SADHU'S VISION
Thanks for visiting my website! I’m
Sadhu, the founder of Govardhan Gardens, a natural living and
self-sufficiency oriented farming project near Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
After traveling the world for almost 20 years, working for many
cultural, social, altruistic and agricultural projects, an opportunity
came up to acquire my own land. Thus, I could finally fulfill my old
dream of living in nature and being as self-sufficient as possible.
When I acquired my land, a ten acre farm, it was mostly covered with
weeds, and it was a major challenge to even get some basic cultivation
going. My first project was to grow as much of my own food as
possible. I had no idea how to survive at first, but eventually I
started a tropical rare fruit nursery, which soon became a central
focus of my work.
Within less than a decade, I was able to establish the most
diversified tropical fruit and nut collection in the Caribbean (over
300 species planted by the end of 2008). Almost all of the collection
species are spreading fast throughout Puerto Rico which is a big step
in securing the fruit future of the island. About 200 of these new
tropical fruit and nut species are the first ever being circulated in
the Caribbean.
In 2008, I added a small bamboo collection of high quality structural,
edible and ornamental bamboos. The same year, the farm received almost
1,000 visitors from various parts of Puerto Rico and from abroad. With
every year passing, the farm is becoming more of the dynamic, vibrant
micro eco-system I had originally envisioned.
Govardhan Gardens is a constantly evolving project, dedicated to the
systematic study, propagation and promotion of the best tropical
fruit, herb, vegetable and bamboo crops. In March of 2007, I published
“Oro Verde – Securing the Future of our Food” – which is a proposal of
how to improve or even revolutionize the derailed state of agriculture
in Puerto Rico. I am happy to see how a new generation of organic
small-scale farmers is taking advantage of this publication, and is
currently helping to introduce a new era of sustainable, holistic
farming in the tropics.
At the same time, Puerto Rico, like most other Caribbean islands,
still lacks biological and genetic diversity of vegetables, grains and
herbs. In order to help improve this situation, I started the Oro
Verde Foundation with the help of a local activist and farmer, Magha
Garcia. From my perspective, the acquisition of the hundreds of
required tropical vegetable and herb species is a major challenge, and
foremost, the endeavor is a race against time.
We are living in a materialistic time where money, power and mass
manipulation dominate practically every sphere of life. It is not
surprising that these unhealthy dynamics are resulting in an
artificial economy, based on the exploitation of limited natural
resources. Now that this artificial economy is about to crumble under
the weight of having reached its peak, sustainable agriculture is
again in a position to resolve many of humanity’s deep-rooted
problems.
For too long now, Puerto Rico’s agriculture has followed the same
trend that prevails almost worldwide by only growing a few mono-crops
that are “cultivated” with an array of pesticides, chemical
fertilizers and herbicides. The average modern farmer and sadly
especially the government has had little or no concern or vision for
an ecologically sound and sustainable agriculture. Not many farmers
know about the medicinal, nutritional or insecticidal properties of
herbs, fruits or vegetables, and only very few are self-sufficiency
oriented. Instead of seeing farming as an ecologically responsible
lifestyle, modern agronomists see farmers merely as a business based
on exploiting farm land.
As a result of unqualified agricultural leadership, Puerto Rico’s
agriculture has been pushed to the brink of extinction. Today, there
are only 18,000 registered farms and slightly over 30,000 farmers
left. Much of the farm land (several thousand acres per year for the
last six decades) around the island is sold, broken down into smaller
plots and subject to erosion, neglect or housing developments .
Nevertheless, farming can be meaningful and fulfilling way of life and
it will always remain one of the most natural means of economic
security. It is important in this regard to understand the role of a
responsible and creative agronomist. Click to see ‘Natural Lifestyle
and Nutritional Healing in the Life of an Agronomist’, an article
I published years ago in Agrotemas (the island’s main, conventional
agricultural newsletter). This article was the introduction to a
monthly series about the healing properties of locally available
fruits and it explained some of the required changes in the world of
agriculture.
Currently, the island is highly food-dependent (about 94% of all foods
consumed in Puerto Rico are imported). Unknown to most, a large
percentage of those imported foods contain hundreds of dangerous
chemical additives and transgenic ingredients. “Oro Verde – Securing
the Future of our Food” explains how the island could turn to healthy,
decentralized food production and become largely food self-sufficient.
Govardhan Gardens is an aspiring role model farm and is a
constantly-evolving project, so check back here regularly to read new
articles, email me. Farm tours are mostly during the dry season
(January-March). - Sadhu
ARTICLES BY SADHU
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Sadhu Govardhan is an independent thinker,
eco-organic farmer, tropical rare fruit connoisseur and
researcher. Extensive journeys for over twenty years have allowed
him to study indigenous cultures and different life styles
throughout the world.
I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone
who has helped out this project over the years. Even if I can't
acknowledge all of you individually since so many people have
supported Govardhan Gardens in so many ways, I certainly remember
every one of you. 
