Ugly vegetables create a beautiful story

Joseph Tshepiso is an extremely industrious young man. At just 23 years old, he’s the driving force behind The Ugly Veg Company that encourages the members of Kromdraai township to grow and sell their own fresh produce.

A knowledge sponge, he’s acquiring myriad skills to do with growing, processing and selling of foodstuffs, and the more I talk to him, the more impressed I become with his knowledge and the operation he is running.

I’ve coaxed my old Triumph Bonneville motorcycle out to Kromdraai, near Nirox Sculpture Park in the Cradle of Humankind, to see what Ugly Veg, which has been running for just over a year, is about. I meet Tshepiso outside the brightly painted Kromdraai Café, where some tables are set up to make an outdoor stall. It’s still winter, with just a taste of spring in the air, so there’s only one farmer selling some kale. 

There’s also some plastic trays of capsules on the table, which contain seeds and spores collected by Tshepiso from indigenous trees, grasses and mushrooms. Kromdraai is on a popular cycling route, and the cyclists apparently buy these “wilding bombs” and toss them into the veld as they ride. When it rains, the capsules melt, releasing their seeds into the wet soil at just the right time. What a brilliant idea.

Before we start our tour, Tshepiso packs up the stall, weighs and counts the bunches of kale, packs them in some crates, puts them in a trailer and whips out a pad. There’s an app that tallies up the kale and produces a figure for their worth, and an invoice of R230 is generated for the farmer, who pockets it.

“Every bit of produce the people here grow is bought,” Tshepiso assures me as we set off up the slope behind the café. This potent incentive has brought about an explosion of allotments next to the township, which can be clearly seen on Google Maps.

Kromdraai Plot 26 township is like many others in South Africa; electrical pylons overhead that branch off to the shacks; some garbage in the streets through which mother hens guide their chicks; dusty streets with dongas and dogs; knots of people gathered in the shade. 

What distinguishes it are the several water tanks mounted on brick plinths, where a network of black plastic pipes spray water into the fields bordering the township, most of which bear crops in the early stage of spring growth. Some of the fields have tunnels to protect the crops from insects, birds and monkeys. 

Tshepiso proudly shows me his spotless home, the first he has ever owned, before we head out to one of the fields, where a teenager is busy digging in the soil. Nkoana Keketso, 17, from Steynrus, Free State, has dropped out of school due to his family situation — “it’s a long story” — and is trying his hand at farming for Ugly Veg. He’s just started, but he says he’s enjoying the quiet, and is looking forward to more training. 

A few hundred metres beyond the field is another township, where the zama zamas (illegal gold miners) reside near an abandoned mine. Some of the zama zamas have come to Kromdraai to try their hand at urban farming, says Tshepiso, and many of their families live and farm here in Plot 26. I ask if we can go to chat with them, but I’m told that the zama zama chief has to first give his permission or things could get dangerous, so we head back. 

As we pass deeper into Kromdraai Plot 26, I can’t help noticing that even the tiny yards around the shacks bordered by fences, washing lines and sheets of corrugated iron have bright green veggies growing in neat rows. Every spare foot is dedicated to cultivation. One plot has the biggest kale plant I’ve ever seen.

We stop and chat with another group touring the township. There are lessons to be learnt here. Kromdraai has become a demo model for city folk and those who are curious about what these types of initiatives can do. Ugly Veg is an initiative of U Can Grow which works with small farmers to create financial opportunities for selling produce as well as providing training and infrastructure.

I ask Thsepiso why he called the company “Ugly Veg”. He replies that it’s because Kromdraai Plot 26 is such an ugly township, but it produces the most amazing organic vegetables. The carrots may not grow straight (Kromdraai means skew), “but they taste really sweet”. 

Back at Kromdraai Café we hitch the trailer filled with kale to a Land Rover and drive up to the well-equipped and secured packing sheds, which is where the fresh produce is stored and processed. This is where I discover how much Tshepiso knows and does. Not only does he do stock-taking of the community’s produce on the app, he also directs its cleaning, sorting and packing. 

The kale he brought here will be made into juice; he also makes carrot and beet juice. Nirox is using the dried pulp left from making the juices as pigment for making paint. The fresh Ugly Veg produce is sold to the Culinary Centre, Food Lover’s Market, and to a number of top restaurants in the area. Nothing goes to waste; if it can’t be sold fresh, it is processed, frozen or dried. Even the water used for cleaning is recycled.

