Hatfield’s Moja Gabedi garden the place to be on Garden Day

The Moja Gabedi garden project is a Garden Day fairy tale, transformed from what was once an illegal rubbish dump, and thorn in the side of nearby University of Pretoria Hatfield campus population, is now as captivating as a rose.

Garden Day is an annual celebration of gardens from rolling lawns to a couple of pots on a windowsill. The aim of the day is not complex: simply head outside, wear a flower crown, and welcome the new season with a garden celebration.

“As the official symbol of Garden Day, wearing a flower crown is a must,” says Innocent Chauke, site manager at Moja Gabedi.

“Create your own and once your flower crown is good to go, pay tribute to your garden by hosting a celebration with family and friends or join a community celebration like ours.”

The project to transform the open piece of land in Festival Street, hit a snag in late 2019 when the agriculture students at UP turned the soil only to find that it was buried under 4m of rubbish because for many years it had been used as a dumping ground.

“Only after the removal of the 4m of rubbish which included pieces of foundations, metal, pillars, poles, old telephones, typewriters, weighing approximately 3 000 tons, and replaced with equal amount of top soil and compost, could the first 120 fruit trees be planted,” says UP unit community engagement manager Gernia van Niekerk.

With help of numerous UP students doing the community engagement aspect of their courses – and men living at the nearby Reliable House, a no-harm centre for homeless people addicted to drugs – the beautiful green space, complete with canals and dams to manage the water on site, began to take shape.

Chauke ensures the day-to-day running of the garden, guiding the various community members tending to the garden. The garden provides produce that will be on sale at a Garden Day event, and is a wonderful space that welcomes visitors to its calmness and beauty. The garden also includes two bold stone sculptures created by Angus Taylor.

“This is a garden which flourishes under the care of vulnerable students, nearby old age home residents and homeless people, who plant their own vegetables in allocated plots and are then able to sell the produce,” said Chauke.

This year, Garden Day events will take place at various community gardens, which you can visit to buy your fresh weekly greens and a flower crown before heading home for a special (urban) farm-to-table lunch.

Local garden centres, nurseries, botanical gardens, plant shops, florists, markets, restaurants and cafes have all pledged their support to Garden Day by running special activations ranging from displays to competitions.

Alternatively, the newfound Garden Day Society encourages green-fingered gardeners to help spread the Garden Day spirit by organising a celebration and getting as many guests as possible to join in the festivities.

Moja Gabedi garden project invites visitors to don flower crowns and come celebrate Garden Day on October 9 from 10:00 to 12:30 at this stunning project in the city.

ALSO READ: Cash-strapped metro only able to fix two sinkholes in Centurion

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram