SA’s Favourite Garden Gurus

TEXT

Haidee Muller-Isaacs and Sbu Mkwanazi

PHOTOGRAPHY

Adel Ferreira Photography

SA’s Favourite

Garden Gurus

Garden gurus – we know them, we’ve seen them, we are them! Well, at least we try! If you’re reading this, then you probably enjoy your fair share of planting. You live to get down and dirty, sticking those green fingers in the soil with the sun (or rain) on your face as you drink in some chlorophyll. This spring, we’ve decided to shine our light on the stories of fellow plant enthusiasts who are inspirational greenies in their own right. Get inspired, give them a follow on Instagram, and appreciate all the wonderful things people are doing for the love of plants...

SIYABONGA NDLANGAMANDLA

Teaching his community how to use open spaces to grown their own gardens and food

@siyabongandlangamandla @makersvalley.jozi

Co-founder and board member of the Makers Valley Partnership in Lorentzville, Johannesburg, Siyabonga subscribes to the notion: 'If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.’ In his case, the medium of teaching has been gardening. Hailing from a rural town in KwaZulu-Natal, he was raised by his grandparents who taught him about cattle and food farming from an early age. He eventually studied biological sciences, followed by IT programming and developmental studies. Siyabonga started Makers Valley Farm in 2016 through the Edible Streets project, where he encouraged the nearby neighbourhood to plant vegetables on the pavements around Victoria Yards (one of Johannesburg’s most popular markets). ‘When Covid hit, demand for our food increased dramatically and I had to innovate by even using rooftops as urban farms to be able to help my community,’ he notes. The entrepreneur who employs two full-time employees and over 50 casual workers, teaches his local community how to not only feed themselves, but to generate an income as well.

DE KLERK OELOFSE

Actor and volunteer at Happy by Nature nursery

@de_apie @happybynature_

Well known for his roles on Kyknet, Oelofse went to the nursery one day to buy some potting soil and never left!

Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would work at a nursery and talk like an expert about indigenous plants. Yet, now he is that guy, and he is convinced there is nothing better for your mental health than digging around in your garden. De Klerk blames it on the post-production blues. ‘When you work for weeks on end on a TV or theatre production, the rest of the cast becomes like family. When the curtain comes down or the final scene is shot, you return home, the adrenalin rush is over, and that is when the blues hit,’ De Klerk explains. His love of gardening helps with that and initially began when he moved into his groundfloor flat in Tamboerskloof, which has a small garden. ‘I made a lot of mistakes. Some people are born with green fingers, but I had to learn the ropes.’

BOSTON GONGWE

From welding to flowers – making beautiful flower arrangements is what he lives for

@jamestownflowerfarm

If you had told Boston three years ago that he would one day be making the most beautiful flower arrangements on a flower farm outside Stellenbosch, he would have never believed you. After studying to become a professional welder, Zimbabwe-born Gongwe had his sights set on other things. ‘I never thought I would work with something as delicate as flowers. You know, my friends laughed when they heard I was working on a flower farm. They said I had wasted three years’ study fees.’ Gongwe is a full-time employee at Jamestown Flower Farm (just outside of Stellenbosch) with the dream of becoming a florist. Making beautiful flower arrangements has become such a passion for him that he believes it’s what teaches him patience and commitment, ultimately making him a better person through the process.

SUSIE HARRIS-LEBLOND

The mother of ‘flower power’

@susie_harris_leblond @flourish_urbanflowerfarm @hortcoutureflowercollective

‘Mind my flowers,’ her mother used to shout nervously when her and her sisters invaded the garden. Susie had no idea at that tender young age that flowers would come to be the blooming business she loves! Certainly no lightweight when it comes to gardening, she honed her gardening skills at the Royal Horticultural Society in England and spent two years as the head gardener of two estate gardens in Kent. Now a greenie entrepreneur, the mother of two is part of the female flower farming collective called the Hort Couture Flower Collective, and co-runs an urban flower farm located in Constantia, Cape Town, called Flourish Flower Urban Farm.

NZWISISAI DYIRAKUMUNDA

Sowing through suffering – discovering the healing nature of gardening

@hortcoutureflowercollective @akanakablooms

Those who have green fingers have long known that gardening is beneficial for physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Owner of Akanaka Blooms and practicing advocate, Nzwisisai ‘Nzwi’ was not always a believer. But after the pains of her son’s disability and the loss of two pregnancies, she took all that pain she was carrying and planted herself into gardening, which brought her immense relief and joy. Her son, Muku, has cognitive impairment and other special needs and she wants her flower business to represent hope not only for him, but other young adults like him. Nzwi – whose favourite flower is the butterfly ranunculus – grows lesser-known cut flower varieties on a five-acre agricultural holding in Meyerton, Alberton. For this garden guru, gardening is more than just enjoying growing dahlias and struggling with her sunflower heads; it is also about using gardening to help others.

Coming together with other upcoming flower farmers in South Africa and her friend Flo in Zimbabwe, they started a collective of female flower farmers, known as the Hort Couture Flower Collective.

PETA MALAN

The accidental ‘soilfluencer’

@petamalan @backyardboerdery

Peta, who has been working in the advertising industry for more than eight years as a graphic designer and senior art editor, says her love for gardening began in her childhood on her parents’ farm outside Wellington. When lockdown happened, she focused all her attention on her backyard vegetable garden. Although she almost always took pictures when she planted something new, or replanted something, she came to realise that she couldn't always remember what she had planted where. That is how her Backyard Boerdery page on Instagram came about. Her main aim was to have a separate place where she could keep a record of everything. After a while, more and more people started chatting to her and following her journey. Peta then realised that Backyard Boerdery is worth much more than a page for helping her memory along. ‘People started asking more questions and even shared ideas. There is an incredible group of South Africans with the prettiest and most interesting gardens.’

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR 9 OCTOBER 2022!

Garden Day is a chance for people across SA to down tools and enjoy their gardens. Everyone can take part, regardless of the size of their turf. Rolling lawns, potted window sills, urban rooftops, and patio planters – all are welcome. Simply head outdoors, don a few flowers in your hair to celebrate the arrival of spring, and have a good time in the sun with fellow garden lovers. @gardendaysa