What was once a neglected and crime-enabling portion of land in Belgravia is now a flourishing, lush vegetable landscape yielding organic produce.
And now, with an upgrade to its irrigation system, the future looks even brighter for this veggie garden that’s opening the doors of employment and spreading its footprint.
Special-needs school teacher Sithembele Dlutu, one of the Daily Dispatch Johnson and Johnson 2017 Local Hero finalists, transformed the unkept piece of municipal land into a hectare of organic-produce vegetable garden some years ago.
His urban garden project, Siphokuhle Community Development for Intellectually Impaired Disabled People, produces a wide variety of vegetables.
Eco Tanks installed the 10 tanks, and added an underground water collection chamber which collects water from a stream flowing through the garden into the chamber, and feeds it into the tanks.
The tanks have since been installed, and he said the automated irrigation process had led to improved yields of crops. Dlutu told the Dispatch that before the tanks arrived, they relied on manually collecting water from the stream at the edge of the garden to hand-water the vegetation.
“The workers are now able to rest while water flows from the pumps through the pipes, into the garden.
“We used to think that the water from the stream wasn’t enough to sustain the garden, but this has shown us to never underestimate the amount of water little drops can accumulate to.”
The garden produces carrots, turnips, rocket, celery and other herbs, as well as different types of spinach.
Dlutu said they have been able to add to their produce because of the stable water supply. “We have improved tremendously, and are able to add on to our variety because we have water. Our veggies are growing nicely, as the water also has bits of our organic compost in it.”
He supplies daycare centres, orphanages, pre-schools and soup kitchens with the vegetables.
Every Friday, pensioners from his Belgravia neighbourhood receive a generous portion of produce. “We would like to open a market to sell our produce, but we still need to get more word out there that we exist. With these improvements, we’ll be able to provide more people with quality crops.”
Darren Hanner, one of the partners of Eco Tanks, said: “We’re privileged to have contributed to such a great idea from a local guy. It’s encouraging to see local people coming up with out-of-the-box ideas to improve lives around them and give back to the community like this, and we hope to see more of it.”
Dlutu said he would love to own the hectare of land and says he is in discussions with Buffalo City Municipality. “There are many opportunities for growth and expansion, and we’d like to turn our vegetables into organic juices, along with other desires. But in order for this to happen, we need the garden to belong to us officially.”— nonsindisoq@dispatch.co.za
Neglected land made into veggie heaven
And now, with an upgrade to its irrigation system, the future looks even brighter for this veggie garden that’s opening the doors of employment and spreading its footprint.
Special-needs school teacher Sithembele Dlutu, one of the Daily Dispatch Johnson and Johnson 2017 Local Hero finalists, transformed the unkept piece of municipal land into a hectare of organic-produce vegetable garden some years ago.
His urban garden project, Siphokuhle Community Development for Intellectually Impaired Disabled People, produces a wide variety of vegetables.
Eco Tanks installed the 10 tanks, and added an underground water collection chamber which collects water from a stream flowing through the garden into the chamber, and feeds it into the tanks.
The tanks have since been installed, and he said the automated irrigation process had led to improved yields of crops. Dlutu told the Dispatch that before the tanks arrived, they relied on manually collecting water from the stream at the edge of the garden to hand-water the vegetation.
“The workers are now able to rest while water flows from the pumps through the pipes, into the garden.
“We used to think that the water from the stream wasn’t enough to sustain the garden, but this has shown us to never underestimate the amount of water little drops can accumulate to.”
The garden produces carrots, turnips, rocket, celery and other herbs, as well as different types of spinach.
Dlutu said they have been able to add to their produce because of the stable water supply. “We have improved tremendously, and are able to add on to our variety because we have water. Our veggies are growing nicely, as the water also has bits of our organic compost in it.”
He supplies daycare centres, orphanages, pre-schools and soup kitchens with the vegetables.
Every Friday, pensioners from his Belgravia neighbourhood receive a generous portion of produce. “We would like to open a market to sell our produce, but we still need to get more word out there that we exist. With these improvements, we’ll be able to provide more people with quality crops.”
Darren Hanner, one of the partners of Eco Tanks, said: “We’re privileged to have contributed to such a great idea from a local guy. It’s encouraging to see local people coming up with out-of-the-box ideas to improve lives around them and give back to the community like this, and we hope to see more of it.”
Dlutu said he would love to own the hectare of land and says he is in discussions with Buffalo City Municipality. “There are many opportunities for growth and expansion, and we’d like to turn our vegetables into organic juices, along with other desires. But in order for this to happen, we need the garden to belong to us officially.”— nonsindisoq@dispatch.co.za
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