Garden Africa Project - Spiral Gardens

Lovely spiral garden plans, developed by GardenAfrica a UK based charity, are designed 100 sq m family plots that will feed and medicate a family of 5 year round. Go directly to their site to hover over the garden and read the detailed plan (see link below).


The special features of this garden combine nutritional information, Permaculture principles and natural African farming techniques.

central spiral feature allows optimum spacing for companion plants to ward off pests, retains water and enables the gardener to harvest without expending too much energy, or damaging the beds.

design takes into account the need to harvest, store and sink water

relies heavily on recycled materials

oil drums used as compost bins

sunken drum used for collecting surface run off

water drums above ground ued for collecting roof run-off

tires and crates set in and filled with sand and dirt to create up slope steps and prevent erosion

plants specifically selected for fertilizer, medicinal, and nutritional requirements

low bound swale strategically placed for retention of water

African shade tree stategically placed

"GardenAfrica fosters self reliance by training people to teach others in their community how to grow food and medicinal herbs with the most effective use of water and other available resources, this is key to their acceptance in the area. GardenAfrica equips communities to plant and harvest their gardens without relying on further aid and inputs. GardenAfrica's role is to set up the projects, train community leaders, provide support, and capture and disseminate data, and then withdraw. Each project should ideally have the capacity to grow into a small business, and support continued training within each community. Thus the gardens are sustainable in every sense of the word." ~gardenafrica.org.uk

Focused in Southern Africa GardenAfrica has worked in schools and hospitals growing medicinal and nutritional gardens. They work directly with local partners when offering donor support to provide a more sustainable future to the people of the area.

To learn more about GardenAfrica or the garden project click on the link below:
Garden Africa garden project


To read the BBC article on GardenAfrica's garden project click here

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