Krumhuk Newsletter
December 2025
Dear friends and supporters of Krumhuk,
an eventful year 2025 is coming to an end, and there’s much we’d like to share with you. A considerable amount of time has passed since our last newsletter, and we’re very aware of it. After much deliberation and several discussions, we’ve decided to switch from a report of updating once a year to a regular newsletter, which will be published more frequently throughout the year to keep you informed. We hope this will bring you some joy and give you a glimpse into daily life at Krumhuk. This letter is intended as a first step in this direction, bringing you up to date…
This year, we’ve been incredibly blessed with something essential for life on the farm: rain! It was an exceptionally good year for rainfall, with approximately 650mm, and we are extremely grateful for it! On the night of March 20th, 170mm of rain fell in 15 hours – an unprecedented event in Krumhuk’s history, and one that caused quite a stir. For several hours, Krumhuk’s roads were impassable, and many community members were busy managing the incredible volume of water to minimize damage. Many trees lost their footing in the saturated ground and toppled over. We experienced our first instances of mold growth in buildings, and it quickly became clear which houses could be improved in terms of their waterproofing. Despite these setbacks, both people and animals enjoyed the full dams, the abundant grass, and a bountiful harvest of 1,850 hay bales. Driving across the farm, you can see large herds of springbok and oryx, the wildebeest population continues to grow, and if you’re lucky, you might even spot a waterbuck or two. According to regular wildlife counts, Krumhuk is home to approximately 130 kudus, 300 oryx, 100 warthogs, 450 springboks, 230 zebras, 35 wildebeest, and of course, plenty of small game. We are very pleased that cheetahs have returned to Krumhuk this year. Leopards are still present.
All the animals can still benefit from the abundant grass at the end of the year, and the new rainy season has already brought some promising downpours.
Life is vibrant at the Krumhuk farmstead, and those who visit us regularly are always amazed by the constant stream of new developments. This, of course, requires a strong community and a dedicated staff-team. We now have 43 permanent employees, supported by up to 10 part-time workers and interns. In addition to the leadership team (Dirk, Clemens, and Nikolai), the various departments are managed by a team of six managers, who keep the vision of Krumhuk Trading CC firmly in focus. Following the weekly morning circle on Mondays, a smaller staff meeting has been held since this year, concluding with a team-building activity to foster a positive work environment. Also new this year is a Community Council, comprised of five democratically elected Krumhuk residents, who are committed to the well-being of the community and have already taken action in various areas, such as addressing urgent health issues. For our community of 63 adults and 27 children, a long-held wish has come true, and we are very happy about this development!
Much has changed on the exterior this year as well: In February, the old farmhouse kitchen, guest toilets, and front porch were completely renovated and extended towards the courtyard. The area between the kitchen and laundry room is now covered, paved, and includes new staff toilets. After the kitchen had to temporarily relocate to the large dining room during the renovation, it now boasts more space, light, and a more efficient working environment. With daily guests to cook for, numerous events being hosted, and a steady increase in market production, optimization was urgently needed and has proven highly beneficial.
A new three-bedroom guesthouse has also been built, with the bare structure now complete. The pigpens have been expanded, the new workshop has been furnished and occupied, Temapo and Charlene have moved into their new home, several staff houses have had solar geysers installed on their roofs, and the large farm swimming pool has been enlarged and is currently being fitted with a self-cleaning system.
Since our chickens moved into their new “Chicken Hilton” coop at the end of last year, their susceptibility to disease has decreased significantly, and egg production has increased considerably. In the centre of the coop is a strip of green plants for vitamin supplementation, interspersed with mulberry trees that will soon provide more shade. The proximity to the cowshed also ensures a good supplement to their diet. The increased egg production, as well as the chicken meat, is very beneficial to the high demand from our customers at the market, allowing them to shop there early, as supplies are not yet sufficient. The schoolchildren from our learning space are very involved in caring for the chickens and are enjoying learning a great deal there.
Our pigs are also constantly multiplying. With four sows and one hardworking boar, we now have about 50 new piglets per year, and two pigs can be slaughtered every second week. Our youngest sow, Zora, had her first nine piglets in May. The pigs also attract many visitors and always generate a lot of excitement. When the pigs broke out of their enclosure during one of our theatre performances in May, and the 100 audience members were suddenly surrounded by several pigs during their intermission, there was certainly plenty of laughter.
The dairy herd, with its rhythm and tranquillity provides a sense of stability on the farm and is therefore an important part of the entire cycle. We also had a new bull introduced after the old one lost interest in his cows. Many calves were born in recent weeks, causing a significant drop in milk production for a while, and we are pleased that it is now increasing again to meet the high demand. In addition to the markets, we continue to deliver several cool boxes of dairy products to the Superspar supermarket every week.
The large cattle herd has grown to over 500 animals after the last drought and has had a new bull for a few weeks now, after the old bull was sold to the Bockmühl family’s Tsuwandes farm. Although there was a lower calving rate this year for various reasons, such as last year’s drought, calves have been arriving regularly since November, and thanks to the good rainy season, there is currently a good supply of forage.
