Harvest Time! Carrots

CGTN provides update to date information about all things affecting the Continent. Today, they published a YouTube video which demonstrates the need for projects such as ours. We appreciate your ongoing support and highly recommend watching the video and following CGTN via their social media links below. Read More

Gaining access to clean water is at the heart of programs designed to improve the lives of people living in regions of the world in which this is a challenge. Clean water initiatives are funded by private, public, and program as part of our mission, and in adherence to ZFP’s commitment to foster sustainable agriculture. With the repair of the wind-pump, and the rehabilitation of the borehole, farm employees and residents now have consistent access to potable water free of contaminates which transmits diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, etc. Read More

In countries where food security is a systemic problem, the choice of eating organically grown foods versus those produced by traditional methods is rarely available. In our efforts to increase food security in the community, we and re-purposing everything that is used on the farm. For instance, the corn husks, stalks, and other by-products of the harvests, were given to a local cattleman to feed his livestock. All harvests, preparation, and packaging of crops for sale is completed manually. We rely on renewable resources, and optimize biological productivity through crop rotations. Read More

Growing potatoes has been a wonderfully enlightening experience. Mr. Tauro, who is the farm manager, recommended planting root and tuber crops. Since he has successfully managed the planting and harvest of four seasons of crops for the project, this seemed like an worthwhile investment. Unlike previous years, rains havean ox plough was hired to do ‘ridging,’ also known as ‘hilling’ of the fields. This is typically done every few weeks to make sure that dirt covers the roots of the plants, and that the green potatoes are not exposed to sunlight which will cause them to be bitter. Our plants have begun to flower which is a signal that the potatoes are nearing maturity. Read More

A wind pump had been installed on the farm by my father for sustainable, low impact living. He had a borehole drilled in order to bring wdecision to retrofit the borehole with an electrical submersible pump, which provides the necessary pressure for irrigation. The wind pump conversion has transformed the windmill into a monument to my father’s dedicated life in Zimbabwe. Read More

For the fourth planting season, after successful maize and sugar bean harvests, carrots were planted. Unlike our first harvests where chose to grow were maize and sugar beans, both staples of the Zimbabwean diet. Once these fields were harvested we decided to grow root crops. Read More

After we cleared the land, we hired a farmer to advise us on a high demand crop that is a food staple. He recommended corn which is relatively easy to grow despite having a long maturation cycle. Of all the crops which have planted to date, corn has been the most robust and resistant to serious problems such as disease and insect pests. It is easy to grow, and the size of the field in which we plant the corn is expansive. This is necessary since the plant requires a lot of space to grow healthily, and consequently produce a high yield. We harvested 3.5 tons in our first season. The greatest threat to our corn fields are the troops of baboons that live in the area. We use fencing with barbed wire on the top to dissuade them from entering the property, because they can strip a field in a single night. Read More