Harmutty Gardens

The gardens are located on the banks of a river by Arunachal Pradesh, about 37 kilometers from the town of Lakhimpur in Northern India.

History

The 1050 hectare garden was founded in 1870 through a grant to Major Gibbs, a British land owner. He chose to name his garden after Queen Harmati, who was the wife of King Arimatta. King Arimatta had once ruled a kingdom located in lower Assam.

The Garden is actually 1052 hectares, with 512 hectares planted with Camilia Sinensis Assamica tea bushes which today produces a yearly crop of well over l million kilograms. 42% of the crop is Clonal which contributes to the quality of the manufacture. The rest of the estate of 540 hectares has been left to untouched forests.

Fair Trade

Harmutty Gardens has been growing fairly traded tea for Murchies for several years. The Gardens not only provide schooling for the children but also medical care including a hospital in order to keep the workers and their families healthy! All workers live at the gardens.

At our request for pictures, the workers put together a photo album just for us showing off their schoolhouse, hospital and clinics all at the garden. You will note that all the children have happy faces which is great to see!

Senior Medical Officer examining a patient at ward at Garden Hospital