The beginning of 2012 find us with a good infrastructure on the farm, cattle on the land, productive land and Andrew and Wendy running the operations.
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The beginning of 2012 find us with a good infrastructure on the farm, cattle on the land, productive land and Andrew and Wendy running the operations. It is with sadness that Anneke and Douwe leave us – their dream and that of the trust are shared, but the way to achieve it varies. Andy remains of the farm and is joined by Wendy, with Maggie and Clive due to join us in the new year. A successful workshop was run by Robina McCurdy from the Tui community in New Zealand. This has helped us to prioritize our plans and learn new techniques for planning. Meanwhile we have completed the work started by Weibe, constructing terraces for staple crops. We have also improved the Nursery to the extent that Andy has more than 1000 plants being prepared for planting on the farm. Plans for the design and construction of our workshop and three houses [1 for the Trustees, 1 for Andy and the other for Maggie and Clive] are being finalized. The installation of our solar panels, inverter and batteries is now complete and so we have 220V power to both the office building and the restored old house. The nursery is up and running providing us with vegetables for plating out, Vetever grass for slope stabilization and various trees and plants for sale. We have had a serious drought this year which has help us appreciate the value of the water storage infrastructure we currently have. We have also planted our first grains [heirloom seeds] and we are creating new terraces and swales above the main dam to increase our planting area. Early in May we got an old Massey Fergusson tractor [MF135] and some implements – this has certainly made life a lot easier, but it does mean that we need to plan to generate our own fuel! The gardens are coming along nicely, we have had Broccolli, Cauliflower, Spinach, Lettuces, Rocket, Coriander, Beetroot (Red and Yellow), Artichokes, Cabbage, Onions, Tomatoes, Leeks, Spring Onions, Carrots, Patty Pans, Butternut, Brussel sprouts, Sweet potatoes, Kale, Figs, Strawberries and Gooseberries from our garden. We are eagerly awaiting the harvest of our heritage Corn, Sweet Melons, a variety of Pumpkins, Watermelon, Brinjals, Potatoes, Cucumbers and much more… There is something to be said for harvesting your own veggies half an hour before mealtime and flavouring it with fresh herbs out of the garden! There is a sense of awe when you sowed the seeds, watched them germinate and grow and then share a meal with the very same people that worked with you in the garden. Somehow, you sense that this was the way it was meant to be, before we lost our connection to Nature and each other. |
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