04 Mar 2014

A backyard gardening project beneficiary, Ms Thuso Rabeo of Tonota has complained about the size of the gardens.

Giving her testimony at the official opening of poverty eradication programme at Jamataka, Ms Rabeo said she enrolled in the poverty eradication programme in 2011 under backyard gardening and the project did not make any profit because there were many backyard gardens along Shashe River.

When Ms Rabeo went to agricultural officers to complain that there were too many backyard gardens in the area, she was advised to plant herbs. She explained that one of the most overlooked aspects of a medieval home that was so vital to the household was the herb garden.

She said almost every home had a herb garden and in poorer and middle class homes, these gardens were tended to by the wives and daughters.

She said the poverty eradication managers did not disappoint her but were encouraging and after presenting her brilliant ideas, she decided to form a group and named it Boiteko Cluster made of 13 young women.

“Some herbs were harvested at certain times of the year and then dried in cool, dark places that had good ventilation,” she said. “Other herbs never go out of season and could be used on a regular basis and replenish itself. Of the herbs that were dried, they were good to use for up to a year before their potency would diminish.”

Ms Rabeo said they packaged and sold herbs to Super Spar in Francistown and explained that the herbs resembled spices, they garnish food and were also for medical purposes.

“Although we do not have a large herb garden today that the people of the medieval times possessed, we use many of the same herbs on a relatively regular basis,” she added.

The types of herbs that Ms Rabeo grows are coriander, parsley, thyme, basil, sage and many more. She said if Spar wants to purchase 50kg of herbs they cut 10 kg from each garden and share the profits. Ms Rabeo thanked the government for changing their lives. ENDS