Residents of Walvis Bay are looking forward to the very first Narraville Spring Farmers Market that will take place over the coming weekend.
According to Chere-Lee Diergaardt, the organiser of the market, the event will host about 30 stalls where entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their products but also support a good cause. She added that the event would take place in the central park of Narraville and is slated to start at 10:00 on Saturday 2 September 2023.
“We have already booked 23 stalls and we have quite a few people for the community that are either making, baking or growing their own products that will be sold during the market day,” she said.
The main idea behind the market day was to eventually turn it into a monthly or weekly event that would support members of the community that has fallen on hard times.
“As far as I know, there has not been an event of this kind before, and it’s about time that there are such events to bring our people together and have something we can all be proud of,” she added.
Diergaardt explained that she believes that work being done by the Yahweh Down Syndrome Foundation is a worthy cause to support.
“The foundation was started by a family who adopted a boy with Down Syndrome. There wasn’t a school in Walvis Bay to cater to the specific needs of children with Down Syndrome, and the founders of the foundation decided to take matters into their own hands and started a school themselves. Because of the need felt by other parents of children with Down Syndrome, the Foundation is expanding and needs all the assistance they can get,” she said.
Diergaardt and her husband are no strangers to growing their own food. They dream of eventually owning their own homestead where they can grow vegetables and raise animals to become more self-sufficient.
“We are passionate about becoming as self-sufficient as possible especially now where times are tough,” she said
Diergaardt added that the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent rise in the cost of living prompted them to become more serious about becoming more self-sufficient.
“My husband and I plant our own fruit and vegetables and have successfully grown spinach, chillies, mielies, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, grapes, sweet potatoes and a number of herbs. We also keep chickens and ducks for eggs and meat,” she said.
Besides growing food and keeping poultry, the couple also make and sell organic compost. They also started a worm farm to produce vermicompost.
“We are currently setting up an aquaponic system with the aim to grow fresh produce such as celery and lettuce that we would eventually sell to members of the community or at market days like the one on Saturday,” she added.
local market.”
Diergaardt urged the community of Walvis Bay to become more self-sufficient and to create opportunities where people can help themselves or the people around them.
She called on all residents of coastal towns to make an effort to support the farmers market because it is for a good cause.
