WITH help from the St Francis Animal Rescue, Ike Forsyth, the founder of the Farmerscart Community Land Programme, has been educating residents in Sea Vista about the importance of planting trees and vegetables to help generate an income.
Susan Fox, founder and chairperson of St Francis Animal Rescue, said that in December 2019, the organisation which was established in 2016, began a campaign to unchain the dogs of Sea Vista by explaining to owners the damage chaining caused animals and then offering to provide fencing around the property to ensure that the dogs could be unchained.
“Before fencing the property, the owner must clean their property and remove all waste and rubbish in the yard. Once the cleaning process has been completed, we start building the fence and the dog is released from its chain,” said Fox.
She said it was during their campaign that they discovered how proud people were to have a fenced property and how this gave them the perception of ‘status’ in their neighbourhood.
“We are attempting to build on that sense of pride and ownership, by encouraging these animal–owners, to also plant vegetable gardens and trees,” said Fox.
Three weeks ago, Fox met with Forsyth who had similar ideas to restore pride in the community by encouraging people to plant their own trees and vegetables.
“To create awareness about his programme, in November we invited Forsyth to plant trees on land situated close to the field on Taragonna Road, Sea Vista, where we hold our Thursday outreaches,” said Fox.
“Our volunteers, who are about 12 young boys from the community, were excited to be given the chance to handle shovels and start digging and planting.”
Forsyth said the Farmerscart Community Land Programme, which was established in November, strove to uplift an eco–system by encouraging sustainable solutions.
“We want to drive the importance of farming into the community, demonstrating that treating our land can bring delicious fresh goods and joy into people’s lives,” said Forsyth.
As part of his programme Forsyth said it was important to teach residents in St Francis Bay how to grow vegetables in the hope that it would bring joy and light into their homes.
He said knowing how to keep a garden thriving should be part of one’s daily routine.
“The benefits of being able to grow your own garden are endless and we want to encourage this mentality. We want to stimulate the concept that you can generate an income from loving the land,” said Forsyth.
“We also hope to get support from local farmers to contribute knowledge in the farming workshops within the local community.”
He said the primary focus of the programme was to create a local supply chain so residents could benefit and provide the necessary organic goodness to the most vulnerable.
“We would like to be able to plant trees all around the community to create curb appeal which would give the residents pride in their community. We want to create a space that demonstrates how cleaning up brings positivity and food,” said Forsyth.
Since establishing the Farmerscart Community Land Programme in St Francis Bay, Forsyth said the response has been extremely positive.
When Forsyth and his wife Michelle created the Community Land Programme, they did not expect so many eager children to get involved.
“The kids were burning to work. When we started the initiative, we did not have enough spades, but we created a system to get the trees planted so everyone felt involved,” he said.
