Water storage

Unless you are lucky enough to have a permanent spring bubbling away on your property, giving you an endless supply of water, the average borehole will be insufficient to pump constantly and endlessly. So, to provide for your irrigation needs, you will need to pump and store. Your choices for storage are earth dams, lined […]

Gauteng Aloes

Aloes are becoming more and more popular, but despite their rugged looks, they are not all as hardy as one might expect. So if you want to plant aloes, it makes sense to consider the aloes that occur naturally on the Highveld. “Never underestimate frost!” warns Gretchen Grenville of Grow Wild nursery. “Many people think […]

Smaller equipment

It is probably fair to assume that on a very large proportion of Gauteng’s smallholdings any powered item one may find trimming edges, cutting wood, blowing leaves or pumping water is not the ideal item for the job. This is because one of the greatest mistakes made by any smallholder is to buy with an […]

About the Ostrich

Everyone knows that the flightless ostrich is the world’s largest bird. But did you know that they have three stomachs? Lacking teeth, ostriches swallow pebbles to grind their food. An adult ostrich carries about 1kg of stones at any one time. Ostriches are the fast runners of any birds or other two-legged animal and can […]

Bokashi

Bokashi composting is an anaerobic process that relies on inoculated bran to ferment kitchen waste, including meat and dairy, into a safe soil builder and nutrient-rich tea for your plants. In Bokashi composting, kitchen scraps of all kinds — including meat and dairy products banned from aerobic systems — are mixed with some of the […]

Heirloom? Organic? Hybrid?

So what are heirloom seeds? And are they different from organic seeds? And what do they mean when they refer to open pollination? And what about hybrid seeds? Heirloom seeds are, as the name implies, seeds that have been handed down, which have been saved from plants that have been grown by a number of […]

Is this what you did on the long weekend?

Firebreaks

Many conscientious smallholders will spend the long weekend in their fields making firebreaks. Before we look at that though, why are winter grass fires bad? Contrary to the traditional view that an annual burning is good, numerous studies have shown that, in fact, the contrary is true. ~ Fires kill wildlife, in the form of […]

Green Woodhoopoe

The arrival while one is out walking of the Green Woodhoopoe always lifts the spirits. They are beautiful birds and their chattering is so delightful. They used to be called Red billed Woodhoopoe, but the Zulu name captures their sound so well – Hlekabafazi, meaning “laughing women”. In Afrikaans they are called Gewone Kakelaar. When […]

Preparing for Fire Management

Now is the time for smallholders to begin to prepare for the fire season. When the dry season approaches there is one important piece of legislation which anybody who lives on a plot should know and understand and that’s the National Veld & Forest Fires Act of 1998 ), along with its amendments. That’s because […]