Introducing Our On-Site Veggie Plantation

Nestled on the banks of the mighty Zambezi River, The Palm River Hotel is not just a haven from which our cherished guests can take in the marvels of Victoria Falls, but a pioneer in sustainable hospitality.

As part of our ongoing movement towards better sustainability practices and a self-sufficient food chain supply, we’ve developed a vegetable production plantation consisting of onsite greenhouses and herb troughs. Keep reading to learn more about our little veggie garden that keeps on giving!

(Maybe you’ll even be inspired to start your own…)

The Palm River Hotel is fortunate to be situated in an area with fertile soil enriched by the life-giving waters of the Zambezi River. This, combined with a consistent water supply and a warm, sunny climate, creates the ideal environment for cultivating an array of vegetables, herbs, and even spices!

Considering the above, we decided it would be an opportunity missed not to take advantage of nature’s gifts and grow what has quickly become an impressive selection of fresh produce.

We use the hotel’s organic compost (also produced on-site) to further nourish the soil and ensure that not only are the vegetables and herbs grown in our garden fresh, but also free from synthetic fertilisers.

The result? A consistent supply of high-quality, home-grown ingredients that elevate the culinary offerings of our restaurant.

The large Potager Garden, measuring 17m x 17m, and the smaller Kitchen Potager, 15m x 4.5m, are central to our goal of providing fresh, local ingredients that enhance our guests’ every dining experience.

The growing beds are a vibrant patchwork of greens, herbs, and other plants, each contributing to the diverse flavours on our seasonal menus.

Vegetables:

• Cos Lettuce
• Oak Leaf Lettuce
• Wild Rocket
• Swiss Chard
• Spinach
• Beetroot
• Radish

Herbs:

• Coriander (Great for our Asian-inspired dishes.)
• Mint
• Parsley
• Rosemary (We’re currently working on a dish that features rosemary honey on pannacotta – it will be launched on our menu soon!)
• Thyme
• Lavender (We use the flowers for desserts and infuse creams with the leaves for our macarons and shortbread.)
• Tarragon
• Garlic
• Chives
• Fennel (Dill)
• Basil
• Spring Onions
• Leeks
• Lemongrass (Look out for the lemongrass growing on your “walk route” along the path by the back end of the kitchen.)

Flowers & Other:

• Eggplant
• Viola
• Nasturtiums (We use both the flowers and the leaves.)
• Strawberries
• Gooseberries (These are flourishing at the moment! Guests can look out for our homemade gooseberry jam on the breakfast buffet.)
• Granadillas
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Chillies
• Microgreens
• Micro Herbs

In addition to our staple vegetables and herbs, The Palm River Hotel’s garden is also a playground for experimentation. The team is currently experimenting with “fun” vegetables, including:

• Dragon Fruit
• Deep Purple-Cored Carrots
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Purple Broccoli
• Rainbow Beets
• Rainbow Cherry Tomatoes

These varieties should add an exciting touch to the menu in future but are slightly trickier to grow. It’s a bit of a trial-and-error situation at the moment!

To ensure that the freshest ingredients are always available to our chefs, the garden features well-planned infrastructure. Shelving for microgreens is strategically placed around the potager garden near to the kitchen for easy access, with plans to extend this to supply our sister property, Ilala Lodge Hotel, as well. Ground-level beds are also being established for vegetables that thrive in such conditions, like strawberries, eggplants, and chillies.

In a world that punts convenience, it’s easy to forget that food production (even on a small scale) is within our reach. With a bit of research, some clever configuration and persistence, anyone can grow a little something for their kitchen – even if it’s simply a planter box filled with your favourite herbs.

Our kitchen staff loves going out to the vegetable plantation and harvesting fresh produce for our dishes. It makes the entire process that much more personal and gratifying.

We look forward to sharing the fruits of our labour with you on your next visit to Victoria Falls!