Are you interested in organic gardening? Or new to smallholder farming? Then why not learn lessons in sustainable agriculture from Africa by visiting Shortwood Farm in Herefordshire? From Monday 7th May Shortwood will feature an African Farmyard – complete with cow – to demonstrate the work that agricultural charity Send a Cow does with rural families in Africa.
The farmyard will feature a zero-grazing cow shelter – home to Daisy – that is built to the same specifications as are used in Send a Cow's programme in Uganda. There will also be demonstrations of sustainable agricultural techniques used in our programmes (such as keyhole gardens and bag gardens), plus a display showing how our mixed crop and livestock approach helps rural families in Africa deal with problems such as drought and deterioration in soil quality.
The African Farmyard is run by David and Janet Legge and family, of Shortwood Farm, who built it with help from the Pencombe Young Farmers and Send a Cow supporters. They have followed advice from Send a Cow staff, including Agricultural Development Officer Helen Kongai from Uganda who visited earlier this year.
"Increasingly in the UK, gardeners and farmers are facing environmental problems such as lengthy spells of dry weather," says Send a Cow Programme Coordinator Richie Alford. "African farmers are already well used to such conditions, and have developed ways to combat them. The African Farmyard will demonstrate how families can live on the land in a sustainable manner, and how livestock and crops can be mutually beneficial."
The techniques the farmyard demonstrates are central to Send a Cow's work. Zero-grazing is the practice of keeping an animal in a roomy shelter and bringing it fodder, rather than allowing it to graze freely. This prevents the animal from destroying crops, and enables farmers to collect its manure for use on their land. Keyhole gardens are an organic method ideal for rural families with little land and poor soil quality. Bag gardens are a great way to grow vegetables using very little water.
Shortwood Farm, at Pencombe near Bromyard, already demonstrates UK organic farming methods to visitors and offers children the chance to try their hand at milking cows or feeding pigs and goats.
