Valley Food Gardens
Ons Kweek Kos Saam
Beyond Food Parcels:
Unlocking the Valley’s Food-growing Resourcefulness

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The Red Cross and supporting organisations are providing food parcels to vulnerable families in the Genadendal Valley in the Overberg Region of South Africa in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. But this is an unsustainable solution to food insecurity. Once the pandemic grips the cities, resources and attention may largely go there, and as the economy takes many years to recover and food insecurity persists, we may have to fall back more and more on our own resources and resourcefulness in the four towns in our valley.
 
As part of the Red Cross Covid-19 Response, the Greyton Transition Town (GTT) has launched a food security initiative for Genadendal, Bereaville, Voorstekraal and Greyton, called the Valley Food Gardens, to boost vegetable production in our valley. It is led by Marshall Rinquest, the GTT Director, who has years of experience in supporting permaculture and community-based food gardens in schools and households. 

In essence we will be developing local community Hubs,  based with existing successful growers, to provide seedlings, compost and support to householders so that they can grow their own food.  Further intiatives, like nutrition education, support to small farmers and market development are described on the Valley Food gardens page.
 
Go here for more information about the Transition Movement.

Go to About Us for more about who we are.

​Go to our Facebook Page for current news.
Home vegetable gardens increase the people's economic access to food, reduce family food bills, allow more spending on proteins, enable more diverse diets, boost their immune systems and potentially provide growers with a new source of income from the sale of surplus.​

To download our "Good Food to Fight Covid-19" pamphlet click here

Please Donate

Greyton Transition Town
FNB Caledon
Branch Code: 200212
Account Number: 62355982747
Swift Code: FIRNZAJJ
Reference: Valley Food 

OR through our Crowd Funding site:

​https://www.givengain.com/cc/valleyfoodgardens/

What is "Transition"

Transition is a movement that has been growing since 2005.  It is about communities stepping up to address the big challenges they face by starting local.  By coming together, they are able to crowd-source solutions. They seek to nurture a caring culture, one focused on supporting each other, both as groups or as wider communities. In practice, they are reclaiming the economy, sparking entrepreneurship, re-imagining work, re-skilling themselves and weaving webs of connection and support.  It’s an approach that has spread now to over 50 countries, in thousands of groups: in towns, villages, cities, Universities, schools.  One of the key ways it spreads is through telling inspiring stories, and that’s what we aim to do on this website.  We really hope you feel inspired to take part, we’d be honoured if you did.

Our Mission

The Greyton Transition Town initiative is a community-based organisation that seeks to unlock and cultivate the resourcefulness of the people of Genadendal, Greyton, Voorstekraal and Bereaville to better work together to build a resilient, sustainable and united community, redressing the past and walking into the future together, in the face of climate change and economic crisis.

What we do

Green Economy​

Youth Livelihoods

Education
WEDNESDAY LOCAL MARKET
On Wednesday mornings Greyton locals gather to sell their homegrown produce, chat around Aunty B’s delicious Rusks and sip on freshly ground SOA coffee. We munch on crispy bread baked by our own local baker, John, muse over Remi’s healing herbs, take home Riaan’s seedlings… The market is coordinated by Marshall Rinquest.

SWAP SHOP
How can we clean up our environment and also eat well? GTT makes sure that every two weeks locals in Greyton and Genadendal are able to bring their recyclable waste  in return for a voucher which they can swap for food,  stationery, fruit & veggies , shoes, clothes, etc.

NO PLASTIC BAGS
We have successfully lobbied the supermarkets to replace plastic bags and styrofoam with alternatives and we produce long-life bags, sold nationally, employing 6 women. Run by Nicky Vernon.

HOUSEHOLD GARDENS
​This is a project in cooperation between GTT and the Dept of Agriculture and starts in April 2019, where 20 community members, 10 from Genadendal and 10 from Greyton will be trained by Marshall to develop their own sustainable home gardens and worm farming.   

FERMENTED BIOFERTILISER PRODUCTION
We are experimenting with brewing fermented fertilisers as superfoods for plants, to boost growth in household gardens. Coordinated by Doug Reeler and Ashley Patience.
YOUTH JOB READINESS
With the Education Department this project offers an alternative pathway to learners, who have dropped out of the school system, to get a recognised basic education. Coordinated by Zynoe Patience.

SKILLS TRAINING
We provide learners with vocational and technical skills to enter the world of work with greater confidence and be more employable. Training in woodwork, leather work, jewellery making are offered by professionals from the community and job shadowing with businesses in the area.  Coordinated by Heidi Von Caues.

Networking

COMMUNITY LIAISON
We participate in several local initiatives, committees and forums to promote cooperation and collaboration, including the TWK Municipality.

THE SACLI SEVEN-YEAR PLAN
South African Christian Leaders Initiative (SACLI) in collaboration with GTT and TWKM are working on a national 7-year initiative, led by Fr. Edwin Arrison and Keith Radmore, to connect the principles of permaculture to the development of kinder, more resilient and sustainable communities.

​THE ECOLODGE
​The Ecolodge hosts groups (organically) from far and wide, supports the GTT and hosts its meetings. Coordinated by Janet Richards. For info and boookings:
Email info@ecolodgegreyton.co.za
Phone: 082 545 1240
Website: https://ecolodgegreyton.co.za/
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION   
​Three days a week Marshall Rinquest does environmental lessons during and after school in five local schools. Over the past seven years this very successful project has had huge impact on the awareness and involvement of children and teens, around sustainability, food security, permaculture, natural building, local fauna and flora etc. 

JOY2READ
A reading programme in 3 of our local schools to assist grades 1 to 4 learners to improve their reading and academic skills.  The programme is primarily run by volunteers from the community. Coordinated by Joan Buckley & Zynoe Patience.

BASKET (MANDJIE) PROJECT
A collaboration with Overberg Education Department this project empowers the parents of Grade R children to play educational games with their children for school readiness.

GREYTON ORIGIN CENTRE
The Greyton Origin Centre serves as a platform for us as a community to tell the story of our past, embrace the present and determine our future. Coordinated by Keith Radmore.

CONNECT2LEARN
This is a new initiative to encourage people with valuable knowledge or skills to share these with the community. To offer a talk or workshop contact coordinator Beulah Reeler 0837000304