May Madness at Mdumbi!

The children greatly enjoy the beach trips twice a term. They love to use the sand to write their names and numbers, draw pictures and make sculptures, as well as roll their hula hoops.

Four visitors from Germany came to see the school garden which they help sponsor. They assisted with transplanting and gathering manure on several mornings. The garden is very productive with the children currently eating spinach, carrots, peas, radishes and lettuces which they planted. The Germans are members of a choir which sings African songs back in their home city and it was a delight to have them share some of these and sing others with the children.

We gratefully received a gift of soft toys from a group of visiting Canadian students. The children enjoy using them in their creative play. Visitors from Australia, USA and South Africa also brought a CD player, CDs with songs/stories, stationery items, tooth brushes and tooth paste for which we are very grateful.

Our teachers continue to receive further training. Kholiswa, Nokubonga, Nomfuzo and Andisiwe are attending NQF Level 4 courses for a week each month. They have found of great interest the information about children’s rights, developing children’s self esteem, and how to help their physical, social and mental development.

We are hoping that assistance with funding will soon enable us to simultaneously re-open 2 pre-schools in the nearby villages. These pre-schools are fully equipped but we haven’t yet to hand sufficient money for the salaries of their two teachers. We are very excited and grateful that a Canadian donor has offered to provide one salary for a trial period of six months. If you or your friends would like to assist with this project, Transcape would be very grateful.

Recent work in the garden by Judy Hogg

I prepared the soil where the silver beet (Swiss chard or spinach) and beetroot was to be planted by adding horse / cow / pig manure from nearby land.

Pre-school children were shown how to plant beetroot seeds and did this task under supervision. I also sowed silver beet seeds next to this row. Germination was excellent so where the plants came up too close together I transplanted some into another row in a different plot. Transplanting here in a very hot climate is very difficult and the plants need to be covered for several days during the day time between 9 am and 5 pm to protect them from the sun.

My first attempt to grow spring onions, red and white onions from seed wasn’t very successful. Only about 25 spring onions come up. I re-sowed about 3 weeks later and so far it seems as if only a few more spring onions have come through. I note that the only South African company I’ve come across that packages seed with a date on it is MayFord, so I suspect a lot of seed on shop shelves maybe old. Some of the seed I have been trying has also been opened by earlier users.

The ‘after school’ children planted radishes, silver beet and cabbage seeds in a small plot with the idea that the latter two could be transplanted. The radishes come through very well but only 1 cabbage plant and 2 silver beet plants came up. I suspect the children covered their seeds too deeply. The radishes were given to the after school children once they were of eating size. It was a new vegetable for them to taste but about half of the children enjoyed them. Hopefully later they can try them sliced with lettuce and tomato from the garden in a sandwich. These children also sowed a short row of peas.

I planted a row of carrot seeds. They germinated very well, have been thinned twice and are about 30 cms high. The plants seem to cope very well with the wind from the south as their stalks are flexible. Three pre-school children and their three teachers have since planted 3 more rows of carrots in this ‘southern garden’ to keep a succession coming along. The teachers and children had never planted carrot seeds before. Each day I harvest 3 carrots from Sean’s earlier planting and prepare them as a snack for the children to eat raw. They hadn’t tasted raw carrot before but all like it very much.

Other seeds planted this week (Monday April 18th à) by the pre-school children were: parsley, Chinese cabbage, 3 rows of silver beet, lettuce –with seed collected from our own ‘gone to seed’ plants, broad beans, celery and 2 rows of green peas, while I have sown leek, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower and dash (baby spinach). I hope the children will be able to transplant my sowings into the remaining spaces in the garden. (So far a few children have transplanted some lettuce plants.)

Weekly maintenance has included watering, adding layers to the compost heap, keeping the weeds down, transplanting self sown lettuces and tomato plants – (the latter grew out of the pig manure – his food is ex the kitchen!) – covering and uncovering newly transplanted seedlings, mulching, de-lateralling the tomato plants, staking and tying them up, gathering seeds from lettuce, fennel, beans etc. and gathering manure.