\nMogau\u2019s connection to food began long before The Lazy Makoti became a household name. Growing up, food was part of the rhythm of family life, particularly those big Sunday lunches where there was always enough to feed whoever happened to arrive.<\/p>\n
Those memories continue to influence the way she thinks about cooking. \u201cSouth African food is about warmth, heritage and bringing people together. It\u2019s deeply rooted in community.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mogau, some ingredients deserve more attention in modern kitchens, particularly those that have been part of our food heritage for generations. Morogo, or wild spinach, sorghum and traditional root vegetables are among her favourites.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are packed with nutrition and connect us directly to our roots.\u201d<\/p>\n
FROM THE GARDEN TO THE KITCHEN<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m loving fresh berries in everything from salads to desserts,\u201d she says, although she is already looking ahead to Summer and one particularly nostalgic treat \u2026 her grandmother\u2019s famous mango atchaar.<\/p>\n Her appreciation for seasonal produce has grown over the years. Having access to fresh ingredients has encouraged Mogau to embrace waiting for produce to be at its best rather than expecting everything to be available year-round.<\/p>\n It has also made the connection between growing and cooking feel increasingly personal. Her sister, Mosa Seshoene, shares a love of growing, and fresh herbs and seasonal produce have found their way into Mogau\u2019s kitchen.<\/p>\n And you don\u2019t need a sprawling garden to experience that feeling. A few pots on a patio, balcony or windowsill can bring a little of the garden into your kitchen. Mogau\u2019s advice is simple, start with herbs you actually use and enjoy having them within easy reach.<\/p>\n THE LEAP THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING<\/strong> Leaving the corporate world to pursue a career centred around food was a leap of faith and one that could easily have gone the other way.<\/p>\n Instead, it became the beginning of something much bigger.<\/p>\n \u201cTaking a leap of faith is terrifying, but staying where you don\u2019t belong is worse.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a line that says a lot about Mogau\u2019s journey. What began as a passion grew into a food brand, cooking school, cookbook collection and entrepreneurial career.<\/p>\n Looking back, she says she has gained confidence, but also a deeper respect for simplicity. And then there is patience.<\/p>\n \u201cOutside the kitchen, I\u2019ve learned to embrace patience, a lesson reinforced by watching my sister farm.\u201d<\/p>\n KEEP IT SIMPLE<\/strong> Ask her for her ideal relaxed lunch and the answer is almost a picture \u2026 bright seasonal salads, fresh berries, crisp local vegetables, grilled proteins and herbs such as basil and mint.<\/p>\n Her advice for bringing more joy into our kitchens this spring follows the same philosophy. Bring a little of the garden indoors with a few potted herbs on your windowsill and let the ingredients do the work.<\/p>\n \u201cCooking shouldn\u2019t feel like a chore … it should be a celebration of fresh, local ingredients enjoyed with the people you love.\u201d<\/p>\n WHAT\u2019S COOKING NEXT?<\/strong> \u201cOur ultimate dream collabs are to open a farm-to-table restaurant and studio space. Imagine guests picking their own fresh ingredients straight from the garden beds, and then joining me in the kitchen studio to turn those hand-picked crops into a beautiful, shared meal.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch this space, indeed.<\/p>\n Grow something. Cook something. Invite people over. Put something colourful in the middle of the table. And don\u2019t wait for a special occasion to enjoy it.<\/p>\n Because if The Lazy Makoti has taught us anything, it\u2019s that good food doesn\u2019t need to be complicated, but it does deserve to be shared.<\/p>\n Beetroot and fig salad<\/strong> To make: Details: Follow @thelazymakoti on Facebook<\/a> and Insta<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Long before Mosa Seshoene was creating gardens for other people, she was a little girl in Limpopo, sitting beside her grandmother and learning the magic of a seed. Her grandmother would harvest seeds from overripe tomatoes, dry them and plant them in the fields. Months later, Mosa would return during the school holidays to discover that those tiny seeds had become ripe tomatoes, ready for the picking.<\/p>\n \u201cThat sense of pride and satisfaction, seeing a tiny seed turn into food on the table, never left me.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a lovely memory, and one that feels rather fitting for someone whose own life has been about planting little ideas and watching them grow. Today, Mosa is the founder and managing director of Farminist, a business and educational platform making farming and gardening feel a whole lot more accessible.