Gardening isn't only for oldies. These cool kids are doing it their way

Lockdown. That one word has forever transformed our lives on all levels. According to Twitter trends, the majority of South Africans took part in online baking challenges, while reading and walking also ranked highly. Of course, everyone knows of at least one lockdown baby that’s been born, adding yet another popular pastime to the list.

Unsurprisingly, given the amount of staying at home time we’ve endured during lockdown, one of the most popular hobbies to emerge globally in the past 18 months has been gardening, with close to 3.5-million people taking up the activity for the first time, according to the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society.

SA also saw an increase in green fingers, as veggie patches and gardens sprouted everywhere. Caring for houseplants and livening up households and other interiors with bouquets were a huge hit with housebound South Africans.

All these new hobbyists are ready to welcome this year’s Garden Day, taking place next Sunday, October 17. Created by Candide, a gardening app, Garden Day is enjoying its sixth outing, and is an opportunity for South Africans to take in the therapeutic results of these leafy respites.

Whether you’re turning during a new leaf in your newfound gardening activity, or have been sowing the seed for ages, next Sunday everyone has the opportunity to celebrate green spaces.

An interest in gardening and, by extension, the natural world has become particularly popular among young people, many of whom are transforming the idea that gardening is for older people by doing things their own way, rather than just following traditional advice.

What’s not to like about the ability to grow something lovely (and often edible) from a tiny seed? It’s nurturing, empowering and you don’t even need a garden to bring the magic of germination into your life — and who better to guide you than these young, passionate South African horticulturists?

JOBURG ASH

ASHLEIGH MACHETE

You won’t get much of a response in the urban farming and gardening scene if you ask for Ashleigh Machete. But try Joburg Ash and everyone will know exactly who you’re talking about.

The 33-year-old Soweto native started by creating his own food garden at home which attracted a lot of attention. In 2010 he lived in a Johannesburg inner-city complex, growing his own food garden. It did so well that his landlords asked him to grow gardens in other Joburg-based complexes.

Private homeowners in Joburg also requested his services and he planted edibles and ornamental plants on their rooftops.

As the owner of JFF Rooftop Farm (located in Juta Street, Braamfontein) and JFF Plant shop (part of the 44 Stanley emporium), he attributes his cool factor to plants.

“Gardeners and farmers aren’t the coolest people out there, but it’s possible. It started with my love of plants. I learnt about how to maintain them, and their many uses. Then I learnt about disease management and plant pathology,” says the savvy Braamfontein resident. Machete is changing the farming and gardening landscape by teaching people about small-scale urban horticulture.

“You don’t have to be rural to like plants or farming. I’m helping people see that they can start their own small agricultural solutions at home. Young people don’t find farming appealing, but the more that young people like me get involved, the better.”

This plant doctor is ahead of the trend of urban rooftop gardens, with projects in Hillbrow, Newtown, Troyeville and Fordsburg. For decades, Joburg rooftops were seen as smokers’ dens, until Joburg Ash had an idea to plant gardens.

“They’re great spaces for densely populated buildings with limited space for plants. We’ve not only installed rooftop farms, but alleyway farms too.”

THE FARMINIST

MOSA SESHOENE

Food gardener Mosa Seshoene is proving that size doesn’t matter. She’s growing herbs on the balcony of her Centurion apartment.

“People think you need a lot of space to start a garden, but this isn’t the case. You don’t even need to grow plants in the ground!” she says.

“Container gardening is exactly what it sounds like — using various containers to grow plants. These can be anything, from garden pots to tyres to any other container you have on hand. There’s also hydroponics, using  water [instead of soil] to grow plants,” she says, of the more complex method.

Seshoene also has a spacious piece of land in Limpopo, where she cultivates spinach, onions, beetroot, lychees, oranges, lemons, peaches and pomegranates. But she’s most proud of the herbs she grows, which end up being used to make scrumptious dishes by her sister, celebrity chef Mogau Seshoene, better known as The Lazy Makoti.

“She’s my older sibling, but I taught her all she knows about herbs,” laughs Mosa. “It started during the lockdown last year when she needed herbs and I told her I could supply her with them. The rest is history.”

Mogau is known for coming up with innovative, indigenous recipes, and she has no qualms about acknowledging her younger sister’s contribution to her increasing success.

“Mosa is an expert in the horticulture space. It’s a pleasure having someone to properly break down otherwise confusing terms and techniques to ensure success in my gardening experience,” says Mogau, who’s recently started growing tomatoes and spinach.

“My sister supplies me with thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage and my favourite, coriander. I also get microherbs and edible flowers from her, which I use to garnish.”

THE BABYLONSTOREN GARDENERS

Located in Franschhoek, Babylonstoren is one of the oldest Cape Dutch working farms. It's famed for the beauty and botanical diversity of its expansive fruit and vegetable gardens. 

COMINE VAN ZYL

Like most students fresh out of high school, Comine van Zyl wasn’t 100% sure what course to study. She had no idea that horticulture could not only be a career, but fulfilling too. After some convincing from various Stellenbosch University agricultural department staff members, she enrolled and later graduated with a BSc in Entomology.

“That’s the study of insects, and parts of this focuses on how they affect agriculture. Insects play an important role when it comes to growing a garden, and this understanding helps me be a better gardener,” she says.

