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Guest Gardener: Nonkululeko Sefolo

Meet our latest Guest Gardener!

Nonkululeko Williams Sefolo is an avid veggie gardener – an urbanite who grows her own continuous veggie supply from her apartment in suburbia. Her harvests are truly nothing short of eye-candy! We chatted to her about what ignited her passion for gardening.

– How regularly do you buy plants?

The short answer is monthly, but not sure how often in the month. I am still setting up my garden, so for now, I have a dedicated monthly budget for my garden. I have months where I go overboard because I just cannot resist certain plants. I also propagate some house plants and herbs.

– How much time, on average, per week do you spend on plant upkeep?

It has become a way of life that I don’t keep track of the time. Working from home has also been helpful for me because, when my day job gets too hard, I take breaks in my garden. My morning routine includes greeting all my house plants and doing a quick round in my small garden before I start my day.

During this time, I pick out dead leaves and check the condition of the plants. I then make a mental note of what I need to attend to when I have capacity. My plants really make me happy and they are therapeutic. I don’t know how I managed before I started gardening. My garden is my Happy Place.

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– Why do you garden in your non-traditional space? (For example, are you trying to supplement groceries by growing your own? Or are you beautifying a space indoors?)

It’s a mixture of making the space beautiful and supplementing my groceries. My house plants bring a calming effect I cannot explain and the greenery makes the place beautiful too. My organic vegetables have proven to be better than the vegetables we buy in-store, including the ‘organic’ range. I love cooking too, so its always great to just step outside and pick my food.

This past Spring, I harvested a lot of peppers (sweet and chilli), egg-plants, zuchinnis, spring onions and cherry tomatoes – it’s so difficult now for me to buy these in-store since we are approaching the Winter season and the above are out of season. I have started on my Winter garden and looking forward to my harvests.

guest gardener lifestyle home garden urban small garden gardening non traditional space urban greening indoor plants grow your own south africa johannesburg

– How did you get into gardening?

I have always loved flowers, proteas to be exact and my husband always buys them for me. I then bought house plants such as ficus bonsai and poinsettias. I began to follow Facebook plant pages (to learn how to take care of my house plants) and YouTube channels. These social media platforms then sparked the idea of growing my own food. I have always lived in places with little to no yard, so pot plant/container gardening really captured my attention and I never looked back. I started organic vegetable/herb gardening December 2018 with about 10 pot plants. I am now sitting on over 90 pots/containers, with fruits trees in containers.

– What are your social media handles? If you have an Instagram account what is your handle

I have a garden page dedicated to my pot plant/container gardening experiences on:

  • Insta: @urban_gardening_with_nonku
  • Facebook: Urban Gardening With Nonku

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– What is the name of the suburb you currently reside in?

Olivedale.

– What type of home do you have? Flat/apartment, house, flat-share, garden cottage, etc

I live in an apartment, the ground floor unit.

– What is your favourite place to buy plants?

Definitely Lifestyle Home Garden – It’s my 2nd Happy place!

– If you purchase from Lifestyle Home Garden, are you a Loyalty member?

I am indeed a Loyalty Member. I am always excited when I hear, “You have R200 in your account, would you like to use it?” *chuckles

guest gardener lifestyle home garden urban small garden gardening non traditional space urban greening indoor plants grow your own south africa johannesburg

Do you consider yourself a #Plantie with an unconventional or non-traditional garden? If you too would like to be featured as an inspiration to other Urban Greenies and aspiring gardeners, email us at marketing@lifestyle.co.za

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