Suburban Sprout: Just a farm girl at heart

Angela Fenn stands under an umbrella of sunflowers, Rusty the chicken at her feet, checking the progress of her massive marrows and her pomodoro tomatoes.

There's nothing odd about her thriving little farm, except that it's slap bang in the middle of suburban Durban North, across the road from a high school and around the corner from Checkers.

This is a backyard farm and Fenn is part of a growing movement of people who are replacing their lawns with vegetables, fruit, grains and herbs.

It's not just about saving money.

"We spend money on vitamins where we can actually grow our own healthy products. More importantly, we don't really know where the food we get comes from - grow it yourself and you know it's as safe and organic as is possible within a city," says Fenn.

Three years ago, Fenn, a clothing designer, moved with her family into this solid double-storey home. It had an empty courtyard and an area covered with shade cloth. Her curiosity was tickled. She initially tried to do her own thing but didn't have great success so she took a permaculture course at the Durban Botanic Gardens.

She also began reading. "Jane's Delicious Gardens sits at my bedside. I learnt how to enrich soil. I began using a system called jungle planting, which means intermixing plants that complement each other. The basil is next to the tomato and the wormwood is next to the rocket to chase away worms," she says.

Her "farm" is a lively little space. The two chickens root around, pulling up worms. The frogs - she's built a mini pond for them - come out at night to feast on slugs and beetles.

The sunflowers are her particular delight. "They grew from the hamster's petfood and attract birds and bees and create wonderful shade."

The garden is packed with strawberries, tiger zucchinis, leeks, aubergines, beetroot and celery. I spot a chimney-like structure filled with potatoes, and cucumbers making their way up homemade trellises.

Three months ago Fenn took a leap of faith and gave up her day job to concentrate on creating a backyard farming business. She now supplies produce to Durban's Earth Mother Organic, and herb bundles to a local organic delivery service called Eat Your Home. She has customers who pick up fresh produce bundles weekly.

Quantity is problematic so Fenn is using veggie and herb sales to create a microgreen and seed business. Seeds sprout in nooks and crannies around the house. I try broccoli sprouts that really do taste of broccoli and admire pea sprouts that, she assures me, taste like fresh peas. Mustard seeds sprout on window ledges, containers with wheatgrass fill an outside table and seedlings thrive under shade cloth on the veranda.

Some of the work is not for the fainthearted. At night, equipped with a head torch, Fenn can be found hunting for insects, chopping slugs in two, squashing beetles and bashing aphids.

"Going from a self-obsessed industry to a bountiful lifestyle and giving back to the earth and to people is a lovely change. I feel whole again," says Fenn.

• www.facebook.com/angelabackyardfarming

What is Permaculture?

The aim is to become producers, rather than consumers, using a responsible, ethical and holistic approach.

Permaculture ethics

• Care of the earth - of all living and non-living things: soil, plants, animals, atmosphere and water.
• Care of people - of basic needs such as food, shelter, education and satisfying employment.
• After we've taken care of our basic needs and designed our systems, we help others do the same.

Permaculture principles

Make sure that nutrients do not leave the garden, but are cycled through it. Turn kitchen waste and animal manure into compost.

Make the most of water by slowing down its flow and spreading it out.

Cultivate the smallest possible area, and make it as productive as possible .

This information comes from the Department of Biodiversity at the University of the Western Cape. www.botany.uwc.ac.za/envfacts/ facts/permaculture.htm