SABABA FARM + THOSE WHO HARVEST FIRE RESTORATION

On the 16th of February, our small-scale organic farm was devastated by a huge fire. We are raising funds to rebuild.

We are a small family-run organic farm on the Piket-bo-berg mountains, about 180km from Cape Town. We see growing nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables and herbs as a privilege – one that we have been working hard at since 2017, and running our own Harvest Box scheme, Those Who Harvest since 2019. Although we grow a wide variety of vegetables, ranging from tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, peppers, brinjals, and carrots, to sweetcorn, beans, and more; one of our true joys was our fruit orchard. In 2017 we began working hard at rehabilitating it after years of neglect. It was comprised mostly of old trees of classic peach varieties that are very difficult to find today (Catherina, Western Cling and Keisie – real peaches that put new varieties to shame); as well as new blocks of apples and pears that we had planted in 2020.

At around 5pm on 16 February, a fire started on a nearby farm. Bushrah noticed the smoke and we immediately rushed to fight it with our fire-beaters and fire-machine, but the wind was too strong and it spread through another neighbouring farm and onto ours. With huge help and support from our local community in the form of fire-machines, tractors, bakkies with sprayers, fire-beaters, the fire department, helicopters and airplanes, we were able to stop the fire from reaching our greenhouses, homes, water storage and solar panels. Thankfully (except for some serious burns sustained by Gaby), we are all ok.

Unfortunately, the fruit orchards were completely destroyed, along with the irrigation system, our net-house was badly damaged, our water mainlines were totally melted, and there was lots of other damage across the farm.

Nothing can quite quantify the sense of loss and grief we are feeling for the countless hours of love, blood, sweat and tears that have been poured into our farm – especially the orchards. However, we have been overwhelmed with love from our local community, and an outpouring of willingness from our extended community to help our farm recover.

So we have created this crowd-funding campaign for anyone who would like to support the restoration of (what is to our knowledge) the only organic peach orchard in the Western Cape.

Crowdfunding Expense Breakdown:

• Irrigation:
  • Replacement irrigation system: R75 000
• Orchard:
  • Clearing of dead trees, debri, etc: R10 000
  • Orchard redesign: R2 000
  • Grading & digging: R8 000
  • Trees: R240 000
  • Compost: R80 000
  • Organic Fertiliser: R150 000
  • Trellising & support for trees: R5 000
  • Organic Fungicide: R5 000
  • Living mulch: R2 000
• Farm Infrastructure:
  • Road grading: R8 000
  • Tractor repair: R5 000
  • Water Mainlines: R3 500
  • Beehives: R4 000

Any help in spreading the word, lending a hand or contributing financially goes a long way towards helping us restore what was lost, and will be deeply appreciated!

Check out the Crowdfunding Campaign at:
backabuddy.co.za/campaign/sababa-farm-fire-restoration

– Bushrah & Nevau, two of those who harvest