The Zimbabwean Gardener
Let ’ s get everyone ’ s hands dirty !
I was trying to encourage a friend a while back to start gardening , and before I was about to reel on , she stopped me in my tracks and stated “ Don ’ t tell me how it makes you feel wonderful and how it is good for the soul and all that rubbish .” Luckily , she did stop me , as I would have lost out on a fellow future gardener quite quickly . So , I had to quickly rethink my sales pitch with a more practical approach by telling her how she could save money by growing vegetables , have more control over how her food is grown etc ... A week or so later , she sent me a picture of her with my magazine – phew , my sales pitch worked .
But , it really gave me a lot of food for thought on how to encourage our friends to garden . Since I have started my love affair with gardening , it has made me understand our intricate environment even more and from that , I have taken a deep interest in protecting our delicate earth . I would love to encourage more people to garden so they can realise how important our environment is and what an essential role we play in protecting it , especially in Zimbabwe .
So back to the question – how do we encourage people to take up gardening ?
1 . It is a great way to make new friends if you join a Garden Club - I was invited to Kwekwe in September and it was great to see a group of ladies from all walks of life come together , share advice , take pride in showing others their gardens but mainly , be a community and creating friendships . On page 8 , you can find out about local Garden Clubs .
2 . When your children are young , start nurturing the joy of gardening as it ’ s a perfect time to get them interested . Why don ’ t you do some fun projects with your kids ? This issue , there is a great family project to build a green house out of plastic bottles . Not only will this teach them about recycling , but they will also have their very own greenhouse .
3 . Show people the incentives of gardening and how it will save money , like growing your own fruit trees and veggies . Dr . Nyakanda has kindly shared his tips and tricks on how to grow a fig tree .
4 . What do you think ? How will you encourage your friends and family to take up gardening ?
Make it your resolution for 2015 to introduce a friend to gardening , believe me they will thank you one day - I am ever grateful to my Mum and Dad !
“ To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves .” Mahatma Gandhi
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year .
Kari
Ps There was a big interest in the bee article from Issue 10 . Before you rush off and buy a hive , please join a Bee Club or ask a professional beekeeper to teach you . There are risks to beekeeping .
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