From dumpin to pumpkin
A team of Knysna locals has given back to their community by transforming an old rubbish dump into a vegetable garden to help sustain a soup kitchen in Concordia.
The team was led by Joshua Buchalter and Raphaël Ceillier, both Oakhill College alumni. Prior to Covid-19, Buchalter worked on a cruise ship but managed to get home before lockdown. Even though he was without work, something else didn’t sit right with him.
“Although I was quite frustrated to have abruptly lost a job and lifestyle that I was enjoying, I quickly realised that my frustration was invalid compared to the problems the lockdown had brought many members of our community,” he said. “I decided to use this time to make a positive, lasting difference.”
As fate would have it, Buchalter ran into his old friend Ceillier, the founder of local NGO Sparking Minds, who was hard at work dropping off food parcels.
“The immediate distribution of food parcels was crucial, but we both felt that we needed to do more to ensure sustainable food supply,” Buchalter said. Their desire to do more was fulfilled when organisers of a Concordia soup kitchen where they delivered food parcels expressed their desire to grow a vegetable garden.
The soup kitchen’s organisers own a small piece of land adjacent to the kitchen, perfect for the project.
They enlisted the help of Concordia residents Simbongile Majoqo, Ntsikelelo Mpitimpiti, Khaya Sopasa and Ziyanda Nzulu, but there was one problem. “The land had been used as a rubbish dump site for several years and the amount of rubbish was quite difficult to comprehend. The first step was definitely the most difficult.”
Before and after…
Even after the rubbish was removed, the area had to be flattened, as it lay on a slope. But this did not deter them, and with a TLB construction vehicle, they levelled the area. The project started on 11 May, and only four weeks later the first seeds were sown.
They have planted broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, onions, potatoes. pumpkins and peas, with the first produce expected in four to six weeks. “This project has been the most rewarding experience of my life,” Buchalter said, adding that they are not done just yet.
“Raphaël and I are already planning to begin our second vegetable garden this week and one thing is for certain, we won’t be stopping there!”
Khaya Sopasa has become a keen gardener. Photos: Blake Linder
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Source: Knysna Plett Herald News