Tash and Warren from Durbanville

Tell us a little about yourself!

I am Tash and together with my Husband Warren, our 2 children and my parents we stay in the suburbs of Durbanville, Cape Town. Warren grew up in Fish Hoek. I moved to Cape Town from Bloemfontein in my 20's.

Warren was in the Navy, and I had a Property rental company. I sold the company when my eldest was 18 months old and became a full-time mom! I always had a love for growing herbs, but honestly, our garden was never much larger than a 1m x 1m with containers filled with vegetables standing around.

We moved into our property in Durbanville in 2014 and with a bit more space, we started growing some of our vegetables in beds around our grass. With every year that passed, and with raising kids, we had a need to step away from the supermarket, from pharmaceuticals and to start living closer to nature.

With every season we learned a bit more and before we knew it, all our grass was removed, and we started growing more and more of our own food. When the time came to service our pool and we looked at the cost involved, the water that was wasted, the chemicals needed to keep the pool crystal clear, we decided it was time for the pool to be filled, and time for us to start getting serious about growing food.

In 2017 we got the opportunity to start growing food in aquaponics system in Klapmuts. We grew lettuce, herbs in the system and we grew "baby" vegetables in our soil beds, with edible flowers and microgreens servicing local restaurants in the surrounding area.

Covid hit us hard, and we unfortunately had to leave the farm, BUT that gave us the opportunity to put all our effort into our home back yard farm, and between October 2023 and March 2024 we grew 230kg of food on our property, making us 80% self sufficient in our vegetables. We were able to show people staying in an urban environment that you are able to grow food, and today, we teach people how to grow food in their back gardens.

We learn every season. We had absolutely no experience in growing food, and for the first few years, I was convinced I would never be able to grow tomatoes, and today we are self-sufficient in tomatoes, but it did not happen overnight. We have worked hard over the last 10 years to build our soil, to put permaculture practices in place and to spend time learning how to grow vegetables. Yes, some seasons I still have tough time growing squash and I still have those cabbage caterpillars in the garden! We never stop learning.

Our orchard is 4 years old, and we are expecting more fruit from the orchard this year. In spring we are planning to increase our orchard and plants 9 more fruit trees. We are experimenting with mushrooms and looking to start growing our own CBD. We never stop learning and experimenting.

If you are just starting your vegetable garden, do not start it at the scale that we are doing it. Take one garden bed at a time, take out one section of grass at a time - learn with every season, and extend your garden space as your confidence grows. Grow what you like to eat. Staying in an urban environment we quickly want to grow whatever the local nursery has to offer in seedings, BUT you have limited space. Grow only what you and your family like to eat.

What are you most proud of?

We are totally proud in everything that we grow. We proud of the fact that we are being called the weird neighbours We are those neighbours that will happily take your grass clippings and dried leaves off your hands.. All about getting more organic matter to our home, and into the compost bin and worm farms, or just as mulch.

What advice would you like to share with those earlier on in their journey?

My advice to those that want to start is, Please just start. Vegetable gardens has been romanticised by social media, making it look complicated, expensive and time consuming. It really is not. Start small, start in containers if you have to, just start! Decide why you are wanting to grow your own food. Is it health reasons, to extend our budget? Maybe you want to show the kids how food is grown. Maybe it is time for you to get your hands dirty and tap into those good endorphins soil has to offer. Whatever your reason - just start.

Is there anything else you'd like to share? Where do you see growing going in South Africa?

There is a growing need for people to start living healthier, to be more aware of where their food comes from and to live a little closer to nature. It is up to all of us to start that journey, no matter how small, to show the next generation the promise of a healthy lifestyle and the wealth in food.