Cape Town - On World Soil Day, the Bel Porto School in collaboration with the Sprightly Seed, officially launched its Organic Market Garden on Tuesday.
The garden will not only address the nutritional needs of learners and broader communities, but will also enable the school to raise funds to ensure for greater sustainability.
The school, situated in Lansdowne, meets the educational needs of pupils with intellectual impairment, cerebral palsy, or physical disabilities.
On how the collaboration came about, principal Ilona Herman said: “It was very interesting…
I looked for something that was organic, sustainable and wholesome for all of us - in the fact that we could actually do something with what the outcome would be.”
Some of the products made from the garden produce will include pickles, jams, canned vegetables, candles, soaps, and body and beauty products such as lip balms and ointments.
The Sprightly Seed Managing Director and Human Development Specialist, Jade Orgill, said the organisation has been running food garden programmes at mostly schools and early childhood development centres (ECDs) across impoverished communities.
“In the Covid-19 pandemic, what we found was that our community schools where we were running our food garden programmes actually turned into community feeding programmes. So the gardens that we had, that we continue to support, were actually impacting a wider reaching audience. Whole communities were lining up to receive meals that our food gardens were supporting during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Orgill said.
The Organic Market Garden officially opened its doors to the public on Tuesday and will be open from 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday.
For specific items, made-to-order services are available by contacting the Sprightly Seed at 061 690 2265 or email [email protected].