The fruit of more than 30 000 banana trees can be reaped in one year.
The possible income from this, calculated at 25-30kgs per plant and R2 per kg makes for a very interesting possiblity.
These bananas are established on some of the finest agricultural soils in the Eastern Cape - the fertile madakana clay loam.
They are all irrigated from release water from the Nahoon Dam. The nutrients are automatically fed through the dripper lines under computer control.
Tilty Hill is situated in a green conservancy area. It lies in indigenous Eastern Cape forest, and is rich in flora and fauna. The tall krantz's are home to the fish eagle. Fish abound in the Nahoon River.
The lawns and gardens are well established and tastefully laid out. With huge indigenous trees growing on well tendered lawns, which slope to the river's edge.
The lawns and gardens are automatically sprinkler irrigated.
The setting is unique to B&B's around East London, in that the guest rooms, which are all en-suite, and which have their own entrances, lie only sixty metres from a large pool in the Nahoon River, under huge wild olive, pecan nut, coral, camdeboo stinkwood, ironwood and mulberry trees.
The peace and tranquility is very evident in the evening when the setting sun shines through the trees and causes the leaves to glow with a golden green hue and casts shafts of sunlight onto the sloping lawns.
Then the birds come home.
The gardens and lawns are well laid out.
The decor is warm and bright, and Yellowwood is the dominant furnishing.
The six main bedrooms are individually en-suite with ceiling fans and a dressing room. The beds are solid pine with unusual yellowwood headboards.
The rooms are all named after draught horses. There are two beds in each room except "Clydesdale", which has a double bed, but also has a single and/or double bunk for small children. "Percheron" is a room specially designed for the disabled.
Security lights light the surrounds all night.
Three smaller garden rooms, named after ponies, - "Dartmoor", "Exmoor" and "Pollsmoor" are converted old stables and are now very comfortable, less expensive bedrooms, also en-suite, and with their own stable door entrances.
Next to the main complex we have a Self-Catering Cottage, which used to be a manager's residence. This has a beautiful private view of the river, especially through a bay window, from a four poster double bed.
The cottage has an open plan lounge, dining area and kitchen for self-catering. There is a small fireplace for cold winter evenings.
The dining area has yellowwood tables and S-backed yellowwood chairs, and a stone fireplace.
The stunning yellowwood pub has elicited a lot of interest because of the novel yellowwood peeling design.
The reception cupboards are also made of drought stricken yellowwood and are beautifully grained.
The open plan kitchen in this dining area centers around the cooking island.
The scullery is seperate.
A fully-equipped Conference Centre compliments the Bed and Breakfast.
The conference centre can seat up to sixty delegates. The centre is decorated in farm workshop style.
The hall is air-conditioned. It has a reception area for teas, its own kitchen and two toilets with showers.
The conference hall can duplicate as a dormitory to attract schools for outward-bound courses, having its own catering facilities. (The pupils sleep on bunk beds)
The farm is geared for Outward Bound education.
A number of successful school education courses have been run for prefect's leadership training and nature orientation.
Large groups of school children have already taken advantage of these facilities and new classes are now repeating the course.
The children learn skills not normally taught at schools, like:
Because of the intrinsic beauty of the gardens and river view, the farm is a sought-after wedding venue and numerous weddings and receptions have been held there.
The Touch Farm is another significant source of income.
It is an historical attraction for East London children. They wander through the farm and touch animals. There are rabbits, all sorts of fowl, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, a peacock, doves and pigeons, pigs, tortoises, a donkey and her foal, a Welsh pony, cows, calves and goats.
Schools bring their pre-primary and primary school children for outings, and all those who wish, may milk the cows, and have a ride on the tractor.
The mothers organise birthday parties here, where all they have to bring is the birthday cake. We provide the party packs.
The surroundings are especially suited for such occasions.
The play-ground has a Jungle Jim, slide and swings.
The Touch Farm is developing a flock of geese to start a down industry, and they will provide an income from feather and down pillows, duvets, and feather mattresses.
The Touch Farm personnel serve an attractive farm tea with home-baked fare from the farm kitchen.
Pecan and macadamia nuts, strawberries and homemade jams and preserves and dried rose petals, are for sale in season. Sweets, chips, cooldrink and ice-creams are sold in the Touch Farm shop.
The Touch Farm serves as the base for exciting hikes in the Nahoon Valley.
There are two hikes. A short hike of approximately four kilometres, and a longer more arduous hike of eight kilometres.
The scenery on both hikes is completely unspoiled and exciting in its variation.
A pair of fish eagles nest somewhere on the cliffs up-river and are heard calling in the valley.
The fauna and flora is very rich in this valley, and includes over 120 bird species and a vibrant butterfly population.
The flora consists of numerous cycads, wild flowers, including wild watsonias, asparagus and many more varieties of plants and indigenous trees.
