Green Thumbs Up!

So I mentioned in my last post that about a month ago I went to a Peace Corps-sponsored training on Permagarden (“Permaculture” + “Bio-Intensive Gardening”) techniques and have as of late been trying to get more involved with gardening projects in my community. I also mentioned that I am very excited about this. Considering that you could have fit my gardening knowledge prior to the training inside a carrot seed, a three-day training has clearly not made me an expert. But it was definitely enough to spark a very strong interest in learning more, and getting my hands as dirty as possible doing all of the gardening I can. My excitement about gardening stems (seriously no pun intended, I just noticed this reading over it right before I posted, haha) from a number of different reasons. Firstly as I mentioned before, the food security is a huge issue within my community, especially for people living with HIV/AIDS, as their nutrition is especially important in general, and even more so for those who are on anti-retroviral treatment (ART) and need to have a consistent supply of food with which to take their treatment. An extremely high rate of unemployment in rural areas like mine also means that many people are supported by government grants which, when combined with large families where there is often a gogo (grandma) caring for many younger children, means that many struggle to put enough food on the table. The nutritious value of the food is a whole other story, as a typical meal consists of pap/phuthu (corn-based, starchy mush) and meat. People eat to be full, and pap certainly does the job, but with a ton of empty calories. So for all of these reasons, the nutritional improvement and personal empowerment that comes from having more control of people’s food intake and therefore their lives are pretty powerful incentives to promote home gardening and food production. Indeed the Department of Agriculture does have a “One Home, One Garden” campaign, which helps to provide seeds and gardening materials to families. But not everyone knows or has access to these resources, and other factors like lack of water, and traditional farming methods that do not look out for the health of the soil can severely limit productivity. Using permaculture and bio-intensive gardening techniques which rely on less water and are designed to take good care of the soil and thus the plants, one can mitigate some of these factors. On a more personal level, I love the “hands on” nature of gardening, and the feeling of working with the earth to make it and ourselves stronger. Being outside, the physical work, and the tangible results that you receive are also really nice incentives, the last one especially in a job where you may not ever really see the real effects or results of what you are trying to do.

So, I am diving in! On Wednesday I went with some folks from Mpilonhle to check out more about a local organization called the African Conservation Trust, which does a lot of work in conservation (surprise) and through that, sustainable farming and agriculture. We also met briefly with a man named Jamie who I had met coming back from St. Lucia one weekend, who works with them and on his own focusing on permagardens in little-to-no-water situations (hmm, that sounds familiar). He is a very interesting guy and very passionate about what he does, and really wants to give me the tools to help bring this idea back to my community. We’ll see where it all goes, but I am learning a LOT. I also had a meeting on Tuesday with a representative from the Department of Agriculture in my community as well as some local farmers, and have arranged to do a training based on the training I received from Peace Corps. That will be in two weeks, on the day before and day of Thanksgiving. It’s going to be pretty hectic, but I am hoping at least that some of the key information will get across. A garden for the members of the support group at my organization is also “in the works” although there are a number of barriers and things are moving pretty slowly there. However, we did just get a ton of seeds donated by the Department of Agriculture, so if we get some of the other issues sorted out we can have things to plant! Lastly, I was at Mpilonhle today and talking with some people about starting a garden on their piece of land right there in town. After the training, this could be the most immediate thing that has potential, so I am very excited about that.

Anyway, a lot of this serves to illustrate the best part about this job (also often the most exhausting!) which is the constant opportunities to learn and explore different interests, and what really moves me and makes me happy. I am pretty sure I could be come a full-time gardener and I would be ridiculously happy and could do a lot of good as well. Not sure if that is the path I will eventually take and I am no green thumb as of yet, but I think I may have stumbled upon an interest which is likely to be with me for the rest of my life. Which also serves to confirm that I am really about 60 years old in my habits and interests. But seriously kids, gardening is cool and tons of fun, and we all love food, right?! So get excited! And hey, for those of you people who have discovered the magic of gardening/agriculture long before me, please send thoughts and resources my way, especially as they relate to permaculture, organic, and bio-intensive methods. It’s all about showing Mama Earth a little love, and getting some serious love in return. You dig? :)