The transformation from a disused bowling green to a vibrant, beautiful, and nourishing Farm is well under way.To ensure OZCF's sustainability for years to come, we need to raise significant additional funding, and we are asking for your generous support. Please read through and look at the various options – from sponsoring a worker for a day to memorialising a loved one to making a major new part of the farm possible and more – and to see what might suit your interest, your means, and your sense of the value the Farm can bring. As we like to say, ‘If you eat, you’re in’ – meaning no one’s contribution can be too great or too small. Please forward this on with your endorsement to friends and colleagues who you think might be keen to see OZCF reach its full potential.
2. The transformation from a disused
bowling green to a vibrant, beautiful,
and nourishing Farm is well under way.
The dream of a community vegetable
garden in Oranjezicht has been shared
by numerous residents in Cape Town
for many years. Now, that dream is
being realised on an unused bowling
green from the 1950s whose deeper
roots reach back to 1709 as part of the
historic farm ‘Oranje Zigt’.
For hundreds of years this was the site
of the largest farm in the Upper Table
Valley, which grew vegetables and fruit
to feed the growing colony and supply
passing ships with essential produce to
the turn of the 20th century.
Today, the Oranjezicht City Farm
(OZCF) is re connecting Cape
Town to this neglected piece of
heritage. As a non-profit project
celebrating local food, culture
and community, OZCF is growing
vegetables, holding public
events and running education
programmes to help educate
Capetonians and their children
about food, environmental and
related issues, develop skills
among the unemployed, build
bridges across communities,
and champion under-utilised
green spaces in the city.
To sustain these activities and help the Farm reach its full potential,
OZCF needs the support of like-minded individuals, companies,
foundations and friends.
From bowling green
to bowl of greens
The Oranjezicht City Farm is located
on the corner of Upper Orange Street
and Sidmouth Avenue.
3. To ensure our farm’s sustainability for years to
come, we need to raise significant additional
funding, and we are asking for
your generous support.
As a community-based non-profit run by volunteers, OZCF is working hard to support
itself by growing and selling vegetables, compost, seedlings, t-shirts and more. Volunteers
are playing a major role in farming, education, communications and administration and already
dozens of people are giving of their time and energy. In the months and years to come this will be
enough to cover the core running costs of farming, but it will not be enough to pay for the full range of
educational and outreach programmes that will make the Farm such an important community asset.
Start-up funding was generously provided by the Madame Zingara group of restaurants to help
cover essential costs for the conversion of the bowling green. Other companies have contributed
pro-bono services, including CNdV Africa Planning and Design, MH&A Consulting Engineers,
Lema Civils Plant Hire, Derrick Integrated Communication, Reliance Compost, David
Hellig & Abrahamse Land Surveyors, Michells Wholesale Nursery and others.
With your help,
we are building
the future we want
4. “If you eat, you’re in.”
Absolutely everyone can
contribute. No amount
is too big or too
small.
Additional funding is needed right now to
install the irrigation system and to construct
the light timber pergola that will provide
shaded space for school groups and other
activities.
In addition, funds are needed to help acquire
valuable heritage and indigenous seedlings
and plants. We have the opportunity to have
cuttings from a pair of unique 300 year-old
grape vines growing on the pergola, and to
plant other heritage plants and fruit trees,
some of which come from the Company’s
Gardens dating back centuries.
We are also planning to farm indigenous
culinary plants – a first in South African
urban farming – working with experts
to source plants and develop cultivation
techniques so that tortoise berries, bitou
berries, lemon buchu and others grow
alongside the exotic carrots, turnips and
tomatoes.
Funding is also needed to install benches
and signage at the Farm to make it a more
accessible and enjoyable place for visitors,
and to develop and carry out a full education
programme that will link local schools,
community groups and organisations
with the activities and facilities
of OZCF.
What we
need right now.
5. Raspberry
Range:
Donors to date at this level: David Hellig &
Abrahamse Land Surveyors, Michells Wholesale
Nursery and Cape Contours Landscape Solutions.
Donations at this level will help construct a wooden
pergola for shade that will be a gathering space
for visitors, and will help source and plant the
indigenous culinary section of the Farm.
Donations of R10 000 and more.
Pomegranate
Portfolio:
Donations at this level will support an education
adviser to implement activities and curriculum-
related programmes for learners and teachers
from the area and beyond.
Donations of R5 000 and more.
Strawberry
Selection:
Donations at this level will help provide
interpretive signage around the Farm and
informational plaques on trees to enhance
the visitor experience.
Donations of R2 000 and more.