A family of otters delighted the riverine investigation teams who surveyed local estuaries in the Eastern Cape. They tell us that the presence of a family of otters is an assurance that the river is unpolluted.
The hikes lead to a picnic area developed in the forest where frequent camping parties are held and special tourist campfire braai's and potjie parties are enjoyed.
An added attraction is an old fashioned three-holer long drop, for the comfort of the tourists.
Sitting around a huge forest fire with good food, good drink and good company makes for a memorable evening.
The guests are transported by tractor and trailer - as an interesting variation.
Such occasions provide a perfect setting for afro-entertainment - particularly suited to the tourist trade.
A rose garden provides cut flowers for the B&B and conference centre. Dried rose petals are sold for pot pourri.
Of exceptional agricultural interest is the hydroponic system that has been developed here. It consists of vertical columns that can carry a load of up to 30 plants per column, all of which are hydroponically watered for short periods of time. The nutrients are available at regular times of the day, yet allows the roots to aerate. This system has been developed for strawberries, but experiments are being conducted for legume crops and spinach.
The potential of this system is that a huge plant population can be grown on a small acreage with a minimal use of water. Preliminary indications seem to show that the system requires an estimate of 5000 litres of water per week. The reason for this is that the nutrients are constantly recycled, by draining the excess back into a collection tank. The watering is timer controlled, so management is reduced by automation. There are a number of benefits such as absence of ground born diseases, no ground contamination of fruit crops, ease of picking and ease of spraying of herbicides and insecticides. There lies a vast potential for developing this unique system as Tilty Hill lends itself for such expansion.
The farm is equipped to handle the work and has sufficient equipment to do the job.
The labour force is trained to handle all operations and are reasonably skilled in the daily tasks that happen.
The staff accommodation consists of family units, built of brick under iron.
The whole farm is situated in the intrinsically and naturally beautiful Nahoon Valley. When natural beauty is so tastefully enhanced by cultivated flora, a veritable paradise is created.
It is a beautiful place to live, and is fast becoming highly profitable, and it has more additional potential to create income.
Apart from bananas and strawberries, pecan and macadamia nuts and other fruit trees grow well here - like guavas, paw-paw and citrus.
An additional bonus is that it is reasonably close to town and the market, and transport is not a major factor.
The products produced are such that they are not readily targeted by thieves and vermin.
The bananas are harvested green and cured in ripening rooms at the East London market. The banana price is now very reasonable and as the production process and advertising bears fruit, a greater income can definitely be expected. The set-up costs have been incurred. The mistakes have been rectified.
A purchaser will continue on an improving income trend, with advertisements in place, and, in particular, pre-booked reservations for the B&B, conferences and the Touch Farm, the hydroponic system bearing, and more and more banana trees coming into production.
As the banana production has recently come on stream, future income is obviously set out in budget format.
The financial history of the Touch Farm and the B&B are actual and available for scrutiny.
The nursery and strawberry system have not functioned for a full year in full production. So, no forecasts are available in a meaningful form.
Tilty Hill is situated within short travelling distance of the planned Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) on the West Bank of
East London.
Its natural beauty is such that it is ideally situated for:
It is only 20 minutes travelling from city centre.
We undertook within five years to develop the property into a profit-making operation.
We now wish to retire, as we have achieved this objective and are leaving an enterprise with a great potential to create wealth for the purchaser.
PHONE FOR APPOINTMENT!TILTY HILL, a tourist attraction, is For Sale!
Tilty Hill, a farm of 88 hectare, with a 2 kilometer fresh water river frontage, only 12 kms from the city centre, has established one of the first major banana production plantations in the Eastern Cape. Proof of the fruit is in the eating.
What facilities Tilty Hill offers:
Tilty Hill
Country Court B&B
Main Homestead Dining and Reception Area
Conference Centre
Educational Benefits
Milking cows, and seperating the milk and cream
Plucking geese for feathers and down
Making butter
Kneading bread
Showing them samples of invader weeds, and then sending them on a 4 or 8 km hike to collect them.
Lecture on banana culture in the plantation
See how strawberries grow hydroponically.
Wedding Venue
The Touch Farm
The Tea Garden
Hikes
Other agricultural sources of income
Tilty Hill has a fully automated nursery that has the potential for a serviceable income. It consists of five irrigated piers for growing out plants, a shade tunnel for germination and a thriving vegetable patch. The potential has as yet not been fully developed to date but the infrastructure is all in place.
Farm Equipment
The overall evaluation
Financial information and budgets are available on request
Additional possibilities
Potential development
1) Top-market executive residence with security benefits;
2) Top-market tourist accommodation with entertainment potential and outdoor living;
3) Top-market housing with a cliff edge view over the beautiful Nahoon Valley and a distance view of the sea;
4) River bank restaurants and bars;
5) River bank caravan sites.
6) Can be developed into a gated Estate for a retirement village on a farm.
Reason for selling
The property will be sold: "Lock, Stock & Barrel"
- excepting personal effects -
Price of Request
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