Green Fingers in Arid Karoo
The CWBR is joining McGregor Magic this year which takes place on Heritage weekend in September 2020. This year the festival will be streamed online, hosting online guided garden tours, floral workshops, panel discussions, and talks by local and internationally recognized experts in fauna, flora, and conservation. The festival celebrates nature’s magic in springtime when the indigenous splendor of flora in McGregor blooms.
Every year, a garden competition is launched in the newly built community to support the greening of their spaces and provide infrastructure for self-sufficiency. A thought-provoking and challenging task to take on, as McGregor is in a succulent Karoo, an arid area in a rain shadow.
As part of the Health and Nutrition Programme, the CWBR will supply thirty gardens with 8000 vegetable seedlings that include broccoli, cabbage, and kale to help realize the greening and food security.
During the stay in McGregor this week, the CWBR team were introduced to an inspiring garden created by a group of children who started their own project to keep busy while schools are closed.
The space, which they named Kids Farm, has succulents, and rose cuttings given to them by people in the community. Together, the children designed the garden, collected materials to realize their vision and prepared the space. Turning the dusty earth and digging into the ground (as hard as concrete) to establish a table where they can sit and socialize in daytime. The children, taking great pride in their garden, water the plants every day, and continue to add to the space together.
Proving that anything can be possible, with determination and vision.
Follow McGregor Magic on Facebook to see updates on the programme.
Across the street, an initiate by the children, who have beautified the neighborhood with their own vision of a garden
