Windbreak #2...the wall of waste!

"The problem is the solution"...using waste to infill the walls of our windbreak. Watch it grow as we harvest more materials!

Planting cauliflower with the kids...

Windbreak #1

Here the wind howls 30 knots and switches 180 degrees in the same day, so windbreaks have been incorporated in the design that run perpendicular to the prevailing winds which are southwest and northeast. This is the first of a series that will be about 2 metres high and every 10 metres. For this windbreak we used timber we salvaged from the old composter and sticks, and bound it with tarred sisal rope.

Terracing production area #1...

First order of business..."Obtain a yield". So we're starting with the first section of annual vegetable garden. This will have three 8 metre long no-dig garden beds, terraced, double dug and mulched. In a months time we'll be reaping our first harvests.

Harvesting the old composter...

We managed to excavate over a cube of beautiful compost to incorporate into the new veggie beds!

In the beginning...

This is a look at Mdumbi Backpackers from the East.













This is the garden area when I first visited in September.

The Mdumbi Permaculture Project...

The Mdumbi Permaculture Project is located at Mdumbi Backpackers in Tshani village, in the Eastern Cape about 2 hours from Mhthatha at the coast. The climate here is subtropical with over 1000 mm of rainfall, mainly in summer. The landscape is characterized by rolling green hills and deep rich soils. Indigenous forests have given way to grazing land for cattle and small sections of cropping land and retreated to steeper valleys. Main crops are maize, which is the backbone of the diet here, as well as pumpkins, butternuts, sweet potatoes, beans, and spinaches.