If you have been following us on Facebook you will have seen how far along the farm has come since we first started digging on the 6th of November 2012. With the help of a generous donor (Lema Civils) we were able to speed up the process of removing the grass, large rocks and boulders, allowing the farm to start preparing the land for what it is intended for. The crew and a host of volunteers have diligently been sifting the soil, raking in compost and adding the Bokashi our locals have been dropping off.
Four beds are almost ready to be planted. Mario has been ensuring that there are sufficient nutrients in the soil by growing buckwheat and mustard seed as an interim ground cover. The lemon and lime trees (the double line of trees parallel to the mountain) have been planted, although we had to call in Lema Civils again as we came across some giant boulders that prevented us from planting the remainder of the trees. Last Saturday we planted the pomegranate trees along the fence between the farm and stepping-stones. These may bring in the dreaded white fly, but we are scouting the area for other pomegranate trees to see if they have the same problems. If you have heard about white flies in the neighborhood, please do let us know!
The number of volunteers has been increasing along with the transformation of the farm. More members of the Oranjezicht community are joining us, as well as friends of the City Bowl volunteers from all over Cape Town. Maria’s, the quaint Greek restaurant in Dunkley Square herded a few southern suburban’s to join the troops on Saturday.
Coming Saturday is going to be even more exciting than previous Saturdays. In return for contributing to creating our beautiful city farm, volunteers will be rewarded with a bag of Reliance Organic Compost. Reliance has already donated tons of compost to our farm and is now giving back to the community members who have donated their time.
There will also be fresh organic grapes on sale from Eddie Redelinghuys (who owns Reliance) The proceeds will go towards funding the slow and steady toil that is theOZCF dream.
As always, please contact us if you have any questions, we hope to see you this Saturday!
