near Kolar district, 65km from Bengaluru. The land is filled with mango orchards. Savi, one among them is a family owned organic farm that grows and harvests various mangoes varieties like Mallika, Alphonso (Badami), and Dasheri, to name a few.
Owners, Manjula and her mother Meenakshi
Byregowda, recently organised a tour for around 15 people, of which we were a part. The Savi Mango Trail gave us an opportunity to experience the joys of getting our hands dirty in a farm and knowing the difficulties of growing the fruit. The trial began with a bang - a glass of fresh mango juice and some snacks, we got as soon we reached.
The farm was started around 20 years ago and the idea for a mango trail was started in 2017. It primarily takes place during the month of May and June, only on Sundays, and for four hours. It is divided into two sections, a morning and evening tour.
Our guide, Manjula has been a mango farmer for around 18 years and she says the tour has attracted a lot of visitors. She says, “Last year we had more than 200 visitors and this year we expect more than that.”
A number of lessons are taught in growing mangoes - how to differentiate between a good plantation from a bad one, learning how to pluck a mango from a tree and tips on nurturing mango plantations - for example we were taught how to use a knife to cut the stems few inches away from fruit. This was then immediately placed upside down so that the sap would not affect either the mango or our skins. Visitors are also allowed to climb trees.
“Apart from the mangoes, the farm also grows bananas, figs, tamarinds, different types of grains and onions,” says Manjula. After the four-hour trek and tour, Manjula led us back to the farmhouse where we had a homemade meal made of farm-grown vegetables in typical Karnataka style and served in a banana leaf.
Altogether a great experience! Savi also has a deliver service where fresh mangoes are delivered directly to homes. For more details contact the email address: thesavitrail@gmail.com
