St Martin’s Newcastle makes a difference one vegetable at time

St Martins Children’s Village is setting a trend by following their own direction when it comes to fundraising.

Planting vegetables has become one of the home’s main sources of income, according to caretakers Thulani Tshabalala and Mandla Mtshali.

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The duo pride themselves on their unique home-grown veggie garden.

“We plant and harvest our own vegetables, which we then package and sell through certain retail stores. The income from this goes right back into the home,” they said.

Aside from making profit from the vegetables, the two men said the vegetables were also used to feed the children and staff at the home, making the expense budget a little easier to bear.

The pair has planted vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, chillies, brinjals, herbs and now sweet potatoes.

“We planted our sweet potato in February, and left it to grow. Last week, when we went to check on them we realised the had grown way bigger than we had expected, and we believe its because of our unique way of planting.”

Mandla said they did not believe in disturbing the soil, and therefore only planted the vegetables within the compost, which they make themselves.

“We gather tree fillings and garden refuse, which we leave to turn into natural compost. This usually takes around six months. After the refuse has become compost, we spread it over the garden and plant the seeds in the compost, leaving the soil untouched and undisturbed.”

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Thulani and Mandla have now started with the preparations for making two more gardens. Where they will plant more spinach, potatoes and maize meal.

When asked why they dedicated so much time and effort into making these gardens a success, both men responded and said it was all about the children.

“We do not do this for ourselves. We do this for the children who live here. They have motivated us to help them, due to their unfair situations.”

When they are not taking care of the garden and chickens, or fixing things around the house, both men admitted to enjoying quality time with the children, making their stay at St Martin’s a little more bearable.

“These children have no one, and we want to help them feel special and loved,” the men concluded.