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The farm was in a state of disrepair when we moved onto it and started leasing the land. We started with correcting the soil pH using lime then moved on to redeveloping the irrigation system. Our next steps were to upgrade the facilities and build a cold room. A year later, we had a working farm exporting crops!
We inherited a dilapidated irrigation system in desperate need of an upgrade. Our first project on the farm was to get our irrigation in working order.
We are blessed with a dam on the property from which abundant water flows. Getting that water to the land was the challenge we faced.
We used old piping to reconnect the irrigation scheme. In Zimbabwe we know the value of using what we have available to us and we always endeavour to do this before buying something new.
Drip irrigation is a low consumption method of watering crops. Saving water couldn’t be more important as the climate heats up and this resource becomes ever scarcer.
And finally it flowed. Planting time was upon us!
The facilities on the farm had been neglected so we set to work upgrading and rebuilding the structures that existed and building what didn’t.
The skeleton of an old chicken house was in situ near the farmhouse. I had a vision to repurpose it into a solar drying house.
The process was fairly straightforward. We repaired the support structures, put in flooring, covered it with plastic and pretty soon we had a functional solar dryer!
We have a philosophy on the farm to use what we already have before looking to buying or building new things. Not only does this approach save money but it’s a sustainable way of operating.
