My World-Class African Suburb?

Is Orange Grove a ‘world class’ African suburb? It most certainly is buzzing with life. While it is a cosmopolitan suburb, attracting a growing number of people, it is steadily deteriorating. Can this trend be reversed?   What is a world-class city? Essentially all the world class cities are in the northern hemisphere. They include […]

Livelihoods and Climate Change/COVID19

Heritage Tree Stump Oaklands

What do sustainable livelihoods look like?  In the drama created by COVID-19 there is a tussle between saving lives and saving livelihoods. Many people across the world have got to the point where saving their livelihoods is how they save their lives. In panic mode they want to save all jobs and all businesses. Regardless […]

Lockdown Stress Relief

This was published before I had completed the editing. I have been assured that the glitches in the system have been ironed out. My sense is that lockdown stress relief is going to be increasingly important as the uncertainty about the future takes its toll on your emotional reserves. What I will focus on today […]

Lockdown Compliance and Generosity

Urban Farming: Winter Greens

Lockdown Level 5 compliance in South African has been successful. Even people who must be suffering tremendous privations have done their best to comply by staying indoors in cramped conditions, all too often without access to the most basic resources, including food… At this end of the socio-economic scale people are literally facing the choice […]

Edible Seeds: Indoor Winter Greens

Fenugreek Sprouts

Preparing for winter, I planted Brussel sprouts, broccoli and kale into seed trays. As I did so I became aware that I mightn’t have containers to plant them into once they reached the four-six leaf stage. Growing vegetables to their full size is how I normally add value to my vegetable gardening efforts. Yet my […]

Self-care During Coronavirus Lockdown

Sage: Salvia officinalis

The coronavirus lockdown has made me aware of people without easy access to medical care. In these cases, self-care is especially important. Yet this type of challenge need not be a source of despair or undue anxiety. There are many products readily available that we can use to assist us meet the challenges of winter […]