MFK-GARDENS URBAN FARMER NURSERY NOW OPEN !!!

AN INVITATION TO URBAN FARMERS & BACKYARD GARDENERS TO
​OUR OPEN HOUSE & GUIDED TOUR PROGRAMME 
MID-NOVEMBER 2021 TO MID-JANUARY 2022. 
CALL 73961421 / 3101081 TO BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT AS TEAMS
COME.  SEE.  ENJOY. 

Farmers' Seedling (myfarmhousekitchensbw.com) 

"​It is food that speaks to traditional farmhouse appeal of aroma wafting from your mother's kitchen  as she turned out her favorite dish using just picked ingredients from her garden farm.  No need for frills, the aroma carries the promise of the best that is yet to come!"
Go to "About Us" - My Farmhouse Kitchens

Dear Farmers in and around Gaborone, 
  
We wish to inform you that we are now re-OPEN-ing our doors for crop seedling orders.

The invitation to our first Open House is now extended to you.  Join us anytime from mid-November to mid-January, meet and greet our personnel and enjoy the garden and nursery setting.  Just call 73961421 to fix your appointment. 
 
DEVELOPMENTS AT WORK:
MFK Gardens Urban Farmer Nursery is a part of Pinnacle Foods & Hospitality Group the parent organisation to the franchise brand My Farmhouse Kitchens.  We are a food manufacturing organisation in the making.  The operation will focus on the manufacturing of our mainstay signature product the curry puffs.  The product has grown in the market in the city and has helped us grow this far.  This is since 2012, when we first established the organization.  We have just crossed the 10,000 mark of likes on our FB page.

There are plans underway to list our products on Yamee, to setup a culinary school with experienced chefs on board to carry out programmes targetted at the busy executive-cum-culinary enthusiast, expatriate housewifes and offer corporate and couple bonding programmes, to offer personal chef services (in addition to event catering) and setup the MFK - The Shop, that will be mark the forerunners of our franchisee system.  More about our food production expansion plans in our next letter.
 
OUR HISTORY WITH MFK-GARDENS FARM
In mid-2020, we began MFK-Gardens farm production venture.  We produced crop seedlings for our local famers up to a capacity of 40K seedlings.  The farm production is not a venture outside of who we are already.  The idea is rooted in our name.  My Farmhouse Kitchens.  That the products we produce uses ingredients grown freshly in our gardens or nearby local farms.  Today our focus is in supplying quality seedlings to farmers who in turn produce quality crops that we buy back for use in our food production.  The decision to start this coincided with the onset of COVID19 lockdowns when locals farmers lost access to their usual suppliers in South Africa.  We see this as an opportunity to grow a strong chain in the local industry.

In March this year of 2021, we moved from our old premises to a bigger one in Ledumadumane.  The move was intended to expand our capacity in both our farm and food productions and continue to drive to our goal of building the MFK franchise, and through it, create 40,000 jobs in the industry.’’ 

We have now designed and built a nursery facility which includes a greenhouse infrastructure and a garden eco-system that can produce 200,000 crop and fruit seedlings. 

After eight months, we are happy to announce the facility is now ready for production.  We have been testing the facility and are confident it is able to meet its production demands. 

What had started out as a corporate social responsibility project in the face of COVID19 when local farmers were cut off from their typical supply of seedlings from SA, it has now grown in to a self-sustained venture in its own right with a four-man core team running its operations. 

We have now positioned the venture to meet the needs of the urban crop farmer who has setup farms in and around Gaborone intending to grow and supply vegetables ranging from beetroot, green peppers, tomatoes, garlic, chilli, swiss chard and spinach in summer and cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, brocolli and herbs, in winter for the local market. 
 
ADVANTAGES OF A NURSERY: 

• It provides favorable growth conditions i.e., germination as well as growth. 
• Better care for younger plants. It is easy to look after nursery in a small area against pathogenic infections, pests and diseases and weeds. 
• Levels out risks of low germination rates 
• Nursery helps in making more efficient use of land. 
• It helps to improve crop uniformity in the field creating optimum conditions for extreme cold and hot temperatures during its growing stages. 
• Nursery helps to reduce field management cost. 

