Greenside pavement vegetable garden spreads smiles

GREENSIDE – “I feel I’m making a contribution. It’s a small gesture that has a huge moral impact,” said Greenside resident Taryn Gill about her pavement vegetable garden.

And like Pam Klette’s vegetable garden, Gill’s began when she was faced with a denuded garden.

“I bought an old house and had major renovation work done on it, but ended up with a dead garden. I decided to plant vegetables in the garden, and when I realised how much space I had on the pavement, I thought that if I could do it inside my walls, I could do it outside, too,” she said.

Gill’s first pavement crop was carrots, which she said gave a great yield.

“It was amazing. I could see that passers-by, nannies, domestic workers and gardeners appreciated it, so I decided to expand the vegetable patch,” said Gill.

She set about planting and tending morogo and spinach, and then added bok choy to the patch.

“The preconceptions we have about what people eat aren’t always true. I could see people preferred the bok choy. A few told me they thought it was lovely,” she said.

Through her pavement garden, Gill got to know many of her neighbours, and said that passers-by would often stop to chat or help her tend the garden. One of Gill’s neighbours offered her space on their pavement, should she wish to expand the garden.

“There are successes and failures, and the garden has been vandalised.
“Whole plants were ripped out, and someone drove over the tomatoes, crushing them. But I pushed through, planted more vegetables, and put rocks around the beds,” said Gill.

Despite these challenges, Gill felt the hard work was worth it.

“An old man passed by, and I gave him a few carrots. He repaid me with smiles, laughter and blessings. Another woman came by and took a few veggies and said she had what she needed to finish off that night’s meal,” said Gill.

“I think we take for granted just how many families eat only pap for supper or have a slice of bread and some tea, but just a tomato and some spinach can make a lovely gravy. When I started this, I never thought it would make a difference, but it leaves people glowing, and helped create a sense of community,” she added.