<\/p>\n Her mission? To show people that you don\u2019t need acres of land, expensive equipment or a magical ability to keep plants alive to grow something yourself. In fact, she has a message for anyone who has ever announced, \u201cI don\u2019t have green fingers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has green hands!\u201d<\/p>\n For Mosa, it comes down to learning the basics, understanding how much sunlight you have, getting your soil right and knowing when and how much to water. \u201cIf you only grow one herb this season, make it basil! It grows vigorously in warm weather, thrives in pots on sunny windowsills, and elevates everything from fresh salads to pasta sauces.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n GROWING WITH PURPOSE<\/strong> Mosa initially worked as an animal health technician before finding her way back to agriculture and the farming world she knew so well growing up.<\/p>\n \u201cMy journey has really been about discovering where I can make the biggest impact. And that\u2019s where Farminist came in.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat started during lockdown as me sharing a few gardening tips and showing people how to grow things step by step has grown into something much bigger. Today, Farminist includes garden design, gardening lessons, plant maintenance and agricultural consulting.\u201d<\/p>\n The real lightbulb moment came when she realised just how many people wanted to grow their own food but simply didn\u2019t know where to begin.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many people have a desire to grow things, but they lack the confidence or think they need green fingers.\u201d<\/p>\n Watching adults and children get excited about growing their first crop of spinach showed her that Farminist could be about much more than plants. It could be about giving people the confidence to grow.<\/p>\n EVERY GARDEN HAS A STORY<\/strong> Then come the practical things. Light, soil and available space. But perhaps the most important consideration is the person who will actually live with the garden.<\/p>\n \u201cA successful garden isn\u2019t just about looking pretty or being productive, it\u2019s about how it makes the people using it feel.\u201d<\/p>\n And with a hotter, drier season ahead, there\u2019s a little more to think about than simply choosing what looks good at the nursery.<\/p>\n Mosa\u2019s advice? Think before you plant.<\/p>\n \u201cStart by watching your space. How many hours of sunlight does it actually get? Then look at your soil and give it some love with compost. Finally, consider your water supply and how you\u2019ll keep everything hydrated without wasting precious water.<\/p>\n \u201cMulch is another Summer essential, helping the soil hold onto moisture, while heat-resilient and water-wise plants can make life considerably easier when temperatures climb.\u201d<\/p>\n Basically, a little planning now can save you from staring sadly at a collection of crispy plants later.<\/p>\n START SMALL<\/strong> For beginners, she recommends leafy greens such as spinach and forgiving herbs including rosemary, thyme and mint. But if she could convince every household to grow just one thing? Fresh herbs.<\/p>\n \u201cThey elevate every meal instantly.\u201d<\/p>\n And her must-grow herb this season is basil. Which is good news for anyone who likes the idea of growing their own food but isn\u2019t quite ready to spend Saturday afternoon digging up half the garden.<\/p>\n THE SISTER CONNECTION<\/strong> \u201cI focus on the soil and seed, she brings the ingredient to life on a plate.\u201d<\/p>\n What Mogau wants to cook can influence what Mosa plants, while what is flourishing in Mosa\u2019s garden can inspire what finds its way into Mogau\u2019s kitchen.<\/p>\n One sister grows it. The other cooks it. Simple, really.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s a partnership that has made seasonality feel less like a trendy food word and more like an everyday way of living.<\/p>\n LET IT GROW<\/strong> Mosa says that\u2019s all part of it.<\/p>\n \u201cGardening teaches profound patience. You cannot rush a seed; you have to trust the process, embrace failure, and slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n There are lessons in there for all of us. And when it comes to saving money, she has a few tricks too. Propagate plants from cuttings, save your own seeds and make compost from kitchen scraps. No need to make gardening more complicated or expensive than it needs to be.<\/p>\n A GARDEN DAY WORTH CELEBRATING<\/strong> And perhaps that\u2019s the real beauty of Garden Day. It isn\u2019t about having the biggest, prettiest or most Instagram-worthy garden.<\/p>\n It\u2019s about getting outside, slowing down and celebrating the simple joy of growing something. A pot of basil. A few herbs on a windowsill. Some spinach in a container. A handful of seeds and a little curiosity. Because Mosa knows better than most that you never really know what a tiny seed might become.