From a handful of seeds to something delicious on the table, Garden Day celebrates the many ways our gardens nourish us.
There’s something wonderfully satisfying about growing your own food. A seed goes into the soil, a little care follows and, before you know it, you’re harvesting something you’ve grown yourself. But food gardens give us far more than something to eat. They get us outdoors, encourage us to slow down and reconnect with nature, and can bring people together around something as simple and rewarding as a shared harvest.
This Garden Day, on October 18, the theme From Garden to Table: Grow, Gather, Celebrate shines a light on the journey from soil to plate and the many ways gardens can nourish both body and spirit.
Growing food is a surprisingly good workout. Digging, planting, watering, weeding, carrying compost and harvesting all get us moving, while spending time outdoors offers a welcome break from screens and busy schedules.
And then there’s the obvious reward – something fresh to eat.
A food garden, whether it’s a few pots on a balcony or rows of vegetables in a backyard, can put fresh, seasonal produce within easy reach. Growing your own food can also encourage us to think differently about what we eat, where it comes from, when it is in season and how much goes into getting it from seed to plate. There’s a special satisfaction in sitting down to a meal knowing that at least some of what’s on it started in your own garden.
Gardening can also feel wonderfully grounding. It asks us to slow down, pay attention and work at nature’s pace. There’s no rushing a seedling, and no shortcut to a ripe harvest.
Perhaps that’s part of the magic of a food garden: it gives us something to look forward to. A new leaf, the first flower, a plant ready to harvest, small signs of progress that remind us that good things take time.
Growing community
Food gardens can grow something that isn’t edible – community.
Home and community gardens can help people access fresh produce, stretch meals and learn more about growing their own food. But their value can extend well beyond what they produce. They create opportunities to share skills, swap seedlings, volunteer, meet neighbours and work towards something together.
Landscape architect and environmentalist Ian Domisse, whose work has included community-focused environmental projects, has seen first-hand how practical, hands-on projects can encourage people to become more actively involved in their communities. He says children can become ‘change agents’ because they take what they learn back into their families and communities.
That idea applies equally to food gardens. Growing something together creates an opportunity to learn not only about plants and food, but about resourcefulness, sustainability and the value of looking after the spaces around us.
And perhaps that is the real goodness of a food garden. What starts with a seed can become food on the table, a moment of calm, a new skill, a shared harvest or a reason to bring people together.
From garden to table
Garden Day is about making the most of what you have. You don’t need a huge harvest or a sprawling vegetable patch to take part. A handful of herbs, a few tomatoes or something growing happily in a pot can be enough to inspire a meal.
For third-generation farmer and food gardener Mosa Seshoene, that connection between growing and eating started when she was a child.
“A core gardening memory is growing tomatoes from seed at my grandparents’ farm during school holidays,” says Mosa. “We’d dry out seeds from old tomatoes and plant them together. When I came back the next holiday, there it was, a ripe tomato waiting for me. That’s where it all started.”
Today, Mosa grows everything from spinach and onions to pomegranates and peaches, both on her apartment balcony and on a plot of land.
Her love of growing food is shared by her sister, award-winning chef and author Mogau Seshoene, better known as The Lazy Makoti, who loves cooking with fresh produce straight from the garden.
The sisters have a wonderfully simple way of describing their relationship with food and gardening. “She influences what I plant; I influence what she cooks.”
Together, they use food and gardening to promote seasonal living, growing and eating what is available while sharing their knowledge and ideas with their community.
And that is at the heart of this year’s Garden Day theme. It’s not about producing a perfect harvest. It’s about enjoying the process, celebrating what is growing and sharing it with the people around you.
A proudly local harvest
One ingredient worth bringing to the table is sorghum, a proudly South African grain that many of us know from ting and mqombhothi.
But sorghum can do so much more. Much like couscous, it works beautifully in salads, and this colourful version combines it with cherry tomatoes, feta, cucumber, red onion and fresh herbs for a simple garden-to-table dish.
Sorghum rainbow salad
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus overnight soaking
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4
You’ll need: 1 cup (250ml) sorghum, soaked overnight and drained; 3 cups (750ml) water; 1 cup (250ml) cherry tomatoes; 1 feta round, crumbled; 1 red onion, finely chopped; ½ cucumber, chopped; 1 cup (250ml) finely chopped herbs, such as parsley, chives and dill; salt and pepper to taste.
How to make: Cook the sorghum in the water in a medium pot until soft, about 40 minutes. Drain and leave to cool. Place the sorghum in a large bowl with the tomatoes, feta, onion, cucumber and herbs. Season well and toss to combine.
Make it a Garden Day
You don’t need to wait for a bumper harvest to celebrate. The joy is in using what you have and finding creative ways to bring the garden to the table.
Grow something new, even if it’s just a pot of herbs or a few salad leaves.
Share your harvest by giving friends, family or neighbours some of what you’ve grown.
Set the table outdoors and turn your harvest into a simple garden-to-table meal.
Swap seedlings and seeds with fellow gardeners and share your growing tips.
Get creative with garden produce, using herbs, edible flowers and vegetables as natural table décor.
Details: For more inspo visit gardenday.co.za for the Grow Guide, celebration ideas, recipes and more, and share your Garden Day moments by tagging @GardenDaySA or using #GardenDaySA.