“Most people are more interested in large animals like rhinos, but they don’t realise just how crucial insects are to agriculture and to keeping humans alive. They see them as creepy crawlies, instead of seeing them as life-givers. If insects went extinct, we’d soon follow — we depend on them so much,” cautions the 22-year-old.

Now, Van Zyl is working as an intern at Babylonstoren. She’s so interested in the symbiotic relationship between humans, plants, insects and animals that she’s improving her knowledge of the Linnaean system of classification developed by Swedish botanist and zoologist, Carl Linnaeus.

“Carl Linnaeus — after which the system was named — said we should always ‘Find wonder in all things, even the most commonplace’. A garden is one of the most common places we can all share, and gardening is all about nature and being in awe of something as simple as a plant growing. When you’re gardening, you start noticing the different seasons, the different animals — like a particular turtle we have at Babylonstoren — and they bring such joy!” she says.

BRENT REID

These days, the word “organic” gets thrown around in a lot of conversations. Mostly by those who want to suggest that they’re in the upper echelon and shop at Woolies.

Organic farmer Brent Reid doesn’t fall into either of these categories.

“Organic farming simply means farming with nature, not using synthetic fertilisers or weedkillers, but natural solutions instead. For example, rather than using chemicals to kill insects, use garlic or chilli,” says Reid.

“My favourite part of organic farming is that it doesn’t have negative effects on humans and the environment. For instance, organic sprays can be sprayed on plants that are eaten. There are no long-term residues — what we spray is broken down by the sun. It’s a conscious method of working with plants and working in the garden. You get to look, touch and feel, without being in harm’s way.

“This isn’t the case with synthetic chemicals. Unfortunately, we end up eating these chemicals,” he says.

Organic farming is driven in part by what the cool kids call being “woke”, or living consciously. More and more South Africans care that, from 1961 to 2013, global food demand went up from 6.6-trillion to 19.4-trillion kilocalories. They care how their food is made and how it affects them.

“Organic farming goes beyond what food looks like, considering how it tastes, how it’s grown and if it’s going to make the consumer sick or not,” says Reid.

“The other reason organic farming is growing in popularity, is that there’s usually a connection that develops between the farmer and the person buying the food. Being in touch with the people who eat your food is amazing.”

Mention of “organic” often takes the conversation to medicinal plants, which leads to a topic that has a number of synonyms — Mary Jane, reefer, dank, dagga and good old weed.

“Medicinal plants are differentiated by their scents and their chemical makeup. For example, chamomile and dried leaves of lavender are used to aid sleeping. We look at how they benefit us as people and animals,” says Reid.

“SA is rich in medicinal plants and more people are taking advantage of that. My grandmother, who is the person who inspired me to get into horticulture as she always had a garden, taught me about medicinal plants. Plants like afra were used as the first line of defence against various diseases. My gran used the malva plant to treat earache. These plants were grown in her own garden. They’re indigenous so they don’t need a lot of water, they grow naturally and they’re pleasing to the eye too,” he notes.

AINSLEY PETERSEN

Gardening is all about a sense of community for Ainsley Petersen, a fourth-year student doing an Advanced Diploma in Agriculture. She hails from Pniel in the Western Cape, and keeps a straight face when it comes to her fellow “Pnielans, or is it Pnielers”?

“When I was younger, I’d work in our family’s food garden. My aunt had an even bigger garden with fruit and nut trees. This is what community means to us. Our smallholdings are used to grow food crops such as lettuce and apple trees, for our own use,” she says.

“Gardening means a lot in Pniel. It’s a source of income as most of our community members set up local markets and have stalletjies [stalls]. A lot of people in Pniel have a backyard they use for planting trees or herbs.

“Gardening sustains our history as a community. Our agricultural heritage tells our stories as a people. It also brings families together, something we take for granted in SA, where people tend to do things individually,” she says.

Petersen is working at Babylonstoren, focusing on the vegetable gardens. She’s also honing her knowledge of fruit growing and hopes to apply this knowledge on the estate.

“Gardening brings communities peace. It’s a great stress reliever, especially in these hectic times. Many people in Pniel are unemployed and spending time in their gardens helps to calm them down.” 

Pniel is a small town between Paarl and Stellenbosch. Its residents don’t have the luxury of food shops, so they’ve learnt to be subsistence farmers, which Petersen says is easy to start.

“If you set aside the time, resources and money, anyone can do it. Start small by buying the soil and seeds you need. You can make your own compost by using waste food material. It doesn’t need to cost you a lot of money. If you don’t have money for seeds, ask friends and family to help you with these. Or, as in the case of peppers, you can take the seeds from [the ones you buy] and plant them.”

Petersen adds that one of the easiest ways to get into gardening is through free webinars. She’s a fan of workshops and seminars in which urban dwellers are taught about vertical gardening — plants are stacked on top of each other due to limited spaces.

• Garden SA has created a few Garden Day-perfect playlists for you to enjoy on Spotify. Pick your favourite. If you need some bright ideas and green-finger inspiration, Gardenday.co.za has a handy toolkit. Catch news, updates and inspiration by searching @GardenDaySA on Candide, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.