This is a picture of my mother’s rosemary bush. Coming from Durban, where I have always struggled to grow rosemary, seeing this kind of wonder fills me with the desire to cook and eat and dive headfirst into the bush. The other evening I made rosemary, sundried tomato, red onion and danish feta roast potatoes.

Here is another close up of the rosemary bush:

And even closer:

Inspired by this, I cleared out a part of the garden that was always a bit messy and made some raised beds with paths in between and found all the large pots (and some concrete rings) in my shed – this was the result

The next task was to prepare the beds. First I gathered a pile of newspapers, 15 bags of mushroom compost, 4 bags of kraal manure, 2 blocks of compressed peat and coir, collected all the leaves and grass cuttings in the garden (mostly from my compost heap), some soil from the bottom of the garden (quite rich with compost) – and a bale of hay

With the help of my weekly gardener, I first layered the beds with newspapers and wet them down – then put down a layer of leaves and grass – and wet them down too. Then I put a layer of soil from the bottom of the garden – it has no weeds and been lying there for years – so has some compost in it – and then more water

I then put a layer of mushroom compost over that, a sprinkling of bone meal and a thin layer of kraal manure – and some more water. Then another layer of dry leaves – and more water

Then I made a mix of mushroom compost, a block of peat and coir (reconstituted by breaking it up and soaking it in a large dust bin), some soil and kraal manure and spread it as the last layer – and then more water.

Then covered it with hay and then watered it some

This is what the bed looked like finally (I have since completed the other bed and am in the process of preparing the pots. Now I will let it “cook” for a week before planting Next week – I will plant the beds and the pots. I am still deciding what to plant

I am also preparing a part of the garden for paw-paw and banana – and looking at every available spot to plant – like pumpkin under the windy dryer, more pots in sunny spots in the garden for anything I can think of!

Check out our step by step photo-guide at our Flickr group or in the gallery below.

This programme looks at issues and practices such as food sovereignty, horticulture, permaculture and ecological literacy together with some collective civic responses that are beginning to take place and which could provide a range of meaningful environmental actions.

The course will be of interest to the school teacher, community member, environmental educator, home gardener and anyone interested in a more sustainable and meaningful manner of living.
The following themes will be investigated:

• Ecology & ecoliteracy: how nature works
• Agriculture & environmental risk: the effects of farming on the environment
• Horticulture & basic botany: how plants grow
• Permaculture & principles of ecological design: some ways of growing food sustainably
• Activism & education: gardens as places of learning

The workshop will be held at Entabeni Education Centre. The programme will include discussions, presentations and practical work sessions. Participants will be encouraged to share their own knowledge and experiences.

For bookings and information on logistics and accommodation: Adri Mari du Plessis (Entabeni Communications) Tel: 033 263 2441 entabeni@enviroed.co.za

Drakensburg 20-22 November 2009

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