I was very lucky to have the opportunity to stay Ukuvuna with John Nzira and his family, who live on a beautiful plot of land overlooking Johannesburg. John and his wife Fungai* were both born and bred in Zimbabwe, where they will eventually return. For now, though, they have Ukuvuna, an organisation that teaches permaculture and organic farming methods to local farmers
They live in a huge thatched house surrounded by vegetable gardens, a nursery with a mixture of trees and herbs, a couple of pens for keeping livestock (currently: goats, geese, turkeys, chickens, and rabbits), and an area of papyrus swamp interspersed with lavender bushes and several underground tanks used for water purification.
(If the last item on that list is of interest - the household's greywater is passed through a series of tanks, each of which is walled in with stones and bricks. The addition of papyrus and other swamp-dwelling plant species aids in the water purification process. Water from the final tank is used to irrigate the vegetable garden through a drip irrigation system. The whole system is entirely self sufficient, and they have no need for mains water as a result.
Rainwater is also collected, purified and reused. The purified rainwater is used for irrigation via a sprinkler system, and the final tank used for rainwater is also home to a breeding population of tilapia fish. So when they want some small fish for dinner, they can go and fetch some from the tank..)
(If the last item on that list is of interest - the household's greywater is passed through a series of tanks, each of which is walled in with stones and bricks. The addition of papyrus and other swamp-dwelling plant species aids in the water purification process. Water from the final tank is used to irrigate the vegetable garden through a drip irrigation system. The whole system is entirely self sufficient, and they have no need for mains water as a result.
Rainwater is also collected, purified and reused. The purified rainwater is used for irrigation via a sprinkler system, and the final tank used for rainwater is also home to a breeding population of tilapia fish. So when they want some small fish for dinner, they can go and fetch some from the tank..)
The photos above were all taken on the premises. You'll notice that the ground is covered in a layer of cut grass: This is grass from communal areas in the surrounding municipality, which is routinely cut by the local government and usually destined for landfill. Ukuvuna asked for the grass to be dumped here, and it is used year-round as mulch, for the animal pens, and for making organic compost. One person's waste is another's riches.
*Fungai: 'Yes, like fungi, like mushrooms' - When John said this to me, he reminded me of another story from Dr Sadomba that's worth mentioning: When collecting mushrooms in Zimbabwe, he told us, it is said that it is important to say a prayer to your ancestors before you pick the mushrooms. When Dr Sadomba asked local collectors why the mushrooms are so revered, they answered him with a further question, 'Have you ever seen the seed of a mushroom?' Mushrooms, propagated by the fickle and unpredictable movements of the wind alone (oh, and by termites, on occasion), are a mystery, and as such one must take care not to disturb nature's balance when harvesting them.
*Fungai: 'Yes, like fungi, like mushrooms' - When John said this to me, he reminded me of another story from Dr Sadomba that's worth mentioning: When collecting mushrooms in Zimbabwe, he told us, it is said that it is important to say a prayer to your ancestors before you pick the mushrooms. When Dr Sadomba asked local collectors why the mushrooms are so revered, they answered him with a further question, 'Have you ever seen the seed of a mushroom?' Mushrooms, propagated by the fickle and unpredictable movements of the wind alone (oh, and by termites, on occasion), are a mystery, and as such one must take care not to disturb nature's balance when harvesting them.
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