Determined women, one sewing club and the desire to feed a community led to one of the happiest gardens around. Meet the Happy Fingers Community:
Karatara, South Africa (12 July, 2023) — What does it take to feed a community? People willing to give it a try! That was the first step for the Happy Fingers Community Garden Project which is now flourishing wonderfully in the Western Cape’s Karatara.
It all began when determined women part of a sewing club named Happy Fingers wanted to do something about food insecurity in their community, especially for the older members. After reaching out to sustainable food non-profit Green Hearted, their little vegetable garden soon became a spot of hope.
Thanks to help from Green Hearted (who support multiple gardens in Knysna), the women have learnt all the green thumb 101s and have been able to create peace of mind for community members. Thanks to these efforts, more people will know where their next meal is coming from as the women wish to supply vegetables to the area’s soup kitchen.
In the same breath, the project has cultivated a new sense of sustainable consciousness and agency for the green thumbs, reigniting purpose for many of its maturer participants.
The experience has also breathed a new youthful spirit into the team who bonded over sewing.
As one 67-year-old member shared, “I am 67 years old, but when this garden started I felt young and jumped into the garden!”
Green Hearted’s founder Kate Curtis couldn’t be more thrilled to see one of their many women-led projects flourish. As an organisation that began during one of the toughest times for food security in South Africa (the pandemic), the passing years have only seen its seeds of skill sharing and ecological education grow to new heights of impact.
As Estel Morris, another Happy Fingers member adds:
“I am very proud of the garden we have created…we aren’t struggling with our little garden.”
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You can keep up with Green Hearted’s projects here.
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