<\/p>\n Details: Follow @farminist on Facebook<\/a> and the @farm_minist_ on Insta<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Text: RIALIEN FURSTENBERG. Image:s ADEL FERREIRA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One sister cooks it, the other grows it. Pretty handy, right? Mogau and Mosa Seshoene bring garden and kitchen together, proving that when sisters team up, good things are bound to happen. There are few things that bring families together quite like food. A table fills, someone arrives with a dish they just quickly made, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":23106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8398,23,51,40,20,1],"tags":[10879,713,2532,10880,10878,4620],"class_list":["post-23098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food","category-homes-and-decor-and-garden","category-lifestyle","category-people","category-personalities","category-uncategorised","tag-farminist","tag-garden-day","tag-get-it-pretoria","tag-mogau-seshoene","tag-mosa-seshoene","tag-the-lazy-makoti"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSpring naturally brings a lighter, fresher mood to Mogau\u2019s cooking. Think colourful salads, crisp vegetables, grilled proteins and plenty of fresh herbs. At the moment, berries are high on her list.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/pretoria\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/GD21_Mogau-Seshoene01_useforsocial-small-267x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nIt is hard to imagine The Lazy Makoti without the confidence and warmth Mogau brings to it today. But her career didn\u2019t begin in a chef\u2019s jacket.<\/p>\n
\nIf there is one thing Mogau has consistently shown us, it is that cooking doesn\u2019t have to be intimidating. You don\u2019t need complicated ingredients or hours in the kitchen to make something delicious. Sometimes the best meals are the simplest ones, made with good ingredients and shared with people you love.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cKeep it simple, intentional and seasonal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOne of Mogau\u2019s biggest dreams brings together food, growing, learning and community.
\nShe and her sister have imagined a farm-to-table restaurant and studio space where guests could pick fresh ingredients before heading into the kitchen to turn them into a meal.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/pretoria\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/Beetroot-and-Fig-Salas-scaled-1-304x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nYou\u2019ll need: 500ml rocket; 250ml cooked cubed beetroot; 3 or 4 figs, quartered; 60ml walnuts; 1 round circle of feta
\nFor the dressing: 30ml olive oil; 15ml balsamic vinegar; 15ml honey; salt and pepper to taste<\/p>\n
\nWash the rocket well, pat dry and place in a serving bowl.
\nScatter over the beetroot, figs and nuts.
\nCrumble the feta over. Combine the dressing ingredients and mix well. Drizzle over the salad.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/pretoria\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/GD21_Mosa-Seshone03_useforsocial-small-267x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThink you need a huge garden, loads of time and a magical touch to grow something? Think again. Mosa Seshoene, founder of Farminist, is on a mission to make gardening feel a whole lot less intimidating and a lot more doable.<\/h5>\n
\nAnd suddenly, gardening sounds a lot less intimidating.<\/p>\n
\nAgriculture has always been part of Mosa\u2019s story. She comes from a farming family, with her grandfather farming crops and livestock and her uncles continuing the tradition as crop farmers. Her own path, however, took a few turns.<\/p>\n
\nWhen Mosa walks into a new garden, she isn\u2019t immediately thinking about which plants will look prettiest. She looks at the possibilities.<\/p>\n
\nOne of Mosa\u2019s biggest pieces of advice for aspiring gardeners is simple. Start small. A balcony can become a mini food garden. A patio can accommodate a few pots. Even a sunny windowsill can produce something useful.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIf you only grow one herb this season, make it basil! It grows vigorously in warm weather, thrives in pots on sunny windowsills, and elevates everything from fresh salads to pasta sauces.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFor Mosa, growing food has also created a rather lovely connection with her sister, Chef Mogau Seshoene, better known as The Lazy Makoti. The sisters naturally occupy two sides of the same food story.<\/p>\n
\nOf course, gardening doesn\u2019t always go according to plan. Seeds refuse to germinate. Plants get overwatered. Something that looked perfectly healthy at the nursery mysteriously gives up the moment it arrives home.<\/p>\n
\nSo, what does Garden Day look like in Mosa\u2019s perfect world? Nothing too complicated.
\nShe imagines stepping outside, putting on a flower crown, spending time with family, harvesting fresh produce and enjoying a relaxed farm-to-table feast while Mogau cooks something delicious.<\/p>\n