Eco-farm

Jim’s Farm Villas offer a wealth of experiences to introduce you to the fantastic diversity of Sri Lanka’s environment.  Kevin, the owner of the hotel and farm, dedicated the farm to his father’s memory.  Jim was a farmer in Suffolk, England for many years, and inspired Kevin to create his own sustainable organic farm in Sri Lanka.

Coconuts and much more!

You can find out more about coconut farming or see the nuts being harvested (every six weeks) by our skilful pickers.  There are over 2500 coconut palms, 200 banana palms, plus several hundred mango and papaya trees, providing delightful shade and wonderful vistas as they disappear off towards distant hills.  We will explain the organic method of cultivating coconuts, bananas and other crops on the farm, including black pepper, mangoes, papaya, cinnamon, coffee and cocoa.  We have free-range chicken and eggs. Plus we have our own cows to provide milk and organic manure.

Sustaining Paradise

We aim to protect and enhance the beautiful Sri Lankan environment, and have therefore installed solar hot water panels on the roofs of the Villas, and a rainwater harvesting system to feed our lakes, where fish keep the water free from insect larvae. 

On average, we receive 2.5 metres of rainfall each year. Beneath Jim's Farm there are thick deposits of dolomite/limestone which cleans the rainwater before it enters our unique aquifer. All the water from our own wells is then triple-filtered through charcoal, sand and UV so that it can be drunk directly from the tap, thus minimising the use of plastic water bottles. We also treat and re-use the waste water from our kitchen and bathrooms to irrigate appropriate crops. All organic waste from the kitchens is fed to farm birds and animals.

We concentrate on providing organic fertilisers at Jim's Farm.  We add nitrogen to the soil by cultivating gliricidia (a fast-growing legume tree).  For critical potassium and phosphate we apply chicken manure in small quantities.  We also compost the thousands of huge coconut leaves which fall each year though they will probably take 10-20 years to rot down!

We are investigating the feasibility of generating photovoltaic electricity so that we can become self-sufficient and off-grid, once the technical challenge of sufficient battery storage has been solved.  Our net absorption of carbon dioxide is 136 tonnes a year.

We support our local village economy by sourcing fresh fruit and vegetables from local suppliers and use fresh fruit and spices from our own trees and bushes.

Bird watching:  Sri Lanka is a paradise for birdwatchers (twitchers) with many indigenous species, including the famous hanging parrot.  Many of these birds visit the farm at different seasons - 102 species have been spotted so far - including peacocks! We can supply reference books and binoculars to get you started.

Further afield

If you would like to venture off the farm, we can arrange a tuk-tuk (bajaj or trishaw in Sri Lanka) tour of our local village to experience the hustle and bustle of Sri Lankan village life, the beating heart of the country.  Or you might like to hire one our bikes and really get in touch with your locale. There are 3 Buddhist temples nearby, where a local priest will be delighted to provide an overview of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, plus his traditional blessing.  You might like to learn more about the ancient healing tradition of Ayurveda at one of the leading spice gardens with links to Jim’s Farm or visit our own Ayurvedic spa to experience a traditional treatment.