The slaughterhouse is operating at full capacity, slaughtering at least one cow every week, eliminating the need for additional purchases. Local and extern hunters provide a plentiful supply of game meat, and we rarely buy game from neighbouring farms. The meat frozen in Windhoek from last year’s drought has been completely used up, and our pork is also proving very popular with customers. The slaughterhouse has a stable team of employees, but operations could be further optimized with better support for its management. We look forward to the person who will hopefully step up in this role soon…
The garden infrastructure has also seen improvements, including a cold frame where seedlings can be started before sowing. The plant nursery has been expanded, and the irrigation system has been optimized. The vegetable varieties are becoming more popular, and more and more customers are enjoying new products, such as the homemade horseradish spread or the new herbal teas.
New greywater systems have also been developed, providing ample quantities of biomass, compost, and animal feed. One of these systems supplies a research project by a master’s student who is cultivating a small vegetable farm in Krumhuk, investigating the effects of different water sources on soil and plants.
In April, we held a preparation day where we made four different own farm-produced compost preparations. At Easter, 170 horns were buried for the horn manure preparation and have now been dug up again. The production and use of CPP (Cow Pat Pit) is becoming increasingly integrated into our daily routine.
We are delighted that two of our garden staff were able to participate in a one-week- biodynamic agriculture course this year, held in Krumhuk, which enriched 30 gardeners and farmers from across Africa. Following this course, the annual AAAT (All African Anthroposophical Training) took place near Windhoek, which some of our staff were also able to attend. The participants of the entire seminar, 120 people from 15 different African countries, visited us for an afternoon to explore Krumhuk and end the day with a big braai.
Our bees in Krumhuk are very busy. We were able to harvest 120 kg of honey! Gabriel Ahlenstorf conducted extensive research on bees in Namibia for his master’s thesis and discovered that there are more than 30 bee colonies living in the wild on Krumhuk.
This year, the workshop team moved into the new workshop space, and we’ve also recently acquired a new 4×4 tractor, which, with its striking red colour, is a real eye- catcher on the farm. But our tractors can’t do everything: In November, a large excavator, rented from Windhoek, worked on what we hope will be effective erosion control and clearing of bushes from various vulnerable areas on the farm. Almost all our boreholes, or rather the water reservoirs at the boreholes, are now equipped with monitoring systems, which is a great help for water supply and planning.
The wood-fired oven in the bakery is now fired up four days a week, and with Tombi, who was hired last year as a cook and baker, we have a fantastic new and dedicated employee. He takes on a lot of responsibility and supplies the markets with many delicious baked goods.
The farm kitchen is also very busy and needs more helping hands, as the workload gets more with increasing production. Coffee and cake remains very popular for many people, and so we bake between 12 and 15 cakes for every second Sunday afternoon. There were a few staff changes in the kitchen this year, and we hope for a stable team in 2026.
Our farm products enable us to generate a stable income of 80% through direct marketing at our two weekly markets at the Stephanus Church in Windhoek.
The hospitality department was very busy throughout the year, and we are delighted with the numerous guests from all over the world who ensure that the guest rooms were almost fully booked. This year, we had approximately 285 reservations for our bungalows. There were also a few changes in the cleaning team, which had a very positive impact. In addition to our regular house guests, we also had several day visitors and school groups who enjoyed a guided farm tour or a game drive. Thanks to good occupancy rates and stable revenues in the guest business, various investments and new vehicle purchases were made possible.
The kindergarten consisted of 8-10 children this year, who happily started their day each morning with Naomi and one of our interns. Naomi has had the opportunity to participate in some courses about Waldorf pedagogy at the Windhoek Waldorf Kindergarten and is delighted to be increasingly immersed in this approach. She also attended the AAAT and returned enriched and with new ideas.
Our learning space continues to offer children a very special way of learning and is now entering its fifth year with the 6th grade. The highlight for many was the Olympic Games for the 4th and 5th grades, which were celebrated at the end of the year with the entire school community and many people from the farm. The teaching team has expanded slightly and received valuable support from outside, enabling all five grades to be provided with their age-appropriate epochs. Teresia, our local teacher, travelled to Kenya three times this year for her Waldorf teacher training.
Besides our very busy daily routine, we were of course also able to celebrate a few wonderful festivals together. In May, we had a cheerful rainy Thanksgiving celebration, and in October, the Michaelmas Festival. As mentioned, in May, our adult theatre group performed the play “Komödie im Dunkeln” in the former pigsty followed shortly after by a performance of “The Little Witch” by the Krumhuker Children’s Theatre.
In June, we enjoyed a magical winter day with coffee and cake, a fairytale walk, and fun activities for children. To round off the year, we held an Advent market with many handmade toys and decorations.
Two weeks ago, we celebrated our year-end event with all the staff at Moonraker Farm under a beautiful evening sky with a very festive dinner and wonderful reflections on the year 2025. Many have now left for the Christmas holidays, and a bit of peace is settling to everyday life in Krumhuker, which will hopefully allow us to recharge for 2026.
We hope you had a joyful and light-filled Christmas season, and we look forward to a peaceful New Year together with you! With that in mind, everyone in Krumhuk sends warm greetings and looks forward to welcoming some of you again in the new year 2026!
Until the first newsletter in 2026, greetings from on behalf of the Krumhuke community,
Johanna Gilck
