KZN vegetable garden creates jobs for homeless

An organic vegetable garden, established by the homeless behind the Elangeni Hotel in Durban, has received support after gaining popularity through a Facebook post.

The garden was established during the early stages of the national lockdown in a Durban North-based refugee camp.

The camp provided the homeless with shelter as part of the government strategies to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The farming was part of the activities offered to the homeless to help them gain farming skills, along with other programmes, such as computer lessons.

A large number of buyers including young people started flowing into the camp to buy vegetables after a Facebook post by Sue Derwent was widely shared. The post gave a good review about the freshness of the vegetables and how well taken care of the garden was.

One of the farmers helping out with the selling of vegetables.

The vegetables in the garden range from spinach, lettuce, carrot, and green peppers, which are all organic and looked after by the homeless residents.

One of the buyers, Nqobile Mbatha, explained that it’s not just the freshness of the vegetables that keep you coming back to the garden, but the great customer service as well.

“I have been buying my vegetables here ever since I saw the Facebook post. It is very hard to find organic vegetables in other shops. It is very important that we eat right so that we can beat this virus affecting our country,” she added.

Derwent shared in her post that they hope to start a service whereby anyone in the suburbs can employ them to establish a home, office or business vegetable garden.

They will plant a vegetable garden for you, bringing all the seedlings and expertise you will need.

This article was republished from Rising Sun Overport

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