Just imagine looking down on the CBD of Cape Town from a plane and instead of a seeing a sea of bare desolate, high-rise rooftops, you looked down on a productive, agricultural cityscape. Today, the Central Methodist Mission in collaboration with Touching the Earth Lightly took a first step towards this vision.
Cape Town’s history has always been tied up with food and food production. The San foraged here while the Khoi had grazing pasture for their cattle; then the Dutch decided that it would be the ideal spot for a refreshment station en route to the east and created The Company’s Garden to grow fresh produce for the passing ships and citizens.
But as the city grew, its citizens became more removed from the production of food. Space, particularly in the City Bowl, confined by the ocean on the one side and Table Mountain on the other, was in demand and agricultural land made way for buildings, roads and houses.
Utilising the in-between spaces
“In the process of creating high rises and constantly seeking more space, we have done two things – created dead or lost space and also severed our umbilical cord with the earth beneath the asphalt and cement, beneath our feet,” says Stephen Lamb of Touching the Earth Lightly. “Roads and buildings have defined the function of all spaces but we have neglected the spaces between fence and wall, between the wall and gutter, between window and window-sill, and on the hundreds of rooftops that lie empty and barren inside our city. These spaces left by traditional architecture and town planning can be used to reconnect us to the earth and to produce food in the city.”
The Central Methodist Mission and Touching the Earth Lightly teamed up to explore the possibility of developing “the in-between spaces” by creating a “shop window” of portable, edible fruits and vegetables grown onsite in the “in-between” space between the church’s wall and its fence line.
Creating community through gardening
Inside this space, a variety of vegetables and fruits will be grown in milk crates. “The hope is that this garden will grow to provide free food that people can come and pick when it is ripe,” says Alan Storey, minister at the Central Methodist Mission. “Can you imagine if every business or every landowner started planting food on the border of their property? That would be awesome on a whole number of levels: you’d be creating community; would acknowledge that we’re dependent on each other; that our wealth should be shared; and that we could also help prevent hunger.”
In addition to combating climate change and rising food costs associated with increased transport and fuel prices, growing food in the CBD would also put people back in touch with food production and nature, Alan argues: “I started a food garden on my deck and it was incredible. I am a man and I don’t have children but when my seedlings came up I left like I had given birth with no labour pain. I would marvel at the daily growth and when my first tomatoes were ready to eat it was literally miraculous and mysterious and beautiful.”
Watch this video to see how Alan Storey and Stephen Lamb planted the community garden. [https://vimeo.com/53501620]
Read more about Alan Storey and the work of the Central Methodist Mission in the November issue of City Views here.
Words: Alma Viviers
Photo: Lisa Burnell