10 May 2017

A retired mother, Ms Kealeboga Raphashane, 53, of Gerald Estates in Francistown is making a living out of selling plants, vegetables and flowers.

The mother of four, stated in an interview that she had always had a passion for tree planting and gardening from an early age.

She narrated that her love for plants began when she was recruited by an expatriate family living in Francistown.

She looked after their private gardens, and though she had no experience in gardening and landscaping, her employers were impressed with her work and never complained about her gardening duties.

Though, she earned a paltry salary from her domestic gardening job, after starting her own backyard garden at her house, a concept born out of the initiative of the country’s President, her financial struggles subsided.

With perseverance and through saving her earnings, she built herself a two-bedroomed house and on arrival at her yard, one is immediately mesmerised by the lush green plants, exotic flowers and savoury vegetables.

Some of the vegetables found in her garden include spinach, beetroot, carrots and onions.

“I sell Allium flowers, Amaryllis, Anemone, Calla Lily, Elephant Ear, Orchid and Poppies. As for plants, I have Bird Paradise, Arrow head and Authurium,” she said.

Furthermore, she stated that she was grateful to her former employers who taught her different kinds of plants and flowers.

She has a 22-year-old son, who is studying at the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and helps her with the much needed information and research.

“People buy flowers and plants for their offices, private residences and some buy or hire to decorate at their weddings and birthday parties,” Ms Raphashane said.

She explained that plants, just like little babies, needed greater care to grow well.

Ms Raphashane advised that ‘it is always best to grow plants in containers; big containers, so that the plants can have enough space to grow’.

“It is also best to put soil in these plants containers because it is much lighter, drains better and is sterilised to kill weed seeds and diseases that could hurt plants,” she said.

Some plants, she observed, failed to grow well because the gardener used the wrong fertilisers and to get the best out of a garden, she advised that a slow release fertiliser in pellet form could be used.

“This is so because you would need to water the container plants frequently. A regular fertiliser would therefore tend to wash right out of the soil. But, in pellet form, one application will release the plants food slowly and last for several months,” she said. ENDS