Organic Cheesemaking Farm in Coonoor, Nilgiris, India.
Organic Cheesemaking Farm in Coonoor, Nilgiris, India.
Acres Wild is our 22 acre, family-run organic farm in Coonoor town (altitude 6000 ft) which is a small hill station in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu state in South India. Coonoor is about 20 km from Ooty (Udhagamandalam).
Our goal at Acres Wild farm is to shape an eco-friendly, holistic and self-sustaining life style for ourselves and share this experience with others. We hope to adhere to the following principles at our farm.
Use no chemicals, increase bio-diversity and to keep tillage to a minimum.
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Farm animals get priority at Acres Wild. Good cheese needs good milk and for that we grow meadow and Napier grass for the cows. Azolla is a water fern that is a supplement feed. It is grown in shallow ponds.
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Bison are regulars but since August 2006, a family of elephants started coming up annually in summer from lower down the hill, mainly for water.
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Other wild life are wild boar, snakes, panther, wild cat, porcupine, deer and wild rabbits. I hope to get photos of each.
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Ducks and geese enrich our pond eco-system. Their excreta is excellent for the fish. We have introduced about 6000 carp fingerlings - Catla, Rohu and Mrigal. Guinea fowl just have a good time.
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We want to grow our own food and organically. Herbsfor our cheese.
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Maize, oats, and wheat and Gobar gas plant for self sufficiency.
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Gourmet cheese is a prime focus of our activities at Acres Wild farm and we feel good that we have put Coonoor on the map.
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Our cheese cottage is a culmination of 3 years of experimenting with the cheesemaking process. The spaces in the cottage are friendly to visitors and people interested in cheesemaking.
Our farmhouse is made in the classic Indo-British style popular in the Nilgiris. Four bedrooms - each with a bay-window view, wooden floor and a fireplace. Hot water from Solar and Gobar gas for cooking.
Farm day visits are possible if you call or email us in advance. Kindly read this page carefully to get an idea of what to expect.
Day Visits FAQ
Where is the farm located?
Surprise! We are within Coonoor town limits and only 3 km from the bus stand and main market area. That is closer than most hotels and other sites of interest in and around Coonoor town.
What can we expect from the farm visit?Acres Wild is a family-run farm aimed at sustainable living. One special feature is that of making gourmet cheese. So we can show you how we are trying to shape an organic and sustainable life style. You can interact with our farm animals like cows and goats and birds like ducks, geese and hens. We are breeding fish in our ponds that you can feed and observe. We will walk you through all this and explain stuff about keeping cows, Gobar gas plants, composting, vermiculture, rain water harvesting and adobe brick making. It is possible you may see bisons, wild boars or wild hares but we can't promise. There are lots of birds to watch.
We will take you through our cheesemaking process but it is not a factory so please don’t expect huge machines and impressive looking gadgets…. You can see the photos on our site to get an idea of scale etc. You can sample at least one of our cheeses (depending on availability) and we hope that you will buy some from our local outlet in Bedford. We do not sell cheese from here. Generally people who come here are interested in how to get back to nature and what it takes to start similar farms etc so we talk and discuss that.
About 2 hours but varies on your interest. It is a sloping hill land (with road going through) so it depends on how much time and effort people want to put into walking around to each activity and in what detail you want to get.
11 am in the morning or 5 pm in the evening but we need to fix that between us.
Yes. We request you to pay a token amount of Rs 100/- per adult that will go strictly towards planting and maintaining trees on our farm. Children below 16 are exempt.
No we are not geared to serve food here. You are welcome to bring your own food and enjoy it during your visit.
How do we fix a farm visit.
Please call me, Mansoor at (94432-32621) or email (acreswildfarm@gmail.com) in advance to fix a suitable date and time for a day visit to our farm. Farm visits are only possible if Tina or I can be personally present.
DIRECTIONS TO OUR FARM
Below is a rough map. Please read the directions given below the map:
Come to Coonoor Bus Stand which is located near the main market in lower Coonoor.
Go past Bus Stand on Barlows road that goes to the Taj Hotel. About 100m after the bus stand there is a fork in the road on the right with a sign 'Kanni Mariamman Kovil Street'. Go down that right fork.
Follow the road for about a kilometer (past a temple and a small bridge) till you come to a 3-pronged fork in the road and take the extreme left fork. There is small yellow sign board there that says 'Acres Wild Farm'.
Keep following that road till you see another yellow signboard that says 'Acres Wild Farm' and turn right there.
You are in Acres Wild Farm now ..............!
Visual ways to explore our site are the Photo Gallery and the Site Map.
Reach out to us in our Chat Room or sign the Acres Wild Farm Guestbook.
We log our key events and experiences in the Acres Wild Farm Blog. Please read our Site Manual before you venture into sections of our website which have a special function like Farm Blog, Acres Forum, Acres Wiki etc.
This is just a Quick Tour of our website. For complete details click on the Main Menu on the left of each page.
Mansoor, Tina, Zayn and Pablo Khan. 
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Coonoor Weather
Coonoor Sun and Moon Timings
