Mr Amos Mathubela’s passion for farming, together with the support of the Shoprite Group, will transform his gardening enterprise into a commercial vegetable producer.

Mr Mathubela (34) returned to his rural home in Morgenzon in 2017 to support his elderly parents.

As a hobby he worked in the vegetable garden that his late grandfather began.

Within a year there was so much interest in his produce that he decided to register it as the Too Fresh Produce Cooperative.

Mr Mathubela said: “There are no outlets that sell fresh vegetables in our village, so I decided to fill the gap through selling fresh produce to people.”

He mostly sells spinach.

He added that there were initially many volunteers who worked in the garden, which is roughly one hectare in size, but many people left, leaving only about eight people still helping out.

Shoprite supported the cooperative early in 2020 with training workshops, the erection of a fence and the installation of water infrastructure.

They also assisted through donating seedlings and gardening tools to Mr Mathubela.

He said the support received from Shoprite made a big difference as the seedlings they donated resulted in a greater harvest this year.

“The training also made me realise just how little I knew about farming in general.”

Although the lockdown has negatively impacted their sales, this has not dampened his enthusiasm and he continues to provide fresh vegetables in his village.

Read the complete article in the Highvelder.