The Zimbabwean Gardener Issue 16 Autumn 2016 Low res | Page 3

Welcome note Anyone can make a difference ‘If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito’. Dame Anita Roddick It is inspiring to see Zimbabweans pulling together as a community amidst the challenges that accompany a slow economy and the current drought conditions. Over the past few months, people seem to have made a conscious effort to band together for the betterment of the environment. I have witnessed, read and listened to a range of exciting developments that are making impacts, large and small, to our country, communities and individuals. Littering I often attend the monthly Waste Management Meetings run by the fabulous and admirable Miracle Missions. During these meetings, members of our communities share any new ideas and laws that are being passed to help clean up our community. One new law that has come into effect, thanks to EMA (Environmental Management Agency), is that litterbugs will be fined. In Harare, there are 2,000 litter monitors in all the wards who patrol our streets and issue fines ranging from $5 to $20. It is equally encouraging to see members of the public participating in active clean-up campaigns, which are organised by Miracle Missions and other members of the community. A Bulawayo family feeding the community Recently on our Facebook page, I shared an inspiring TED talk by Pam Warhurst on ‘How we can eat our landscapes’. It was about turning unused plots of land into small communal gardens. I received some wonderful responses from the Zimbabwean gardening community on what they were doing on a similar level. Mark Swannack, from Bulawayo, has a vegetable garden on his verge that he shares with the public. Community makeover In our Summer issue, The Zimbabwean Gardener did a makeover for a nursery school in Glen Lorne. It was very well received and has prompted The Zimbabwean Gardener and Garden Guru maintenance and landscaping to give back to the community, too. We will be doing a one-day makeover in each issue of the magazine. If you know of any deserving areas in Harare that need a garden or veggie garden makeover, such as a school, an orphanage, a sports centre, verges or shopping areas, which are likely to benefit the community, please email me a picture of the area (no more than 50 square metres) and a small write-up on how this would benefit the community to [email protected] Happy Gardening! Kari ‘Here in Bulawayo, we grow vegetables on our pavement. People help themselves at 4pm every day, for free. It is great fun and never had anything taken out of time. Wish all the verges could feed our neighbours’. Mark Swannack, Bulawayo