Getting our hands dirty

The year-and-a-half since the start of lockdown is beginning to feel like forever. In March 2020, in one fell swoop, we lost our freedom and our lives changed irrevocably. We miss people. We are fed up with Zoom and Teams and all the other online hullabaloo.

It does indeed feel, as some experts warned us right at the start, like our generation’s “world war”.

Even those who are lucky enough to be relatively unscathed have still had to make changes in their lives, and will have to keep it up for a while yet. Mostly annoying little things. But a positive outcome is that greater numbers of people now attach more value to healthy foods, such as freshly harvested vegetables. The pandemic has forced us to get our hands into the soil again, and even apartment dwellers are growing food on windowsills and balconies.

It’s become highly fashionable to garden as our grandparents did.

The desire to get one’s hands in the soil has become so compelling that Capetonians can now put their names on a waiting list for an allotment – like the Brits have done for decades. Yes, you can rent a small piece of land in the urban jungle where you can grow foods for your pantry.

Michelle Coburn and Deidré Mvula are two such gardeners. This pair of friends live separate lives in the city, but decided to share a vegetable garden. Michelle tells their story on page 112.

When we visited Oranjezicht City Farm to photograph the two friends for the Spring edition, it was harvest day, and it was striking how many young people were volunteering there. Annie Smit, the friendly young woman on our cover, being one of them. Take another look at the cover photo: it is relaxed, happy and wholesome. It takes your mind off stiff knees and a sore back!

If you’re eager to start a vegetable garden, turn to page 86 and enter your name to stand a chance of winning one of 20 Spring Summer Vegetable Starter Kits, courtesy of Livingseeds.

Keep safe… and happy gardening!