Green fingers turn bowling greens into farm for the hungry
Nestled in central Johannesburg, around the corner from Ellis Park stadium, is Bertrams Inner City Farm — a bustling enterprise feeding the working-class neighbourhood one seed at a time. One of the driving forces behind creating the 500m² farm from the neglected greens of the Bertrams Bowling Club is Refiloe Molefe, 60 — also known as Mama Fifi — who has spent 16 years nurturing the soil that today feeds the homeless, the orphaned, or anyone who happens to be visiting.
“This is home,” says Molefe, welcoming
Daily Maverick. “The minute you walk into that gate, know that you are home, my child.”
Molefe, a former nurse, is seated on the now fertile soil, pulling out weeds in preparation for the coming season’s plantings.
Molefe’s love for farming was ignited by the need to provide food for the children she tended during her days as owner of an early childhood development centre (ECD).
When Nestlé offered opportunities for ECD owners to learn how to create vegetable gardens to provide nutritious meals, Molefe seized the chance. “The other ECD owners could not handle the hard labour,” she laughs. “When they backed out of the programme, I asked them to take over the children I cared for; in turn I would represent them, as an ECD owner in the programme.”
They agreed, and Molefe now teaches children from ECDs every Saturday about farming and the importance of healthy eating. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the farm doubles as a food kitchen, cooking its produce for the hungry.
Most days it is bustling with customers for Mama Fifi’s popular juice, which she makes from the farm’s carrots, beetroot, ginger, spinach and kale, and those who want to buy fresh organic produce at an affordable price.
Non-paying customers also flock in and out with their carrier bags to collect produce specially picked by Mama Fifi.
Gideon Nibango, a final-year food technology student at the University of Johannesburg, says he visits every week. “Mama Fifi’s garden produces the freshest vegetables, better than any big retailer I know. Besides that, organic food is expensive and here I feel like it is affordable,” he says. “I love her courage, the way that she treats people. You can come here for the first time and you instantly feel at home.”
A few metres away from Molefe’s stall, Mpumelelo Makhaphela works while dancing to the music on his headphones. “I came here this morning to ask Mama Fifi for some vegetables because my family did not have food today,” the father of two says. “She gave me spinach, cabbage and beans.” Makhaphela took the food home and returned to help clean up the garden.
Molefe says that in March, city officials tried to halt her operation. “I asked them, ‘What will people eat? Do you know how many people would go hungry if I left this farm for a mere two days? They allowed me to continue farming, and we fed hundreds of people who were left destitute by this pandemic.”
Molefe gets no state help and relies on the profits from selling vegetables to run the farm and buy gas for cooking.
“The most important thing is to feed people properly and boost their immune system with good food.”