Sonder dat ons kunsmis gebruik, saai ons en die saad ontkiem.

Because sonder on its own is a preposition, and dat introduces a full clause.

• sonder kunsmis = without fertilizer
• sonder dat ons kunsmis gebruik = without us using fertilizer

So when you want to say without + subject + verb, Afrikaans often uses sonder dat.

Because dat introduces a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans subordinate clauses usually send the finite verb to the end.

So:

• main clause: Ons gebruik kunsmis
• subordinate clause after dat: dat ons kunsmis gebruik

This is a very common pattern in Afrikaans.

Because the sentence begins with a fronted clause: Sonder dat ons kunsmis gebruik.

When something other than the subject comes first in a main clause, Afrikaans normally puts the verb before the subject. This is the usual verb-second pattern.

So the structure is:

• fronted element: Sonder dat ons kunsmis gebruik
• then main clause verb: saai
• then subject: ons

That is why you get saai ons rather than ons saai.

No. It is still a statement.

For an English speaker, verb + subject can look like a question, but in Afrikaans that word order also happens in normal statements after a fronted element.

So here:

• Sonder dat ons kunsmis gebruik, saai ons ... = statement
• it is not a question just because saai comes before ons

Yes, very often.

Since the subject of both parts is the same (ons), Afrikaans can also say:

Sonder om kunsmis te gebruik, saai ons en die saad ontkiem.

This is often a very natural alternative.

A simple way to think about it:

• sonder dat
  • full clause
• sonder om ... te
  • infinitive-style construction

Both can work here, though sonder om ... te gebruik may sound a bit more compact.

Saai means to sow or to plant seed.

It is specifically used for scattering or planting seed, not for planting everything in general.

For example:

• Ons saai mielies. = We sow maize / plant corn seed.
• Ons plant 'n boom. = We plant a tree.

So saai is the right verb when seeds are involved.

Ontkiem means to germinate, to sprout, or to begin growing from seed.

It is usually used without an object here:

• Die saad ontkiem. = The seed germinates.

So it describes what the seed itself does. It is not something we do to the seed.

Die saad means the seed.

Afrikaans often uses die where English might be a bit more flexible. In this sentence, die saad refers to the seed involved in the situation just mentioned, so the seed is natural.

Also, saad can function as a mass or collective noun, a bit like seed in English. It does not have to mean only one single seed in a literal sense.

So die saad ontkiem can naturally refer to the seed that has been sown.

Kunsmis means fertilizer.

It is one word because Afrikaans often writes compound nouns as a single word.

Here:

• kuns = artificial / art
• mis = manure

So literally it comes from the idea of artificial manure, but in normal use it simply means fertilizer.

The comma separates the opening subordinate clause from the main clause.

So:

• Sonder dat ons kunsmis gebruik = opening subordinate clause
• saai ons en die saad ontkiem = main part of the sentence

That comma helps mark the boundary clearly.

There is no comma before en here because the two coordinated clauses are short and closely linked:

• saai ons
• die saad ontkiem

Afrikaans often uses the present tense for:

• general truths
• habitual actions
• processes
• descriptions of what normally happens

So gebruik, saai, and ontkiem do not necessarily mean only right now. They can describe a general situation or regular process.

That is very normal in Afrikaans.