GEORGE NEWS - George Mayor Leon van Wyk visited Oom Jan Kiewiets at his vegetable garden in Conville last week as part of a mayoral tour of the municipal area's community services projects. 

Oom Jan is one of nearly 700 participants in the municipality's food garden project, which was revived at the end of last year to help families put food on the table following the devastating socio-economic impact of Covid-19.

The project is run by coordinators who identify possible gardeners in communities, oversee the establishment of backyard gardens, provide seeds and guide the process from soil preparation to harvest. 

The aim is that the gardens will become sustainable throughout the year according to the seasons and that gardeners will ultimately not only put food on the tables of their own families but also have extra to share, sell or barter with. Most gardens are currently yielding crops to feed five to 10 people.

Oom Jan told the mayor you need "green fingers" to make a food garden work and that he makes his own compost. His neighbour is allowing him to grow food on his side of the fence in exchange for produce.

The municipality welcomes involvement and support from businesses, NGOs and individuals who can assist in the long-term sustainability of the project. 

Ongoing needs include seeds, compost, pesticides, gardening tools and rainwater tanks. For food garden queries, contact Sophie Fanelo on 044 802 2000.

'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'