Reaping the benefits of their vegetable gardens
Kwamashu couple are able to feed their family and sell produce to a supermarket
MANY pensioners, especially those who live in povertystricken communities, have found refuge in growing vegetable gardens as a viable way to feed their families.
Many living in Kwamashu, north of Durban, have caught on to this growing trend and are now pinning their hopes on their imminent harvests to feed their families during the festive season.
A couple who are part of the local gardening community are Beauty, Nkosi, 64, and her husband, Joseph, 67.
They use their two hectares of land to grow amadumbe – yams that are sold to the nearby Kwamashu Spar.
“We are able to feed our family, which includes seven children, with our gardening produce. Our eldest daughter has finished varsity and is unable to secure a job,” said Joseph.
He said gardening had become a way of life for him Organic farming is the cheapest method to grow a healthy crop.
Compost is easily accessible because dry leaves, grass cuttings and peels from the kitchen can be used.
Avoid using pesticides. Instead, boil garlic, beetroot, chillies, white garlic and marigold, all mixed together, before spraying the solution in the garden to keep insects away.
One spoon of bicarbonate of soda and a bar of Sunlight bar soap, mixed in a five-litre container filled with cold water, can also be used as an insect deterrent. and his wife but they were disappointed that some senior citizens were too lazy to join them in the garden.
“But close to harvest time the same people will approach us with their empty bowls, begging for some of our harvest,” he said.
His wife of 42 years said that they had to supplement their income because their oldage pension was not enough to cover their monthly living expenses.
“We use proceeds from gardening to pay our electricity and water bills, school fees and other expenses,” said Beauty.
The couple grew up in a rural village near Vryheid where they grew crops from a young age owing to their parents’ influence.
“In those years, we reaped many harvests of vegetables, including potatoes, sweet potatoes and mealies,” Joseph said.
Nomusa Dlamini, 70, and Bertha Mchunu, 89, are also avid Kwamashu gardeners, who have grown potatoes, spinach, beetroot and bean crops for the well-being of their families and themselves.
“We are able to feed our families through the crops we grow – we eat and sell. Planting potatoes has doubled our profit margins and we have even managed to start a savings accounts for rainy days.
“But ensuring we never went to bed on an empty stomach has been the greatest benefit of all in our gardening,” said Dlamini.
Mchunu said that she owed her good health to a diet of fresh vegetables and gardening was also a good form of exercise.
“We do not have a formal market to supply with our harvest but the community has been supportive,” said Mchunu.
Like the Nkosis, Dlamini and Mchunu have attended workshops and received training in gardening from Philani Dube, a project co-ordinator with Food for Africa, a nonprofit organisation that provides training, skills and resources to aspiring farmers across the province.
Dube said last year’s drought had threatened food security in the area but, through the efforts of the small community of crop growers, they were able to endure the tough times.
About working with gardeners in the area, Dube said: “We often walk long distances to fetch water from streams that often dry up. We prefer to use tap water to minimise costs. Our lessons comprise more practical sessions and a little theory.”
Dube uses 22 garden sites to offer mentorship and to link the up-and-coming farmers with markets to sell crops.
“We capacitate them with skills to understand the basics and also become commercial crop growers,” Dube said.