The Danie Ackermann Primary School (Daps) food garden has been supplemented and now boasts 600 strawberry, 200 lettuce and 200 grape plants thanks to a generous and valued donation from Mooiberge, the Stellenbosch farm stall best known for its strawberries and the legion of scarecrows in the surrounding fields.
According to a media statement, the Daps food garden is an extension of the food garden previously cultivated on the premises of Oscar Adonis in Victoria Street, Somerset West.
On realising a much larger parcel of land was needed, and after unsuccessfully scouting around, unable to find something suitable, the garden was extended to the open field at the back of the school located in De Beers Avenue.
“At that time one of the volunteers, Peter de Lange was serving on the Daps governing body, and put forward the proposal on behalf of the food garden volunteers for the piece of land, occupied now, to be made available to the group to cultivate an organic garden on as a voluntary service rendered to the school, to which the SGB agreed,” a Daps statement.
“For the food gardening team this opportunity is a privilege and an honour to serve the community in this manner.
“The SGB managed to get the neighbour Shoprite/Checkers on board as a sponsor which provided a 5 000 litre water storage tank, requisite garden tools, an electric submersible water pump, fencing, various vegetable plants and compost on an ongoing basis. Included in the sponsorship is a continuing permaculture bimonthly workshop presented by Food and Trees for Africa, an NPO specialising in permaculture training.”
A fully fledged garden providing nutritious food to learners who rely on the school’s feeding scheme for their daily lunch was made possible thanks to a collaboration with Shoprite Holdings back in 2017.
The statement said the garden was initially 400m² in size, but was expanded to 1 600m² during Level 5 and 4 of the Covid-19-induced lockdown last year.
There is hope to further expand the garden to 2 600m² by next spring, to introduce free-range chicken farming and for the food garden to be self-sufficient.
Volunteers are involving learners in the food gardening and cultivating process, starting with the planting of the strawberries.
“We wish publicly to extend our gratitude to the SGB (especially the school principal Mark Manus), sponsor Shoprite Holdings (Bianca Carls), BUCO Somerset West (Maullen Howse), the Zetler family of Mooiberge strawberry farm and all our friends for the well wishes and words of advice and encouragement, we do appreciate enormously,” said volunteer Issy Engelbrecht.
All interested people are warmly invited to attend the two-hour permaculture course which takes place from 11:00 until 13:00 on a Saturday every second month.
The course, which is facilitated by Food and Trees for Africa and funded by Shoprite Holdings, is free of charge for participants with no obligation to work in the food garden.
V To attend this course or to join the volunteers gardening team, contact any of these members: Dennis Raubenheimer on 072 735 3100, Hilton Patience on 082 050 0566, Peter de Lange on 072 341 4505 or Issy Engelbrecht on 078 379 8564.
