“Will nutmeg grow in the sandy beach?" This is what everyone asked M O Avarachan when he decided to grow nutmeg trees in his house at Kalavoor 13 years ago. But, now, Avarachan points to more than 80 nutmeg trees that bear fruits in the 65-cent land near his house.

He reaps the fruits of success even though he didn’t have any models or formal training in nutmeg farming. Avarachan, who worked at the Steel Industrials Kerala Limited (SILK) retired 13 years ago. He had tried his hands at farming even when he was working at SILK. Although he started fish farming in the two ponds in his yard, he gave it up after it became a loss.

It was from a relative in Muhamma that Avarachan learned the basics of nutmeg farming. He started by planting 40 saplings. But, it didn’t yield much as the saplings were developed without scientific budding. In the next turn, Avarachan made sure to select the best saplings. To overcome the challenges posed by the beachy sand, he filled the pits with sludge from the pond as well as dried leaves. He used cow dung, bone powder and neem cake as manure. Lime was also used occasionally to remove acidity from the soil.

Avarachan says that cow dung and rotten leaves are the main organic manure for nutmeg. Huge drums are filled with green leaves and water and kept for 20 days. The leaves would get rotten and turn into excellent organic manure. This mixture is diluted with water and then poured under the trees. Besides, good watering is also required for nutmeg trees during summer.

Nutmeg trees bloom thrice a year, and the fruits would be fully grown, ready for harvest within six months. As each tree blooms at different time, the trees will have yield throughout the year, ensuring a steady income for the farmer. Avarachan grows plantains as well as coconut trees and pepper as idavila (integrated farming). Plantain varieties like njalipoovan, palayanthodan and Kannan are grown at Avarachan’s farm in Kalavoor.