I was born in Disaneng, a settlement outside Mahikeng. All the boys at my school did agriculture. Our teacher was Mr Sejake. He was strict but fair. He wanted things done nicely and he wouldn’t settle for less. He would help you to get it right, but if it wasn’t right he would make you do it again and again until it was right. I liked his style. I liked agriculture. I liked that it gave us things to eat, but I also liked how it made me feel. There is a nice calm that comes over a person when they are working the soil. It is a peaceful place to be.

I wasn’t with Mr Sejake very long, because I left school in Standard Two. I went to herd cows. It was in the fields with those cows that I learnt about all the edible wild plants and animals that there are in South Africa. We herd boys would catch small birds with catapults. We set traps for bigger, ground dwelling birds such as impangele (guinea fowl). The little birds we would roast over a fire. Guinea fowl were so nice slowly cooked in a pot.

I came to Gauteng in 2000. I got work as a security guard and I still work in that industry. From the beginning I had a food garden, and I worked at it when I was not on shift. In the old days it was just for me and my family to eat, but now that I have surplus, it has become a business. SocioTech training made a big difference to me. They taught me about trenches, mulching, manure and seasonality.  I was very enthusiastic right from the start. I met Charles on the Monday. On Tuesday I went to a training class. I was working Wednesday and Thursday, but on the Friday I was digging my trenches. I did it all by myself. I didn’t have any help. On that Saturday I finished digging at 3pm and I went straight out to collect tins and bones for my trenches.

I could see that this new SocioTech system was working well almost immediately. From the moment that I saw the onion seedlings growing big and strong I knew the method was good. Now I have spinach, tomatoes, onions, chilies, lettuce, cucumber and strawberries. Very quickly, people who were walking past started to notice that the garden was lovely. Like I said, in the old days, my garden was just for my family.