Year 3: 2021, Mucuna Matata

Mucuna
We discovered the mucuna bean, being in a country with virtually no organic nor regenerative agriculture, we had found it so difficult to find seeds of nitrogen fixing cover crops. Then finally we discovered the mucuna bean, it was everything we had longed for, pest and drought resistant, with vines that grew to over 15 meters it created huge amounts of biomass, and not only that; the bean itself is a medicine, so we could start making some income. The mucuna was great, it covered the whole fruit forest like a blanket, keeping moisture in, keeping the soil cool, it was a constant job of chopping it back from the trees, but it improved the fertility of the soil, and we made a great product from it.

Mushroom laboratory development
We developed our mushroom laboratory even more and finally got our first fruits, we took the operation outside and started fruiting reishi and oysters too

House
We gave the house a well needed make-over refurbishing the kitchen completely, so it was clean, organized, cooler and a lot more beautiful. We also put windows in the houses and turned some of the sheds into more rooms

3 Wildlife ponds
Our farm experiences flash flooding at least once per year, the whole region of Santa Rosa many years ago used to be a seasonal flood plain, but now with land drainage, deforestation, climate change and over exploitation of ground water the flooding is restricted to smaller areas. We wanted to make the most of our flooding, creating a habitat for wildlife, replenishing groundwater reserves and create a safer place for the water to go that doesn’t destroy what we have built. So we made three ponds, the biggest one already has fish In it that arrived naturally and many birds come to hunt there. The ponds have also helped further enhance our amphibian population who make a big impact on reducing the plagues of “ron rons”, (coleoptera beetles that swarm in their thousands and destroy our trees) we hope to make yet more ponds, and eventually convert the area of the lagoon into a nature reserve.

Some title here:

Some title here: