In celebration of Arbour Week, Camps Bay High School has launched the first phase of their Garden of Hope – “a food garden for the future with roots in the past.”
The first phase included planting eight fruit-bearing trees and eight vegetable planters. The Garden of Hope was designed and is being implemented by Camps Bay past pupil, Ben Getz from Urban Harvest Edible Gardens.
Getz gave an introduction to edible gardens and helped the learners plant their first vegetables on Wednesday, September 8. Camps Bay High School Principal, Louis Mostert and Camps Bay Ward Councillor, Nicola Jowell – ward 54, were also present to plant the first vegetables in the Garden.
Getz’s company, Urban Harvest, has been involved in a number of successful edible garden projects across the Peninsula including Gardens in Khayelitsha, Tafelsig, Woodstock and Wynberg.
“We believe that by enabling people to grow and harvest their own food, we are ensuring a healthier, happier and more sustainable way of life for everyone. We make food gardening fun, easy and hugely rewarding,” says Getz.
“It feels like I am coming full circle now with an organic Edible Garden at my old school. I am looking forward to working with the Camps Bay students and community and passing on my knowledge, creating future gardeners”, said Mrs Cara Kahn, Head of the Camps Bay High School Alumni Association.
“This first phase of the garden is entirely funded through generous donations from members of the Camps Bay High School Alumni Association as well as current Camps Bay High School families,” Kahn adds.
The school’s approach for the garden involves creating opportunities for past pupils to remember classmates and friends who have ‘Gone Too Soon’. Past pupils and current families can donate towards the campaign, which is hosted on Quicket. Over R100 000 is still needed to complete this project.
“If anyone would like their donation to go towards remembering a certain past pupil, they mention that pupil’s name when donating so that we can ensure they are remembered in the Garden”, says Mostert.
“The Camps Bay High School Garden of Hope has been in the pipe line for a while now and we are thrilled to have now planted the first vegetables in the first phase of the garden. Our school ethos is strongly rooted in serving our community and we always believe this starts right here in our back garden!”
The school looks for opportunities for their learners to give back as they want to plant a future of love and service with the aim of becoming productive members of society – always thinking of the needs of their community before themselves.
Getz further mentioned that: “For this first phase, we have planted high yield vegetables which will be able to be harvested in a relatively short period of time. As the garden develops, we will be able to add further vegetables and herbs that are best planted at different times of the year. We want to create a garden with a good variety of vegetables, herbs and fruit so that the students are kept interested and excited by their project.”
Vegetables that were planted by learners include red lettuces, green lettuces, beetroots, turnips, table celery, spinach, leeks, green cabbage, broccoli, carrots, radish, yellow pear tomatoes, black cherry tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, sweet basil, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, common thyme, curly parsley and flat parsley.
“We still have a further 3 phases to complete our Garden and so appeal to our community to please donate towards making it a reality – every R100 makes a huge difference and all sponsors will be acknowledged. The next phase we will be working on is the very important wind break to buffer the garden against the harsh Camps Bay South Easter. In Phase 3, we will be planting a further 8 fruit trees and 8 vegetable planters and in our final Phase 4, we will be finishing the garden off with an outdoor classroom as well as some integrated planter benches”, Kahn explained.
“We have no doubt that the Garden of Hope will become the new outdoor heart of Camps Bay High School. We are excited about the opportunities it presents to our learners who will be able to learn about sustainable and organic food gardening, a valuable skill in any community. We are also looking forward to using the harvests from the garden to support members of our community who have food security issues”, concluded Mostert.
If you would like to honour a lost loved one at the Camps Bay High School Garden of Hope and donate towards the project, click here.
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Pictures: Facebook / Camps Bay High School – Raaes Ben – Gr 11
