I grew up in Naboomspruit. My parents grew mielies, mabele, lephutsi pumpkins, maraka gourds, all the morogos. In those we didn’t waste anything. If you grew it, you ate it. We ate the pumpkins and their leaves and the seeds too. Nothing went in the dustbin. I remember my mother used to cook a delicious dish of maphutsi leaf morogo and peanuts. When you grind them and mix it all together with the leaves, it is so delicious.

I have been thinking a lot about those traditional vegetables in recent months because water is such a problem here. We cannot rely on the municipality to provide water through our taps. When all you have is rainwater (and not very much of that) you must focus on the plants that need the least water.

As a boy I worked with my father in the fields. I would plough with his cattle and weed and scare birds. I also herded his goats. I love goats. They mature quickly, which means that you can sell them fast, which makes for good business. I had a herd of goats here in Maubane, but they were stolen. I would like to try again with goats. If I can get the money together, I will definitely try again.

I have been farming all my life but there are always new things to learn. I learnt a lot from the SocioTech trainings. Before they came, I didn’t know about deep trenching, or which plants grow in which season and now I do. I have three sisters, and I taught them about these methods for my Phinda-Phinda.

The tunnel came in April when I had completed my Phinda-Phinda tasks. It has made a big difference. The sun can be so strong here. My tunnel has beetroot, spinach and onions in it. They are all looking so good. I am selling my vegetables and all my customers come back because of the quality and my reasonable prices. The tunnel keeps bad creatures out. The rats are a problem here and there are so many birds and insects trying to eat vegetables and fruit in Maubane. Vegetables in the tunnel are safe from all those pests.