This year the grant helped us to enable a fully autonomous irrigation system. We tackled the challenge of being off-grid, not having access to a pond or well, and yet still wanting to run an automated irrigation system with a timer and enough pressure to water from an alternate water source. The result is that the farm is able to water itself fully autonomously on a schedule.
The project had a significant impact such as allowing me to repurpose my limited time on the farm to other chores and make myself more efficient on the farm. Furthermore, the water helped to keep the plants in the caterpillar tunnel healthy, and my best and highest selling crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers came from these tunnels. If it were not for the consistent watering, these crops could not have produced as well as they did. It was our first year as part of a rotation in the farmers market, previous years we sold direct to customers only and the occasional pop-up shop. With the success of expanding the farm, installing caterpillar tunnels for the first time and a self-automated irrigation system, we were able to surpass the last two years of sales combined this year alone.
- Semir Abdulrahman
