Planting Season

I’m sure by now most people realise that their food choices have environmental as well as health implications, which is why growing your own is a smart move.  Even if you only have a balcony or small courtyard you can still grow an amazing amount of fresh produce (see next week’s post on growing rocket in a tray).

Planting Season is an initiative growing momentum that promotes this ‘grow your own’ philosophy.  Their tag line calls on South Africans to unite on a single day to plant an organic vegetable in their home or office.

23 September is that day and you can commit o making a change in South Africa by signing up on their website, where you will also be able to download a free guide on organic gardening.

Website: www.plantingseason.co.za

Community gardening schemes

Fab interesting website:

http://www.startuk.org/eat/community-garden-schemes.aspx

Waste Land at DIFF

I saw an amazing documentary at this year’s Durban International Film Festival.  Waste Land follows world-renowned Brazilian artist Vik Muniz through an emotional journey in the world’s largest landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro -  a place called Jardim Gramacho. Over three years, Muniz photographed people who inhabited the trash city and, together with the ‘pickers’ created trash portraits out of the waste they collected.  Muniz photographed and then auctioned these portraits, giving the money raised, a whopping $250,000, back to the people of Jardim Gramacho.

The film not only shows the transformative power of art, but also the triumph of the human spirit and really touched me.  It obviously had the same effect on others, winning the audience awards at both Sundance and Berlin film festivals.

More on the movie at www.wastelandmovie.com, where you can also watch the trail.

Waste Land

DIFF is on until Sunday and there are some excellent films showing – don’t miss out!

Guerrila garden grows up

Here’s an update on our guerrilla garden … we can barely keep up with the eating thereof, it’s courgette soup/pasta/fritters/frittata/ in salad etcetera etcetera then the same with spinach, beetroot, beans … we’re also giving loads away but the potatoes are too delicious and we keep them all for ourselves and ‘inner circle’ friends and family. Soon come tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, cucumbers. Next season the challenge is to grow gemsquash here (can’t be bought here for love nor money, so will have to work on the love thing).

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Protea?

I am getting used to the Cape vegetation and the abundance of Protea plants here. The variety is amazing! Here is a pic I snapped last year in the Easter Cape, near KwaZulu-Natal. I gather this is a type of Protea or am I mistaken? The colour of the flowers is so vibrant and there are hairy pods on the stem. Who knows what it is?

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