 
These here would mean we can now carry out the following production activities with greater efficiency. 

STEPS TO SEEDLING PRODUCTION: 

1. Preparing the seedbed 
2. Sow the seeds 
3. Care for seedlings after germination 
4. Fertilize 
5. Irrigate / provide water 
6. Control of weeds 
7. Manage pests and diseases in the nursery 
8. Manage seedling maturity 

 
The new facility now boasts of the following features: 
PROVIDE PROTECTION TO OUR SEEDLINGS FROM EXTREME WEATHERS & OFFER WATERWISE FARMING METHODOLOGY: 

• A cutting-edge greenhouse structure that protects the young seedlings from the rains, hailstones, strong winds and the heat.  A simple and clean structure that is also energy efficient, so as to make sure we do not pass undue costs on to our clients 
• Tiered stands that can capture sunlight from different angles of the greenhouse so as to maximize the production yield of our nursery 
• The nursery is cooled down during summer months by microjets but also a healthy green eco-system and lawn that ensure seedlings grow without being subject to heat and water deficient stresses.  During the winter months the PVC UV resistant roofing and the use of brick-and-mortar walls surrounding the greenhouse so as to capture as much heat of the day as possible, keep the greenhouse and the seedlings warm during the night.  Again, another energy efficient process to keep our costs low for our clients. 

 
VIRBANT AND HEALTHY ECO-SYSTEM FOR THE FARM: 

• Improved soil structure by adding organic compost, vermiculture planting and mulching with natural remedies such as vinegar solutions as this provides food for soil organisms such as earthworms. 
• Enhance faunal biodiversity (e.g. earthworms) by practicing integrated pest management using organisms which act as natural enemies (e.g. lady birds for aphids) together with natural remedies such as vinegar solutions and soapy water to apply on plants. 
• A healthy and vibrant garden is planted around the nursery to ensure there is a thriving population of good insects that can take care of the bad insects without the need to spend resources and attention on using pesticides.  A carefully selected set of companion plants are planted around the seedlings and plants to ensure they ward of the bad insects and attract the good ones.  This gives the seedlings the best chance to pull in the nutrients it needs for itself so that they are growing at their best form before our clients take them out to the farms for transplanting 

 
PRE- & POST SALE ADVISORY: 

• We have been providing client on-site post-purchase advisory and plants management.  These supports will continue. 
• Our clients have been asking about our greening technology and what we do to enrich our soils for a thriving garden system that supports the nursery.  We are therefore happy to announce the release of our training and workshop programes for farmers to showcase what we have done ourselves and the science behind the process including lunar-constellation planting guide (we are building the planting guide calendar for 2022), natural and integrated farming methods including the use of chicken and fish feed in our garden and nursery and many more. 

 
INTRODUCTION OF R&D CAPABILITY: 

• Since we advocate for sustainability, we have a R&D unit working on bio-degradable seedling trays and efficient seed dropping devices 

 
IMPROVED LEVELS OF ACCOUNTABILITY: 

• All orders are signed up on our farmers’ agreement form before production starts.  All payment transactions are cashless and carried out either online, via internet banking and including onsite point of sale swiping machine that will accept debit and credit card payments. 
• A separate agreement exists for those interested in becoming our franchisee farmer where we replicate the structure and conduct the marketing under the MFK-Gardens Farm banner so that you may enjoy the same setup and support that we have created in our nursery and building a wider network of farmers who have access to these cutting-edge technologies for their crop production, 

 
IMPROVED FARM PRODUCTIVITY: 

• We can provide sufficient seedlings for up to five one-hectare vegetable crop farms every month 

 
HOW TO GET YOUR SEEDLINGS WHEN YOU WANT THEM: 

• Place your order up to 160K seedlings giving 4 weeks lead time to your transplanting 
• State the choice of seedlings variety on the Farmers' Order Form
• Pay 70% deposit upfront and 30% on collection on signing Farmers' Agreement
• Receive weekly progress updates on your seedling production through reports and visuals on your WhatsApp 
• Collect your order on the expected period of completion
• A carefree and a farm production experience that is dependable awaits you. ​