#ngene

Menurut saya, kemampuan untuk mendeskripsikan karya melalui sebuah paragraf yang dapat mudah dimengerti oleh audiens yang akhirnya berperan penting dalam proses berkarya dan menikmati sebuah karya.

Kadang kita mikir, “ah cuma kayak gini”, “kenapa bentuk kayak gini bisa masuk pameran sih?”

Namun faktanya, setelah membaca deskripsi yang diberikan oleh sang seniman, kita semua tahu bahwa dibalik karya yang menurut kita “cuma kayak gini” terdapat pemikiran yang mendalam serta konsep yang sangat-sangat matang. Karena tentu hanya orang-orang yang hebat yang bisa memvisualisasikan sebuah fenomena yang rumit menjadi sebuah karya yang bisa dinikmati setiap orang.

Pikiran saya sendiri.

NGUNI GRAZING

The diet of Nguni is very important: this is why Nguni herders travel far to find good grazing, amongst other things. The Nguni need to be sufficiently grazed and strengthened for the walking that they do, over long distances; with baskets of Tabalaza or the handmade products that each titled African House makes and receives; some products are received when married or at the time of different Rites of Passage and so for Tabalaza delivery, Nguni need mostly growing (and not picked and baled) lucerne as their primary source of nutrition. Each different type of lucerne would need to make up a third of their grazing feed, as it has to be a mixed diet.

ONE THIRD TREFOIL

Logically speaking, to have the ideal lucernes growing together and in a thirds ratio, one would probably need to plan, plant and maintain those grazing pastures or spaces.

REGROWTH

Ideally, the lucerne would be a deep and dark green and a metre or more in height, above the ground. Lucerne of that description, mostly, needed to be planted - and closed off from other hungry, grazing animals - and needed to be regularly trimmed or grazed, in order to stimulate regrowth and avoid growth stagnation. Also, to stimulate quick regrowth, lucerne needed to be trimmed or grazed to half a ruler's length and this needed to be done every 6 weeks to three months, if the lucerne was grazed every six months and needed to be ready for the regular return by an Ngene and herder, who made use of rotational grazing fields.

VENDA AS THE SOLUTION

This kind of farming is not traditionally a 7 Sovereign Kingdom's Imali* or Tabalaza*. In Venda - formerly, under colonial powers known as the Transkei - there was, what was known to be the best Nguni grazing, in the 7 Sovereign Kingdoms of eSwati. Venda's grazing was so lush and green and Nguni fattening that most Nguni were kept in Pondoland - or what was known as the Ciskei, during colonization - and taken to Venda to graze for most months of the year, coming back to the Nguni kraals in Pondo, only to rest and be counted.

THE HUMBLE FARMER

So, we needed to learn the best farming habits and methods and to navigate the best and most efficient grazing pasture planning, planting, trimming, feeding and watering and protecting the pasture from too much midday sun, which is a natural enemy of any green plants but especially soft grasses like lucerne, if there is a lack of water.

BENEFITS

Lucernes, such as trefoil, are great for grazing animals as they reduce greenhouse emissions - i.e. Nguni farts - and aid digestion, kill internal and external parasites, as well as having a fattening effect on grazing animals. In addition, grazing animals don't suffer from bloating and the pain and irritation associated with eating the wrong feeds and growing grasses.

FIELD OF BROWN WEEDS

Any old grass, especially browned grass or dried out grasses are not the correct pasture nor is any very green plan that has thistles or thorns - those are weeds and despite the fact that some are that lovely green colour, they are painful to eat and are not good for Nguni.

CATNIP FOR NGUNI

Another consideration is that Nguni seem to love lucerne and will hasten and trot, upon seeing a lucerne pasture in the distance. Separating them from this beloved lucerne is counter productive as Nguni are not like goats, in the sense that goats eat anything, whereas Nguni are quite picky and needed long, lush, green lucernes to keep up a healthy weight.

HIGH CALORIES

The glucose index or sustained energy levels/kilojoules of lucerne, consumed is low and grazing animals maintain a hefty weight, provided the Nguni are grazing daily and that this is a continued practice. ALL GRAZING ANIMALS HAVE TO GRAZE FOR AT LEAST A FEW HOURS EVERY DAY.

SHADE NEEDED

Things to consider when planning a lucerne field is, if it is at all possible, it is good planting a field, where a mountain or natural feature or rock formation provides some shade on the grazing field when approaching midday and after midday; when the topsoil is at it's hottest.

CHECK THE TEMP.

Getting a thermometer in the ground to check that topsoil temperatures do not heat up over 32°c is also good as most plants do not sustain good yield when topsoil (the first centimetre of soil) reaches and surpasses a topsoil temperature of 32°c.

WET BULB TEMP. OF 32°c

Taking a year's practice run in the planned field space, checking soil temperatures and recording them regularly, can help tremendously, as one can plan and build latticed walls or establish a plant trellis or creeper plants against a semi-transparent fence etc. to keep the wet bulb temperature of 32°c from approaching. This can be avoided by using abovementioned methods of shading the topsoil around lunchtime, when the sun is at it's apex.

BULBS DIE UNDERGROUND

At this temperature of 32°c, any bulbs underground are completely dehydrated and die. Another way to combat this and also stimulate the growth of lucerne is to plant water pipes a few centimetres underground and to water the lucerne from under the topsoil, as the temperature nears 32°c, thereby keeping the soil temperature down, as well as stopping the evaporation of this water by watering underground from water pipes that are planted underground for this purpose.

NGUNI WATER TROUGH

All grazing animals should have easy access to water, at the grazing site in order to be able to push on with the journey and for overall good health.

WATER AVAILABLE ALL OVER

Where water is concerned, there are various atmosphere water harvesting and rain catching methods that can sustain your grazing field, as there are rural, agricultural water use restrictions placed on how much water one would be able to use from a municipal tap. If one goes over the water consumption limits, one can be fined large amounts of money for non-compliance by one's Municipality or National government. For verifying the rate of water usage, taps are fitted with meters that count litres moving through the meter, during a certain period of time. These meters are the really the government's way of ensuring that agricultural operations are not using all the municipal water for commercial usage.

OBEY WATER RESTRICTIONS

Although, we should obey the water restrictions/regulations; which allow for all municipal water users to have access to water; all year round. When we are guilty of unbridled use of water from municipal taps or do not discourage it, we normally find ourselves completely without water or under heavy water restrictions, until the next heavy rainfall.

10/11/2020:

Tapi semuanya berubah menjadi keterpaksaan yang kadang membuat kita depresi, ketika kita melakukannya hanya demi eksistensi dan mulai fakir apresiasi.