A work environment overflowing with love
GROWING food on an inherited plot in La Mercy has earned a couple good health while creating job opportunities and feeding families with first-grade fresh produce.
Pensioner Balamani Govender, 64, and her husband Krish Naidu, 67, have 50 years of farming experience between them.
Govender inherited the farm from her parents who pioneered vegetable production in the area.
The couple say working on the 14ha farm, on the M4 northern highway, has greatly improved their health.
Naidu, who is diabetic, says he does not allow his condition to hold him back, and has managed to control it by working on the farm.
“What is keeping me alive is what I am doing on the farm. I look forward to each day in the garden. We do not have time to sit idle at home. Our grown-up children have been telling us to stop but my answer to them is that I will work until I drop dead,” he jokes.
“It gives me pleasure to work with my wife, who is the driving force behind this project. I get unlimited joy seeing my wife interacting with staff. We joke and compliment one another in an environment filled with love.”
Naidu says he and his wife were inspired by the Govender’s love of farming.
“The smell of the fresh soil when preparing for planting seeds is awesome. Watching the plants grow adds to that. It also made us understand the ecosystem better.
“We are excited to supply fresh produce to local people while creating employment opportunities,” Naidu says.
The couple employ 15 full-time workers who live in the nearby La Mercy informal settlement.
On their plot they grow spinach, beetroot, coriander, radish, green herbs, red herbs, watercress, mint, thyme and sour herbs, which they say gives food a special aroma.
These products are also used to make delicious home-made salads.
Naidu prides himself in supplying produce for supermarkets like Shoprite, Checkers and Freshmark.
“My quality is second to none. Suppliers will tell you our produce is first grade,” he says.
Their produce is registered with Eurogap, a non-government organisation that sets standards in organic farming products to ensure food safety on how to use pesticides.
“Attending the Eurogap workshops and following information brochures which Eurogap issues from time to time helps a great deal. It is a very stringent process to follow but in the end it pays off. They also help with short courses on staff management,” he says.
The Govender family has a long history of vegetable farming in the La Mercy area.
“They were pioneers in farming and I was lucky to be married to such a family,” says Naidu.
“It gives a certain amount of pleasure to grow, harvest, supply and eat the fresh veggies from your own garden.
“You get thrilled to find your products on store shelves.”
Despite the growing costs in farming which involves buying chemicals and seeds the couple have persevered through difficult times.
“We spend all our lives here. This is a home away from home,” Govender says.
To irrigate the plants they use spring water drawn from a source nearby.