Teatulia Tea

User Bio

We planted our first camellia sinensis in 2000. Selecting land that had previously lain fallow, we set out to establish a new kind of enterprise - a renaissance tea garden - to bring the land and the local community back to life. Our garden would sustain the land and the people while producing top-quality tea for enjoyment locally and on the global market. Today in 2008 we have premium quality, organic teas, that are selected from a single garden.

By using the "do nothing" natural farming methods of Masanobu Fukuoka, we have been able to sustain our land and also create innovative cooperatives with our workers and local villagers.

Teatulia’s Cooperative began with an innovative method focused on dairy. Co-op members receive a milking cow, for which they pay back not in cash, but with milk and cow dung. Members pay only one liter of milk per day, keeping the rest for their children and the calves. The pay 10 to 20 kgs of cow dungs per day, keeping a measure for their own use. This easy “barter” form of payback takes off the pressure of cash payments, making the co-op a practical alternative even to the micro-credit operations for which Bangladesh is now famous. Most members manage to pay off their cow within two to three years. Best of all, they keep any calves that the cow bears, doubling or trebling their cattle wealth!