GEORGE NEWS - Martha Stevens is the first contestant in the Blanco Gardening Competition to have planted the heirloom seed distributed by the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa), co-drivers of the competition with Dr Zilla North, of Blanco Clinic and member of Kos and Fynbos.

A selection of six different types of non-GMO seeds were bought by Wessa to distribute to all contestants and other interested people as a thank you for their enthusiasm and commitment to greening their environment. A total of 57 Blanco residents have entered the competition and they are now waiting in suspense for the announcement of the winners at the prize giving on Saturday 8 March at the Blanco community hall. Judges went around to the different gardens the past weekend to score the entries.

Chris Godfrey, a Wessa representative and Kos and Fynbos member, thanked the contestants and new gardeners on behalf of Wessa for the example they set with their environmentally friendly practices and public participation. "We challenge other communities to do the same. It would be a great boost for saving the environment: The more people who can DIY, the less the need for factory farms, toxic pesticides and GMO dangers."

One of the entrants, Jacob Muller, has a stunning garden with 100% usage of every scrap of ground with a huge variety of both food and flowering plants. Jacob also made himself a recycled watering can spout and many other recycled items and also 'recycles' water from the washing machine.

"This is an alles-en-nog-wat garden. As well as food and flowers, it has medicinal herbs and perdepis trees. The river on the boundary provides water, but Jacob mixes this with harvested rainwater as the river water is too strong and burns plants if not diluted," says Chris.

Chrissie Stalmeester has some watermelons on the roof and her garden also has some broccoli, chillies and herb edging. They are newly planted herb seedlings, but Chrissie is a keen cook and uses lots of healthy herbs in her kitchen.

Also in the spotlight this week is Adam Coetzee, who has what must surely be the most dangerous garden, up next to the N9, says Chris. It is very steep and terraced, but despite the conditions, he is growing a wide range of foods and in addition has built a donkey cart which he first used as a wedding car. "He is wise enough to foresee a lot of future use for this cart instead of cars," says Chris, who invites groups to have Wessa screen the movie of how Cuba survived their post-USSR oil embargo when all machinery and taxis were without fuel. People even grew veggies in the traffic islands in the empty streets where only pedestrians passed by, because there was no other food as the farms were at a standstill and there was no transport to bring food to towns and shops.

For more information, phone Chris on 083 500 3090.


Jacob Muller uses every inch of ground in his garden to grow both food and flowering plants.

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