There is a garden in the heart of Mpophomeni, a township just outside Howick in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, filled with organic vegetables, flowers, herbs, seedlings and compost heaps. And, if locals are to be believed, it is the place of legendary vetkoek. Once a month, Vetkoek Friday attracts people eager to savour 47-year-old Ntombenhle Mtambo's delicious vetkoek with a broad-bean curry and a rainbow salad.Two years ago the garden was an empty piece of unloved land, a dump site for plastic bottles, garbage bags and builder s' rubbish.Mtambo saw its potential about 10 years ago and began making informal inquiries.story_article_left1But it took eight years to convince the municipality to give her permission to clean up the rugby-field-sized plot and turn it into a garden that would not only feed the sick and poor, but become a lively business that today supplies high-quality organic produce to restaurants, hotels, shops and surrounding communities.Mtambo runs a monthly pop-up restaurant that has become popular with locals and tourists, and also manages to squeeze in permaculture training workshops.Permaculture is a system of agriculture using the patterns found in nature to promote sustainability. Those who know Mtambo call her the Queen of Permaculture.Her determination to create this food bounty has had other spin-offs - her recipes have appeared in two cookbooks and in September she travelled to the Slow Food conference in Italy, held every two years.Ten years ago she worked as a volunteer at the local clinic, caring for those with HIV.She learnt to plant the "old-fashioned way", as she calls it, and when she visited the sick would take her produce and cook for them. She also began showing people how to create door-sized veggie gardens.In 2010, Mtambo was employed by the Midlands Meander Education Project to help schools establish food gardens and as part of her job was sent to Cape Town-based NGO Seed, where she learnt basic permaculture."Permaculture is the best way to save our planet. We copy nature, we do not use pesticides and there is no waste," she said.Today, the plot is chock-a-block with produce. She provides a burger outlet with lettuce, Dovehouse Organics farm shop with fennel, and Oaklands Country Manor, an upmarket, farm-based guesthouse in Van Reenen, with beetroot and cabbages.full_story_image_vleft1Caroline Bruce, who runs Oaklands, said it began its permaculture project two years ago, which included creating food gardens in the nearby village. "Ntombenhle did the initial training and comes back periodically to help us maintain. We often buy from her. She is a remarkable woman."The garden was the inspiration for a new cookbook, Mnandi: a taste of Mpophomeni. Compiled by Nikki Brighton, it is an ode to fresh, seasonal eating and features recipes of members of the Mpophomeni Conservation Group, a loose collective of food growers, seed savers and environmental activists, all motivated by Mtambo's garden.Brighton said the garden had become an icon. "It is where the group meets, it is like our head office. Ntombenhle has been very influential in the township. The gardening bug has spread, thanks to her. She is an exceptional example of what can be achieved."..