There’s a drying rack, a worm farm, compost makers and seedling beds, from which compost, soil nutrients and seedlings are taken back to Kromdraai township. A biochar soil additive from Stellenbosch University retains moisture in the soil. There’s even a small laboratory where Tshepiso produces his seed capsules, kombucha and the beautifully packaged Zama Zama Chilli Sauce. 

He knows how all this equipment works, how all the parts fit together, how the cycle of growth and composting feed each other. He tells me that in time, he will train other members of the community in the many skills he has acquired — but first, he needs to know how everything works himself. 

He explains that he gathered the knowledge to run this growing operation from U Can Grow co-founder Steve Carver, who comes out to Kromdraai every Friday from Johannesburg. He first met Carver three years ago, when he was busy digging a hole for a septic tank.

“He’s a great teacher, who gave me a chance,” Tshepiso says. “I see him as part of my family. He taught me everything I know.” Tshepiso doesn’t have much family himself: born in Brits, North West, he was raised by his grandmother. He dropped out of school after doing Grade 10, but he’s not letting that hold him back; in addition to the agricultural skills he is acquiring, he recently got a licence to drive trucks. 

On my way home I stop for coffee at Bidon Bistro, on the Restonic premises, where Ugly Veg Company has a stall. It’s not active now, but in summer mornings the venue is crammed with cyclists, who, through their support, have established a symbiotic relationship with the Kromdraai veggie growers. This symbiosis is boosted by the fact that Tshepiso — filled with his charismatic youthful enthusiasm — rides his own bicycle to the stall, and is becoming regarded as one of the cycling crowd. 

Garth Mes, manager of Bidon Bistro, says: “The Ugly Veg stall was set up because it’s a community thing; they are nice people, and they are passionate about their business and their community. There’s quite a few cyclists who come specially to Bidon to buy their juices. They add value to our business. They planted the seed for us to set up 100 allotments at Bidon in partnership with Keith Kirsten and Lifestyle Landscape College, for our patrons and the local community to grow what they want; mulberry trees, strawberries, a Japanese garden, a meditation garden, etc. It’s for city folk who don’t have the space at home to bring these dreams to fruition.”

Several other farmers in the area are contributing with various initiatives and by giving the small farmers useful things like extra fencing. The owner of the farm next to Plot 26, who prefers not to be named, says: “Ugly Veg is doing a fantastic thing — it has given the community self-pride and a sense of purpose, and I’ve been getting reports that crime and gender-based violence are dropping in the area.” Motivated by these reports, the local government is also stepping up, and is busy installing a borehole and irrigation system.

How U Can Grow works

U Can Grow (UCG) is the mother organisation that set up the infrastructure for Ugly Veg. It is a transformative organisation that is dedicated to reshaping the agricultural industry by adopting and promoting sustainable and regenerative farming practices. UCG establishes collectives of small-scale growers that together create economic scale. It strives to involve experienced, supporting farmers and connect smaller farmers into formal supply chains that help de-risk and micro-finance them.

UCG equips aspiring farmers with the tools and knowledge necessary to cultivate land effectively and sustainably. This includes providing seed boxes and a precision growth model that educates farmers on improving crop yields while regenerating the land. The emphasis is on biodiversity, water conservation and climate resilience, and using nature’s own processes to foster and sustain growth.

Carver says: “Consumers want to know the truth behind what they are eating. Was this food grown on a massive industrial farm with chemicals, or was it grown organically? When people choose us, they are supporting the growth of transformational farmers; their money is making a difference.”

UCG empowers individuals, families and communities by providing training and resources that create a deeper understanding of regenerative farming practices. Small farmers are incentivised through micro-learning, micro-jobbing, rewards and micro-financing, which creates a fully traceable value chain. This helps to encourage conservation and regenerative farming. Carver explains that UCG is not an NGO, it’s a business, and when it invests in places like Kromdraai, it needs the operation to succeed, both for itself and the small-scale farmers involved.

The focus is on sustainable profit, by cultivating a new generation of farmers who are successful and contribute positively to their communities and the environment. Their sustainable businesses grow the economy while nurturing the planet and its people. Carver says: “You cannot save the planet if no one is making money and people are starving. U Can Grow Africa is transforming people’s lives by including them in major supply chains for the first time.”

