The Land at Sifoe

The House and Gardens Now

Thanks to the efforts of the Mad Axe Woman of Sifoe and Alagie Badjie the garden and outside areas of the land are looking magnificent. We have always maintained a policy of "no cutting firewood" on the land and the local people have come to respect that - they still go out every day chopping wood for their cooking fires but leave our land alone.

During the dry season that land is reasonably clear as we always cutback the grasses and shrubs after the rains have finished as this acts as a fire break around the house. Normally Alagie brought in men to help him - clearing six acres is not a one man job - and the choice is left to him, it is either his brothers (large families in Africa) or Manchester United Football team who do it to raise money to buy football clothing.

Manchester United -Alagie is third from the left, back row.

When the rains do come it only takes a couple of days before the green shoots appear - and then it goes mad. Grass can grow to seven or eight feet tall in double quick time and lots of small plants and shrubs appear like magic. We are fortunate in that the land is reasonably free draining so we have few problems during the heavy rains that are prevalent during the rainy season, it is also very fertile thanks to all the leaves that fall during the dry season and rot into the ground. This means that just about anything grows and this is where our problems start.

The Rains are Coming - View from The Verandah

This year we have tried a different approach by using a lawn mower and just a couple of men (plus yours truly who found it quite good exercise pushing said mower) and the results have been quite spectacular. It now looks like some country park in the middle of the African Bush - the locals are now convinced that Noel Coward was absolutely correct - Only mad Dogs and Englishmen etc etc.

The mower is a 5.5 HP Wolf BMC 21 inch wide cut with powered back wheels so it' reasonably easy to use - on a normal front lawn.....

But now do the maths.....21 inches or 53.3 centimeters in Euro speak - the land is 150 metres by 175 metres or 2.625 hectares. Knock off the odd 625 square metres for buildings etc and you are still left with an area that anyone in their right mind would sit back with their gin and tonic and let nature do its worse - but we are made of sterner stuff - or is it that we are just plain bonkers?

Ok I will leave the sums to you - just sit and work out how many cuts it would take to cut the grass assuming that their were no trees, bushes, tree roots etc to spoil your path and then please send the answer to me as I just do not have the time to work it out as I am busy cutting the grass.... I now know how the painters felt on the Forth Rail Bridge - they tell the boss they have finished, he says start again....

The following photos were taken on 17 September 2011 and show various views of the house, gardens and outside area of Termite Towers...