FACE 2 FACE
/ RENEE GRAHAM with
Q Please tell us about your work.
AI’m retired from the formal sector. For this year, I am chairperson of the Port Alfred Garden Club. While I’m on the committee, there are two things I’d like to accomplish: (a) to persuade our members to garden more with indigenous /endemic species. (b) look after the soil and reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. At home, I am the chief bottle washer who also digs in the garden.
Q: How and where did it all start?
A: I inherited a big garden when we bought our house, with no clue how to garden. I joined the garden club so they could teach me about coastal gardening and help me integrate into the Port Alfred community. After serving five years on the committee, the committee decided to put me in the driving seat. I still believe it was a bad idea but we’ll see!
Q: What gets you all excited?
A: When my seedlings grow and flower! If you’re not a good gardener, this is a big deal.
Q: Low point (and how you recovered).
A: Waiting for Covid to pass so life can go back to normal and then realising there is no such thing as “going back to normal”. I have a chance for a “do-over” so I’m going to make it count.
Q: Down time: how do you unwind?
A: I bring out all my scraps of fabric, play around with ideas and then shove them all back when I get bored.
Q: A song, mantra or phrase that sums up the way you see the world…
A: Live and let live.
Q: Something South African to celebrate?
A: Our beautiful landscape and vegetation. SA is a region of high biodiversity in the terrestrial and marine realms. Our country is ranked sixth out of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries and rated among the top 10 for plant species diversity and third for marine endemism. That’s impressive!
Q: One thing SA needs to fix?
A: Our education. Without education, we cannot begin to fix anything.
Q: Top of your recommendations for visitors to Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast?
A: We live in one of the most biodiverse biomes, the Albany Thicket, and I think the best in the country. Our region has the highest number of endemic species. We also have pristine beaches and river systems. Pay us a special visit during
Autumn. We have the best weather then.
Q: Top of your own bucket list?
A: Toss up between doing all the mountain passes in South Africa or eating my way across China.
Q: Favourite place?
A: Home. I totally suck at travel which is probably why the top of my bucket list is a challenge.
Q: Favourite artist? A: Vernon Swart
Q: Favourite food? A: Anything Chinese
Q: If you could choose to do anything for a day, what would it be?
A: Perform Reiki on animals in rehabilitation