Growing Green Fingers

For quite a while now Ryan has dreamt of having his own vegetable garden at Tanda Tula Safari Camp. But, for many reasons, namely: monkeys, birds, antelope and others, have made this feat seem almost impossible. However, add two more ambitious and talented gardeners into the mix as well as the go ahead to build an animal/ insect/ bird proof area, and suddenly you end up with what we now refer to as “Green Leaf”.

As soon as Ryan knew that he had Gerard’s buy in on producing some of their home-grown goods they knew that Evan, the man with green fingers had to be involved. Gerard has been planting his own vegetables and herbs since he was a little boy alongside his father, Evans learnt about gardening through studying agriculture at school, but it was his other who taught him how plant neatly and make sure you water the right amount.

Once the structure was completed by a local community builder then this team started with the lay out and sprinkler system, which uses the recycled grey water from the lodge. The focal point is a beautiful lemon tree with neat rows of vegetables, herbs and fruit lining the central pathway.

Almost everything has been planted from seed, they are using an eco-friendly fertilizer and have planted marigolds in between the seedlings to help keep the insects at bay. The other challenges they face with a vegetable garden in the heart of the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve are all its creatures also wanting a share, however, so far, they have managed to keep everything successfully at bay.

As Gerard points out him and Ryan love to have the “home-grown” offering, and yet they do know that the amounts produced in their garden will not always be enough. They will continue to use all our local suppliers for bulk goods and simply top up as much as possible from the garden.

The greatest lesson all three horticulturalists have unanimously learnt so far: Growing takes time and so you have to have patience, but the rewards are absolutely incredible and completely worth the wait.