A garden can be more than a place to grow vegetables. For 3M Earth, it has become a way to bring people together, share practical skills and help communities work towards greater self-sufficiency.

Based at the REEA Foundation in Craighall Park, the non-profit organisation has spent the past year strengthening relationships with community gardening groups, local businesses and residents through its organic gardening initiatives.

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3M Earth director Andrew McConnachie said the organisation had developed relationships with community gardening groups in Kliptown, Klipspruit, Linbro Park and Kagiso. Representatives from these groups have attended training courses at its Craighall Park training garden, with 3M Earth also visiting their communities to help establish organic vegetable gardens.

Closer to home, the organisation has built a relationship with Nicarela, which is now funding training for staff members from Guild Cottage.

It has also worked with the Craighall Residents Association, particularly during Mandela Day, when volunteers joined forces to transform a neglected space into a vegetable garden. The produce from the garden will be donated to the foundation.

“We have been very fortunate to have grown some great relationships with the broader Johannesburg community,” said McConnachie.

Community engagement has also taken shape through markets hosted at the foundation, where 3M Earth showcases its handmade products and organic produce.

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While the foundation traditionally hosts a monthly market on the first weekend of each month, 3M Earth has also collaborated with neighbouring businesses to host special Halloween and Christmas markets.

The Halloween market on October 30 attracted families and children to the foundation’s Haunted Garden, with businesses including CO2 Mushrooms, Gerakaris Wines, Colourful Splendour, Delta Café and Omajova Grow Tunnel contributing to the experience.

The upcoming Christmas market on November 13, from 17:00 to 19:30, will feature handmade lanterns, pot plant holders and candle holders, alongside homemade sauces, pickles, preserves and fresh organic vegetables. Wooden products, including planters, owl boxes, bat boxes and bug hotels, will also be available.

McConnachie said the markets provide an opportunity to introduce residents to the organisation’s work while raising awareness and funds for its initiatives.

The products sold also form part of its skills development activities, with the organisation growing and making items in small batches using organic heirloom plants.

Beyond the markets, 3M Earth is planning a series of evening talks and gardening workshops at the foundation. Topics under consideration include indigenous medicinal plants and their uses, bats, bees, owls, medicinal mushrooms and vermiculture.

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The sessions will be open to anyone interested in the environment, while gardening workshops will cater for beginners and more experienced gardeners alike. Residents will also be encouraged to suggest subjects they would like to learn more about.

For McConnachie, the value of gardening extends well beyond the food harvested. Growing vegetables can encourage physical activity, improve mental well-being, build confidence and teach practical skills that people can use to feed their families or potentially earn an income.

For organisations working with vulnerable communities, growing their own food and turning food waste into compost can also help reduce monthly grocery expenses.

Reflecting on the communities 3M Earth has worked with, McConnachie said, “To learn how little some people can get by with has been a humbling experience, but what has been equally wonderful to see is just how much desire there is to be self-sufficient.”

He added that many of the people they work with are determined to improve their circumstances and provide better lives for their families.

“What they need is skills and support, which is what our training programme is designed to provide,” he said.

Looking ahead, 3M Earth hopes to explore the mental health benefits of gardening more deeply, having initially focused its work on addressing food insecurity and unemployment.

Residents interested in its markets, talks, workshops or organic gardening initiatives can contact 3M Earth through the REEA Foundation in Craighall Park.

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