Citizen Farmers: A Visit to Cape Town's Oranjezicht City Farm - Gardenista
Photography by Marie Viljoen for Gardenista except where noted. Table Mountain s rocky northern face rears above the neat vegetable beds and cobbled paths of a young urban farm that lies on a... ...rare flat among the steep streets of the well to do Cape Town suburb of Oranjezicht which reclines on the mountain s hottest flank The city farm is on a rare flat in Oranjezicht. There was Sheryl Ozinsky a founding member of the local neighborhood watch which had begun to maintain the overgrown site Ozinsky is the former head of Cape Town... ...Tourism and is widely credited with putting Cape Town on the international tourist map during her six year tenure in the run up to the World Cup in 2010 South Africa is known for its beauty, its diversity, and its high crime rate. In a country whose affluent homes are characterized by compound like enclosures my mother s is an exception she says We want to tear down the high walls of our suburbs and create... ...spaces where neighbors can meet and mingle Once people feel safer then you can start working on initiatives that result in more joy than pure safety like urban agriculture on neglected public sites The land has come full circle: In the mid-17th century this pocket of green was part of the Oranjezicht Homestead (the timeline on the city farm’s website traces this history), the largest farm in the Upper Table Valley. While the layout pays tribute to old Dutch designs at the Cape, many of the plants are uniquely South African. The generous hedges of useful indigenous plants buchu Agathosma spp Natal plum Carissa macrocarpa sage Salvia africana caerulea spekboom Portulacaria afra pelargonium Pelargonium spp... ...and wild rosemary Eriocephalus africanus are just a few establish native southern African herbs on an equal footing with their well known kitchen garden cousins Indigenous plants are coming into their own in South Africa’s progressive food scene as foragers and chefs transform their naturally curious appetites into good things to eat. Local cook and wild foods teacher Loubie Rusch uses the spekboom a succulent with tart juicy leaves in salads and relishes... ...and she sells her potent lemon buchu cordial under her Making KOS label at the popular bi weekly OZCF Farmers Market Photograph by Claire Gunn. Hundreds of years ago the original farm helped supply passing tall ships with fresh produce. Pansies are a popular edible flower planted as a crop, making a riot of color as long as cool Cape evenings last. Plants are protected from birds and squirrels under hooped nets. Of all the fruit and vegetables grown organically at the farm, Ozinsky, who uses OZCF produce at home “all the time,” names heirloom tomatoes as a personal favorite. On the first Wednesday of every month between 5 pm and 7 pm, Pick Your Own is a beguiling way of connecting with visitors. Teepees among the lettuces. Some chard, a few onions and salad greens if available.” Challenges remain, as they do in every garden (where it’s all about life and death). The market has moved for now to Leeuwenhof the official residence of the premier of the Western Cape lower down... ...the slopes after Heritage Western Cape a government body whose purview is historic sites objected to aspects of its infrastructure But change begins in our communities reads the OZCF s mission statement and it is clear that the community has... ...rallied around this fledgling farm which has changed a suburb and the way people think about local land use and food