Schwayer bi schwayer, schawyer bi schwayer ……. Slowly, slowly …. Is what they say up here. Things take time. They evolve. They move towards completion. Whatever that is.
A view from below. The well.
And that is as true for Farm Finn as it is for anything… or anyone. Just as I can see the farm evolving, the buildings slowly being completed, the concept growing. So I can also feel my own understanding evolving, of the farm and the business, but also of the way I want it to work in the world as I’m increasingly understanding it.
Our Saharawi Team of Diggers.
As I say, back on the farm we’ve made significant progress on the
building. The well is dug and even as we await our first rains since April, there’s now about a metre of water in it. It was wonderful to meet the Saharwian team who come up north each year to dig wells, given their expertise from a home environment where a well can go down as far as 100 m. A fraction of the 16m needed to reach water on Farm Finn.
All I need now is to convince Fuddle to move his family latrine where he’s not at risk of polluting my well water….potentially easier said than done…. Schwayer bi schwayer.
What was a toilet block is now 2 ensuite bedrooms with private patios.
Further developments have seen the roof put on our newly rebuilt toilet block, seeing them transformed in to 2 ensuite rooms, giving on to private patios and shaded by over hanging olive trees. The newly discovered view from the roof over Xaouen is simply beautiful. I can see it being furnished with soft cushions and lounge seating to make use of the afternoon shade from aforementioned trees.
How exciting!
View from a new, soon to be Glamp.
And of course this opens up great opportunities to add what I see as other “Glamping” sites across the farm. This
being one of a possible 3 or 4. Of course these will need the addition of their own shower and composting toilet blocks, but these will come ….. more excitement!
Beginning of new steps.
On the other side of the house, we’re now putting in the steps to the donkey piste that will bring in guests to the farm. This again needs working on. What else will be in this area? Do I add another water tank? Do we have a donkey park? Is there some sort of stock room below the stairs?
This may seem mundane, but this will be the first impression of the project that people get as they arrive and as such it also needs to leave a positive impression, whilst meeting many functional needs.
Schwayer bi schwayer!
Gardens under attack….The Brassica Massacre
But of course it’s not all been plain sailing. I’ve not found the time to work out my own understanding of this seasons
companion planting system, nor how we would plan a rotation system. But this will eventually happen. In the mean time, Mohammed has been mono planting in beds as is traditionally done in Loubar.
Having experienced an initial phase of companion planting in the spring, I really get the opportunities in terms of use of space and layering. But it’s only in this season, winter, that I’ve also begun to appreciate the opportunities to build resistance to crop infestation.
Brassica Massacre Prevention.
https://www.growveg.com/guides/cabbage-white-butterflies-how-to-avoid-a-brassica-massacre/
Guilty Culprits.
And it’s these guys who have grabbed my attention. Large cabbage white butterfly caterpillars have infested this area of the garden and simply munched through the crop. It’s amazing how quickly they munched through a bed, leaving my luscious leaves denuded in to sickly storks. What to do?
The fight back. Chilli Soup Spray.
Of course the guys immediately offered a quick squirt of insecticide as an immediate and
well known fix. But, this being an evolving organic garden, that was a non starter. Thus I sought help from the web and Wafi and found a recipe for Chilli Soup Spray (a garlic addition is another option), which we’ve now tried and think it may have worked…. Though the onset of freezing winter evenings may also have taken it’s toll!
Prevention is better than cure…. Building alliances.
But better still is developing a means of prevention and this involves generating an environment that will support those life forms that will eat or otherwise rid us of such a problem. And here again, my own understanding of companion planting evolves. Obviously our friendly frogs, must be welcomed by a friendly environment.
But also the addition of flowering plants can entice caterkiller wasps and strategically placed bird feeders will hopefully entice our feathered friends to add caterpillars to their menu …. Despite their mustardy taste! Netting may also be a solution, but we’ll see.
Collecting Good Shit!
Certainly I’ll be investigating what I should be planting together with my cabbages and cauliflowers come next year,
whilst ensuring that we’re feeding the soil with the best compost possible, which at the moment is coming from a goat farm from lower Loubar at a price of 30dhs a bag…. Something of a bargain.
Snowden, Chomsky, Greenwald Discussion.
But it’s not just the physical development of the project that is evolving through experience, reading and reflection. I also feel that the philosophical and political components are also growing. I somehow feel hesitant to say that I see this project as my part in the resistance to the global growth of corporate neo liberalism. But it is. The more I understand the global realignment of the economy to ensnare us all as consumers and not citizens, the more I see Farm Finn as my part in resistance.
And saying that, this challenges me to look at a model of entrepreneurialism that is empowering and not simply extractive. If this is my business, how do I want to develop it? What or who should benefit from what I am doing? Is there more to business than personal profit.
The Four Horsemen Documentary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fbvquHSPJU
I feel that if I am in control of my own business model then I should be able to consider a broader concept of benefits or capital. Of course I need to ensure sufficient financial capital to guarantee that the project can run. But what about my own personal capital. How should this project meet my personal aesthetic needs? How should this project benefit the community it is situated within? Should I include as profit and loss, community capital? How do I support the needs of the environment that I’m benefiting from? Should I aim to guarantee profit within a natural/environmental capital accounting system? And for the people working with me, how do I support the development of my team?
And what is this going to grow in to?
I now wonder if I can develop a business model where success is not purely measured in terms of financial profit, but which includes measurements and targets for improved social/community capital/benefits, natural/environmental capital/benefits, human resource capital/benefits and also my own spiritual, personal needs?
These are questions I am now asking of myself as the concept of Farm Finn evolves and as I begin to understand that a paradigm that limits the identity of a business to financial profit and loss figures is both myopic but also mundane. That a expansion of horizons to promote broader benefits and beneficiaries and that sets itself political targets as a counter business culture, is what engages me far more as a social entrepreneur.
Now that’s an exciting evolution …..
Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DfrBcjisVo