We started Sarvada because we were lied to about our vermicompost

In 2018, we were beginners. We bought our first bag of "premium organic vermicompost" from a local nursery for ₹120. It looked fine — dark, slightly moist, smelled like soil. We mixed it into our pots, watered them, and went to sleep happy. The next morning the soil had turned into a hard concrete block.

We still use the same water test in 2026 when customers ask how to spot pure vermicompost before they buy online. The silt problem has not gone away — it is why Sarvada still screens every batch by hand.

We thought it was us. New gardeners, new mistakes — we'd over-watered or used the wrong soil. So we bought another bag from a different brand. Same thing happened.

What we found when we tested ten brands

Over the next month we bought vermicompost from nurseries, supermarket chains, two e-commerce stores and three "organic" boutique brands. Ten bags. We did a simple test we now teach every Sarvada customer.

Eight of the ten bags failed the water test. Two were closer to 50% soil and silt than vermicompost. One bag — at ₹240 a kilo — was the worst. The seller had simply packed garden silt with a top layer of real castings so the bag looked dark when opened. The clean label was doing most of the work.

Why this happens in India

Vermicompost is heavy by weight. Silt is heavier. If you mix silt into vermicompost, you can sell more weight for less work. Customers don't notice because the bag looks the same on top.

The market does not make this easy for a home gardener. A clean "organic" sticker can look reassuring even when nobody has checked what is actually inside the bag.

So we started making our own

We were bad at it at first. We learnt slowly: from soil scientists, from farmers in our village, and from mistakes we made in our own little composting setup behind the house.

We figured out three things that mattered:

• Feed quality. The worms can only produce what they eat. Clean cow dung from grass-fed cattle and farm waste — no plastic, no chemicals — makes the difference.
• Time. 60–90 days minimum. Most commercial operations rush this to 30 days to maximize turnover. The worms can't fully digest the inputs in 30 days.
• Patience after. Sun-curing and hand-sieving for two weeks after harvest. This is where most operations cut corners and start blending in silt to add bulk.

What "no silt, no preservatives" actually means at Sarvada

• No silt. We don't add sand, soil, dust or any filler. Ever. Our castings are 100% what the worms produced.
• No preservatives. No fungicides, no chemical stabilizers. Our compost is living — that's the whole point.
• Slow cure. Minimum 90 days from feed to pack.
• Breathable bags. Microbes need oxygen. Sealed plastic kills them. Our packaging keeps the biology alive.
• Same farm, since 2018. We have not moved to a factory. We do not white-label. The pack you receive came from the same patch of ground where we started.

What to look for when buying vermicompost — from anyone

Even if you don't buy from us, here's how to tell good vermicompost from filler.

Five signs of genuine vermicompost

• Light, flaky texture — never sandy or powdery.
• Earthy smell — like wet forest floor. Never sour, never ammonia.
• Uniform dark brown to nearly black colour throughout.
• Does not clump or harden when you squeeze it lightly.
• Passes the water test — water stays mostly clear.

Five red flags

• Heavy bag that feels denser than it looks.
• Grey, brown, or reddish sandy texture mixed with dark flakes.
• Strong sour or chemical smell.
• Turns into a hard block within hours of watering in a pot.
• Suspiciously low price for the weight (under ₹40/kg is usually a warning).

Why we keep doing this

12,000+ plant parents trust us today. We've been on the same farm since 2018. We have never advertised on television. We've never chased big retail. Most people who buy from us were sent by someone whose plants did well with our bag.

That's the only growth strategy we want.