Cabbage
Collection:
It all adds up. Donations at this level will buy spades,
wheelbarrows, rakes, uniforms for the farm assistants,
sun hats, terracotta pots and bokashi composting
buckets for residents and restaurants so that we
help to reduce the amount of waste to landfill.
Donations of R100 - R1999.
All donations will be acknowledged on the OZCF website and in the
Annual Report and major donations will be recognised on site.
Asparagus
Assortment:
Donors to date at this level: The Madame Zingara
group of restaurants, CNdV Africa Planning and
Design, Lema Civils and Plant Hire, and Reliance
Compost.
Further donations at this level will help install the
irrigation system or pay for 2 farm assistants for
seven months.
Donations of R50 000 and more.
Mangetout
Medley:
Donors to date at this level: MH&A Consulting
Engineers and Derrick Integrated Communication.
Further donations at this level will help landscape
the pond complete with indigenous culinary water
plants and insect eco-system essential to organic
pest control.
Donations of R25 000 and more.
Contribution
OppOrtunities
6. It takes R150 a day to pay Straatwerk for one
farm assistant, giving dignity to unemployed
men and women by providing steady paying work
and an apprenticeship programme to become
organic farmers. R900 would pay a worker for
a six-day week and R3 600 for a month.
OZCF is also happy if you choose to pay your own
gardener to help, in return for on-site training.
Commemorate or memorialise your loved ones, your
business, or your muse by contributing to OZCF.
Limited opportunities are available for the following:
• Benches: R5000, R7500 or R10 000
• Trees: R2 000
We’re developing a membership programme in
return for a basket of benefits such as receiving
a box of seasonal produce each week, invites to
courses, talks and educational activities, and
discounts on gardening items. More on this
at a later stage.
Sponsor a
farm worker:
OZCF
Membership:
Plaques in honour
of family or friends:
other ways
to contribute
7. In recent years, under the stewardship of the
Oranjezicht-Higgovale Neighbourhood Watch
(OH Watch), a small group of residents has
worked to get a viable and sustainable OZCF
project defined, build community support,
attract initial funding, and clear the various
regulatory and legal hurdles. A small steering
committee is now moving the project forward,
and soon a Non-Profit Company (NPC) will be
established, led by a board of directors.
OZCF has its own bank account and strong
financial controls, and major contributors
are welcome to request a review of
organisational finances.
All farming is under the guidance of an
experienced organic farmer. Much of the
manual labour is provided through an
agreement with the NGO Straatwerk,
providing meaningful work and on-site
training to unemployed people in the City Bowl.
A garden not only preserves open space and
offers a respite from the quick tempo of urban
life, but also holds the potential to reach past
the vegetable plots and flower borders to the
larger community.
It can be a gathering place to bring people
together, strengthening relationships.
Ultimately, the garden is a catalyst for change,
improving the overall quality of life and even
reducing crime.
Key partnerships have been formed with a
number of departments in the City of Cape
Town, including Environmental and Heritage
Management and City Parks.
OZCF enjoys the support of a number of other
partner organisations, including Soil for Life,
Abalimi Bezekhaya, the Oranjezicht Heritage
Society, Cape Town Heritage Trust, City Bowl
Ratepayers & Residents Association (CIBRA)
and OH Watch.
Project
background
Beyond
gardening
OZCF
Partnerships
8. please
support the
oranjezicht
city farm
Funds can be paid in to the OZCF account.
OZCF finances will be presented at an annual AGM.
Account: Oranjezicht City Farm
Bank: First National Bank
Branch number: 201511
Branch name: Gardens
Account number: 62 390 59 3393
Account type: Current
Ref: Surname, OZCF Donation
Please email confirmation of your contribution to:
cityfarm@ozcf.co.za
See us online at www.ozcf.co.za
Join/observe/check in on the Facebook conversations:
facebook.com/OZCFarm
For further information please contact:
Sheryl Ozinsky
Mobile: 083 628 3426
Email: sheryl@ozinsky.co.za
Kurt Ackermann
Mobile: 083 508 1066
Email: cityfarm@ozcf.co.za
Tania Miglietta
OZCF Treasurer
Mobile: 082 807 0332
Email: tmiglietta@axxess.co.za
An undertaking like the creation of the Oranjezicht City
Farm takes a lot of effort, and it’s only possible when
many people get involved in ways big and small.
Only through the support and sweat of volunteers,
community members and kindred spirits has this been
possible and we are grateful from the bottoms of our
dirty boots to the tips of our green thumbs.
Photographers: Mervyn Bennun, Leigh Page, Sue Kramer & Sheryl Ozinsky.
