Record 0811Case study
800 m²
protected organic food tunnel completed
Read from Project closeout report
Read from
Two adjacent growing systems at Manyoni: an indigenous and food-plant nursery supplying Imbewu projects, and a rainwater-linked organic market garden built for production, learning and sales.
Project frame
Imbewu needed a practical route towards earned income without adding pressure to the reserve’s constrained water system. The design also had to protect crops from wildlife and heat, serve lodge and staff markets, and create meaningful work and learning opportunities around the reserve.
I authored the 2021 market-garden proposal and led site planning and design within Imbewu Yoshintso.
Stichting Roots Up funded the market garden’s first phase; Manyoni Private Game Reserve supported implementation; local labour and Future Farmers interns worked on the build and growing system. The nursery formed part of the wider Imbewu programme.
Infrastructure, sales activity and project status are drawn from the December 2022 closeout report.
Work in practice
Developed the indigenous and food-plant nursery as a source of planting material for Imbewu projects, alongside the market garden.
Developed the original market-garden concept, crop layout and staged proposal for the Manyoni office site.
Linked the 240,000 L reservoir, pump, timer, meter and solenoid controls to a water-conscious growing system.
Designed permanent raised beds, protected cultivation, companion planting and crop rotation within the 800 m² shade tunnel.
Built practical production and sales systems around crop planning, harvesting, cold storage, lodge customers and weekly availability lists.
Used implementation as a learning environment for local workers and Future Farmers interns, from site levels and construction to production and bookkeeping.
From plan to production
Rory’s original layout organised permanent beds, trellised crops, companion planting and access routes inside the shade tunnel. The project film then records those systems being irrigated, planted, harvested and used.
Watch the complete project film
Indigenous nursery · Mandlakazi programme
The nursery began in an unused buffalo boma at the Manyoni office complex during the first quarter of 2021. By mid-2021 it was operating as a source of plant material for Imbewu projects, propagating both food plants and indigenous species.
Vegetable and herb seedlings were raised on propagation benches as part of the nursery stock for Imbewu projects.
Trees, shrubs and groundcovers grew in bags alongside medicinal, shade, fruit and nut plants.
One site, two functions
Imbewu’s 2022 annual review places the nursery beside the market garden and reservoir. It records a shared manager and sales line, while the two systems served different purposes.
water-storage reservoir installed
protected organic food tunnel completed
represented at the October 2022 open day
irrigation installed across permanent raised beds
The Manyoni market garden combined water storage and protected cultivation with crop planning, harvesting and sales to lodge and staff customers. Local workers and interns took part in construction, production and bookkeeping.
Evidence & interpretation
Nursery and market-garden records
The nursery and market garden are adjacent parts of the Manyoni story, with separate project records. The 2022 annual review describes their shared management and sales links; the December 2022 closeout report verifies the market garden’s first-phase deliverables.
The annual review describes the indigenous and food-plant nursery beside the market garden, shared management and sales opportunities. Original footage from 5 May 2022 records propagation trays and nursery stock.
Manyoni food-garden proposal created by Rory Clark in August 2021, including the initial production, water and enterprise concept.
Rainwater Harvesting and Market Garden Report dated 15 December 2022, used for delivered infrastructure, open-day participation and closeout status.
Rain Water Harvesting & Market Garden Project: construction, irrigation, planting, harvest and the established tunnel.
Open source