Dear Diary

Monday: How did this all begin?

From as early as I can remember, my grandparents inspired me with their love for gardening and growing food. They were enthusiastic, knowledgeable and instinctively knew how to grow vegetables and fruit. As a young child I would spend many days in the home garden with them, helping to weed the garden or pluck the ripe fruit and tender vegetables. During school holidays, I would spend hours outside in the sun with them, putting precious seeds into the ground, or making holes for the seedlings which had been carefully tended. These visits would also coincide with visits to aunts and uncles, and neighbours, where conversations inevitably centred around crops , harvests and food. 

Whenever I think back on my life and wonder why, as an adult, I chose to  grow food, I realise that this love of seeds, the soil and gardens and my connection with nature rose out of these foundational experiences with my grandparents and the community in which I thrived. 

Now I spend most of my time at home in the small town of Norton, about 45 km from the busy central business district of Harare in Zimbabwe. Today in particular, I feel very relaxed as I sit in my room, listening to the whistling sounds from my chicks in a brooder box and some neighbours singing energetically and passionately at a community gathering. Over the past three years, this place has become my new home and it has offered me a serene environment away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I have grown to become a micro-scale farmer working in my garden and chicken coup.

Wednesday: What lockdown brought

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and renewed. The cool air made me feel alive and happy. As I looked out of my window, I saw my garden, alive and bursting with vegetables and flowers. Gardening has become a daily practice and it has awoken so much energy and passion in me. It was still quite early, when I made myself a cup of tea and went outside to look out across my land. Like so many other days, I could see my neighbours already busy in their gardens. While a few of them prefer to maintain their lawns and grow flowers, most of them are absorbed in backyard farming to grow food. Since the COVID-19 lockdowns, many people in this area became more involved in garden related activities, making great efforts to grow food for their families. I started small, growing some cowpeas and finger millet (rapoko), sweet potatoes, pumpkins and a variety of round nuts and beans. 

My interest in my garden has grown, and I have many discussions with my neighbours on what is best to plant and how to care for my crops. I can see that our connections have grown stronger as they see my improved efforts in the garden and in the chicken coup. 

Sunday: How things changed

Towards late 2017 when I first planted the garden, I worked on a small portion of land and produced just enough to last a couple of days. However, over the past 3 seasons, I have managed to turn this around. I now produce more than I need and the excess from the garden, I use to feed the chickens. I realise that I love gardening so much and I feel so satisfied when I see the amazing results each time I look at the produce. I have so many questions when I look at the plump tomatoes and the huge round pumpkins. What is the work and biological processes that lead to healthy fresh food? How does nature work to create these nutritious foods? What must I do to keep the soil rich? I no longer just have plans in my head and on paper only, I have become more practical and productive. My energy which has grown exponentially and I am more able to make decisions and take actions. I have realised that through small efforts, it is possible to cut down on expenditure on certain commodities, like eggs that I can easily produce. 

This has not always been a smooth road. I knew that certain obstacles would occur in my agroecological venture, particularly as I wanted to ensure operational sustainability and continuity. Since 2017, I had many challenges, the main one being the lack of water. I therefore focused on the limited rainwater available for producing corn. During the dry season, the activities on the land were minimized due to limited amounts of water from our well, however, with much planning and hard work, I managed to have 2 boreholes drilled on-site in May 2021. This solved our water scarcity. 

Tuesday: Looking to the future

My sixth sense tells me that some of my neighbors share this same passion for producing food. Sometimes I feel left behind when I see people, who I think have less knowledge of agroecology, appear to get better results from their efforts. However, I am happy that I can play a part in the production of food for our world. I have come to realize that with effort and determination I can succeed. 

I now know that love can only be most real when it is strengthened by relevant actions and effort. I have taken a position that my love for food production must be complemented by consistent and relevant actions. I am happy that I have a garden that I can use as a platform to showcase sustainable agroecological sensitive food production approaches. Today I am pleased to say the love I have for my garden has yielded so much happiness!

This story was written during the Writeshop ''Learn to write your own Agroecology Stories of Change'' held in June 2021 and organized by Barefoot Guide Connection, Agroecology Knowledge Hub and Family Farming Knowledge Platform.