Nigel dennis & the one home one garden farmers

Surveying the hilly terrain around Hlutankungu is quite inspiring. One farmer has their beehives methodically positioned on the side of the valley. On the other side of the valley neat rows of chilli plants are being grown successfully by another farmer. Nigel Dennis (pictured here), who co-ordinates the activities of the One Home One Garden co-operative, has moved his operation to entirely organic approaches, supplying local retailers in Highflats. His farm is quite an experience to walk through as he is cultivating everything from turmeric, ginger and lemongrass to more regularly encountered crops such as cabbage, spinach and lettuce. He and his son also engage in poultry and rabbit production. The One Home One Garden has now grown to 22 members including several youth. They continue to meet on a monthly basis to share knowledge and offer support to one another. To safeguard commitment to the group, a R20 admission fee is charged and if one misses a meeting the fee must still be paid in addition to a R20 fine! Besides the farm visits they do most months, guest speakers are invited to give presentations on various farming topics. Mr Dougie Strachan has lately been engaging quite a lot with the group, giving a presentation one month and then a planting demonstration the next. The group seem interested to adopt some of his cultivation approaches and we are excited to see how this may entice more people in the area into food production. This year the group has benefited once more from a generous donation of 35 tonnes of lime which was a shared donation from Geyser’s Fertilizer & Lime and NPK Agencies. We wish to thank them for their incredible generosity as well as Stapylton-Smith Farming CC for covering the cost of the transport again and to Highflats farmers, Gavin Lister and Neil Cole for allowing their farm to be used as a base from which the farmers could collect the lime once delivered.

Nigel’s wife, Elizabeth with some of the delicious preserves made from produce grown at Hilltop Farm