According to Carver, whose passion lies in developing entrepreneurs, small farmers don’t want to stay small farmers — they want to evolve. By developing a talent pipeline of exceptional farmers, the company is supporting their professional success. 

“When you combine business skills together with regenerative climate change skills, it suddenly means that innovation is in somebody’s hand. It’s exciting to create, foster and witness the process,” Carver said.

UCG’s journey: challenges, and what’s working

“We are small, and we are a commercial business, so we can only grow at the pace we can,” Carver says. “Other challenges we face are people wanting backhanders or bribes; we have politicians trying to bully us and claim our successes, constantly. We are sometimes faced with ‘having to ask permission’ just to grow a garden. But as we get bigger, it gives us more confidence. 

“For example, the Limpopo department of agriculture recently decided that they are going to work with us, at scale; we’re talking 150 hectares for growing chillies. The minute you have a portfolio of evidence, like Ugly Veg, you can use it to build on.” 

He adds that it’s also really difficult to sell new ideas to people, such as regenerative farming; there’s a massive amount of mining in South Africa, which is totally degenerative, and many farmers are still stuck in degenerative practices. 

What’s really working for UCG is its ability to use technology to scale, which works in different communities with different needs, in different biomes. Having packsheds that aggregate and buy each community’s produce is the “veld fire” that ignites sustainable growth, “because, quite simply, money works”. 

UCG is also developing landrace seeds: it’s taking 30 or 40 varieties of local seeds and cross-pollinating them, then seeing which ones have the least pests and grow the best. “We then grow a ‘Soweto’ seed, or a ‘Marikana’ seed or a ‘Maun’ seed, and develop seeds that grow best in particular areas. So it’s a combination of getting the soil right, the seeds right, and creating incentive by buying every crop that the small farmers grow,” says Carver.

His idea of “urban farming” is growing in a limited space, but he says it’s essential to understand how “slum farming” and the slum economy work, and using a very low-cost slum farming model works best in places like Kromdraai.

“We are building an army of regenerative farmers, who are healthier and better educated, who are learning to make money so they can be future taxpayers. We’re taking people off social grants into dignified livelihoods. This is how we are building this country — from the bottom up, not from the top down.”

Other UCG initiatives in Johannesburg —  informal reclaimer recycling hubs

U Can Grow is always looking for partners to work with; at its packshed in Marikana, it has partnered with the Mining Development Agency; it has partnered with the African Climate Foundation on regenerative farming; and another partner is The Great Oven, which builds giant community ovens and sends them to places of need, such as Beirut. 

In Joburg, UCG has partnered with Urban Surfer on informal reclaimer recycling hubs, to focus on creating commercial opportunities and livelihoods for waste reclaimers within the waste value chain, and to ensure that recyclables are reintegrated into the circular economy. 

The hub that I visited is based in Parktown. It has, in the few months that it has been running, created employment for seven waste reclaimers. What was once an informal reclaimer camp is now extremely organised, with a wooden fence surrounding the sorting bays, and a bungalow with bunk beds that provides dignified accommodation for the seven waste reclaimers working there. There’s also water supplied from a neighbour’s borehole, internet for their phones and basic cooking facilities. The entire site will soon be levelled, paved and secured with Clearview fences.

The Urban Surfers’ waste collection trollies each have a 200kg capacity and built-in trackers that provide monthly reports on the routes and waste collection data of the waste-preneurs. This is used to report back to the programme and the team leader to ensure the selected parties are using the opportunity productively. The waste they reclaim is sorted and weighed in accordance with the waste type; for example, plastics are separated from cardboard. 

Onsite is a solar-powered baler, which reduces the volume of waste and ensures that the site remains tidy, while the baled waste is sold to waste off-takers, which ultimately finances the hub. 

An unanticipated development that happened organically is that other waste reclaimers are now starting to sell their waste to the Parktown hub, which has meant the money generated on-site has gone up from R8 000 a month to around R50 000. 

U Can Grow is installing a worm farm at the Parktown base to turn organic waste into compost. Already on site are UCG “reels” used for growing vegetables, which effectively retain moisture and produce high nutrition yields for the reclaimers.

This story is part of an urban farming series in The Green Guardian. Watch this space!