It was a bountiful harvest on the 18th of May when staff from Oricol Environmental Services visited Emmangweni Primary School in Tembisa for a volunteer day. Oricol staff volunteered to work in the garden together with the Emmangweni learners and staff on the day.
Upon arrival Oricol received a warm welcome from Emmangweni learners who sang and danced for them. The group proceeded to the garden where Busi, the Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA) facilitator, did a demonstration on the correct method of harvesting. It is important that you do not use a knife to harvest vegetables and do not leave left over vegetables and roots in the ground. Any vegetables left in the ground after the harvest will continue using nutrients which are needed by other plants.
The Oricol team successfully harvested 7 black bags of kale, broccoli and cauliflower. Afterwards, they removed weeds, added compost, mulched, watered and planted out winter seedlings to fill the gaps where they had harvested.
Emmangweni Primary School is very grateful to Oricol for their continued support and the impact is very visible in the way the garden has begun to supplement the feeding scheme which serves about 1800 learners in the school.
