GEORGE NEWS - Gardening fever is the order of the day in Blanco with 56 people having entered the Blanco gardening competition, which is presented by Kos and Fynbos.

Individuals or groups that still wish to enter have until 31 January. Entries may be done at Blanco Clinic or the library. Judges are not looking for the most beautiful garden, but for the garden that works the hardest and does the most for Blanco.

The judging will take place on 22 and 23 February and winners will be announced during a prize giving ceremony at the Blanco Community Hall on 8 March.

Kos and Fynbos Spokesperson Chris Godfrey and Christine Ridge-Schnaufer, from Wessa, did the rounds among some of the entrants' gardens and were pleasantly surprised at the proliferation of crops.

One entrant, Maria Marpet, has an amazing gift with plants. Says Chris, "Maria's seven-year-old bean plant, which is rather like the one in Jack and the beanstalk, just keeps growing and growing, supported on de-branched wattle-tree posts. It produces beautiful red flowers that mature into broad beans.

"Although Maria had harvested most of her crops when we visited her, some magnificent sunflowers stood tall and bright - grown as food for the birds."

Maria's mother, Griet Marpet, has built up and dug down, thus terracing her garden and she uses every inch to grow vegetables. Griet has passed her skills on to Maria and she also has some of the flowering 'Jack and the beanstalk' varieties in her garden as well as lots of beautiful pumpkins and butternuts. The 80-year-old Gertie, as she is known, still works regularly in town and spends as much time in her garden as possible.

Another entrant, James Lamont, is extremely proud of his super-large pumpkin with which he poses for a photo.
James admits to using his wife's knitting wool to wind around various garden features to make trellises to hold up his beautiful cucumbers, which he sells locally at R5 each to family and neighbours. He also has a fine crop of avocados and custard apples.
He loves his two side-by-side avocado trees, one of which was broken off in a storm, but which has now put out about a dozen new branches that have grown as high as the undamaged tree.

James is trained as a cabinet maker and says the avocado tree is just like him - applying the motto 'never give up'.
Next week more entrants will be introduced.

For more information regarding Kos and Fynbos or the Blanco gardening competition, contact Chris Godfrey on 083 500 3090 or send an e-mail to kosfynbos@hypernorth.com.


Griet Marpet is 80 years old. She still works regularly in town but when she is not working she spends as much time as possible in her prolific garden.

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