Peter, who started farming in 2005, is the fifth generation to farm on Roselands, which has been in the Nicholson family since 1850 when the first Byrnes settlers arrived.
By 2012, Peter was fed up with regularly applying, what he describes as hazardous chemicals, to crops such as cabbage. He was concerned that harmful residues were finding their way to his family and consumers.
“I was really stimulated when I visited an old university friend, Angus McIntosh, near Stellenbosch and learnt from him the benefits of producing and consuming organic food products as opposed to conventionally grown foods.
I started reading as much as possible about the organic farming philosophy and its methods. My eyes were opened to the dangers conventional food production posed to human and environmental health,” Peter says.
Toxic chemicals he had been using included organophosphates, as well as “harsh chemical fertilisers such as KCl [potassium chloride]”.
In 2015, Peter met Gerald Conway, a businessman and farmer from KwaZulu-Natal’s Hilton area, who also wanted to learn more about implementing organic food production. Gerald and Peter became partners in a vision to gradually convert Roselands from conventional to organic farming practices.
Soil types and rainfall
About 80% of the farm’s arable soil consists of the Kranskop soil type. Peter describes it as black in colour, having a depth of about 1m, well-drained, and with 30% clay content. The farm’s remaining arable soil consists of the red-coloured Inanda soil type, which is about 0,5m deep, also well-drained, and with 30% clay content.
Peter explains that these are very resilient soils.
Roselands farm receives an average annual rainfall of about 1 300mm, although the 770mm received in 2015 made it the farm’s driest year since 1929 when rainfall records for the farm were first kept.
I started reading as much as possible about the organic farming philosophy and its methods. My eyes were opened to the dangers conventional food production posed to human and environmental health,” Peter says.
Toxic chemicals he had been using included organophosphates, as well as “harsh chemical fertilisers such as KCl [potassium chloride]”.
In 2015, Peter met Gerald Conway, a businessman and farmer from KwaZulu-Natal’s Hilton area, who also wanted to learn more about implementing organic food production. Gerald and Peter became partners in a vision to gradually convert Roselands from conventional to organic farming practices.
Soil types and rainfall
About 80% of the farm’s arable soil consists of the Kranskop soil type. Peter describes it as black in colour, having a depth of about 1m, well-drained, and with 30% clay content. The farm’s remaining arable soil consists of the red-coloured Inanda soil type, which is about 0,5m deep, also well-drained, and with 30% clay content.
Peter explains that these are very resilient soils.
Roselands farm receives an average annual rainfall of about 1 300mm, although the 770mm received in 2015 made it the farm’s driest year since 1929 when rainfall records for the farm were first kept.
