Ramesh Thapa tends the same terraced plots his grandfather first broke ground on nearly a century ago. At Sunrise Organic Farm in Bhaktapur, three generations of soil knowledge converge with modern organic certification to produce some of the Kathmandu Valley’s most sought-after heirloom tomatoes and leafy greens.
Rooted in Tradition
Ramesh learned composting before he learned to read. His grandfather carried fermented cattle manure up the hillside in woven baskets, layering it with rice straw and kitchen ash — a practice Ramesh still follows every monsoon season. The result is a dark, crumbling topsoil that retains moisture through the driest winter months and teems with earthworms year-round.
Over the years he has refined the family recipe. Vermicomposting bins now sit alongside the traditional pits, and he brews his own liquid bio-fertiliser from neem leaves, garlic, and fermented whey collected from a neighbouring dairy. Nothing synthetic touches the soil.
My grandfather said the earth remembers what you feed it. Feed it chemicals and it forgets how to grow on its own. Feed it life and it gives life back.
Ramesh Thapa
What Grows at Sunrise
The farm spans just under two hectares of south-facing terraces, but the diversity is remarkable. Ramesh cultivates over a dozen heirloom tomato varieties — from the deep crimson Laligurans to a golden-skinned variety he calls Surya that his family has saved seed for across four decades. Alongside the tomatoes, rotating beds of spinach, mustard greens, broadleaf amaranth, and seasonal butternut squash fill out the harvest calendar from March through November.
- Twelve heirloom tomato varieties, seed-saved on site since the 1980s
- Seasonal leafy greens including spinach, mustard, and amaranth
- Winter squash and pumpkins grown on compost-enriched raised beds
- Zero synthetic pesticides or fertilisers — certified organic since 2012
From His Field to Your Kitchen
Every Tuesday and Friday before dawn, Ramesh and his two sons load the morning harvest into insulated crates and drive them to our Bhaktapur collection hub. By mid-morning, those tomatoes — still carrying the warmth of the greenhouse — are sorted, packed, and on their way to BioFresh customers across the valley. The entire chain from vine to doorstep rarely exceeds eight hours.
Ramesh says the partnership with Bio Agriculture Development Project gave him something chemicals never could: a fair price and a customer who cares. For him, that makes every early morning worth it.
