Saneliso grew up in rural Mberengwa, Zimbabwe, where she was taught the importance of food security. She believes in African solutions for African problems. She moved to Sweden from the UK to put her researched skills into practice and action after being disappointed with people who did not take food security seriously. In a space of a year, the links below show the possibilities, and there are no excuses when it comes to food security and farming. Preparation will give a good yield. Saneliso hopes to purchase her own farm in Sweden, where she will have exchange programs. Growing our own food is a currency that can be handed to future generations. It takes love, hard work, and care when you have land, even container gardens – seed and water to grow our own food and live a healthy life. Food as medicine keeps the doctor away!
“Use what nature provides for free including organic matter instead of chemical fertilisers and spraying chemicals. We grow enough for the wildlife to also eat as they are great help in our garden, without most of them we wouldn’t have any harvest..” – Saneliso
The move to Sweden
August 4th, 2019, I moved to Sweden from the UK and started an amazing journey of trying to mostly live off the land. We rent a lovely home on an acre of land, but hope to soon get our own little place. Our rent is extremely affordable, and as a thank you to our landlord and family, I thought it would be great to improve the garden with my own simple indigenous African ideas. My idea was to work with mostly little to no money. The focus is on using what nature provides abundantly for free… nature provides for all our needs, not wants.
I started by trimming bushes to create a bigger garden, and as I have always been interested in basket weaving, I thought, why not make my very first weaving project larger than life? The keyhole raised beds and dead wood beds were born. I learned the basics on YouTube, and the rest was by trial and error.
Alongside this, we were also putting rainwater harvesting structures into place, dug a 1000-liter lined pond, and planted strawberries on the pond wall’s sloping side. We knocked in a metal pipe into the pond wall that was of no use and put a hose as an overflow that waters different beds. We bought 2 x 1000-liter water tanks. We already had some big water containers used to water livestock. We drilled overflow holes to attach hoses that are left in various beds when it rains; no water ever leaves our garden. We also mulch a lot as another rainwater harvesting system.
I used a lot of stones in my garden designs because we have lots of them. We use mostly the no-dig method wherever possible. Potatoes require digging, but it’s very hard work with stone and tree roots everywhere. We practically live in a dense forest.
My motto is to use what nature provides for free, including organic matter instead of chemical fertilizers and spraying chemicals. We grow enough for the wildlife to eat, as they are great helpers in our garden. Without most of them, we wouldn’t have any harvest.
We grow at least 70-75% of our food, enjoying fresh produce, and preserving the rest through drying, freezing, and other methods. Our yield increases year by year, and we share our abundance with friends and neighbors.
Our garden is thriving with a variety of fruit and berries, including some that were already here and over 30 berry bushes received from friends and neighbors at no cost. Our goal is zero-cost food production and food security. We achieve this by saving our seeds, purchasing heirloom seeds only when necessary, and promoting seed diversity. I believe in seed freedom and give away many of our saved seeds, as I don’t think seeds should be bought or sold.
The past five years have been a dream come true, proving that it’s possible to grow and design a garden with little to no money. Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s with limited financial resources taught me that we were only poor in money, not in ideas, innovation, and determination. I believe that adopting a ‘can-do’ attitude and avoiding dependency on NGOs and a poverty mindset are key to achieving seed freedom and food security.
Outdoor Cooking Area
Building a Thriving Outdoor Cooking Area without Breaking the Bank
I’m thrilled to share my journey of creating a functional and beautiful outdoor cooking area using natural materials and minimal expenses. With winter approaching, I’ve added a thin layer of cement to weatherproof the structure, repurposing cement initially bought for another project. The total cost so far? $£€0.00!
Nature’s Generosity
Mother Nature has provided us with an abundance of resources, and it’s up to us to tap into them. By embracing this mindset, we can build stunning homes, stoves, and outdoor spaces without overspending. The key is to distinguish between needs and wants, recognizing that “poor in money is not the same as poverty of mindset!”
From Mud to Masterpiece
I’ve rediscovered the joy of working with mud, reminiscent of my childhood days. This experience has inspired me to create cooking utensils from scratch, a new challenge I’m eager to tackle. The outdoor cooking area has evolved into a multi-functional space, featuring:
- 4 cooking plates
- Oven
- BBQ
- Braai pit
Evolution and Innovation
Initially, I planned to add a chimney, but then I thought, “Why not save energy by designing the top of the oven as another cooking plate?” This innovation has opened up new possibilities, including transforming the space into a rural bakery and outdoor restaurant. With zero startup costs for infrastructure, this concept can grow and evolve as the business expands.
Timeless Principles for Success
The most successful entrepreneurs have proven that starting with little to no money can lead to remarkable achievements. By embracing this mindset and leveraging natural resources, we can build thriving businesses and sustainable living spaces that benefit both people and the planet.
Join me on this journey, and let’s explore the possibilities of sustainable living and creative entrepreneurship!
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The move back to UK from Sweden
Life is a wonderful and precious journey that meanders and takes us through its twists and turns. We can complain and moan about some of the twists and turns, or we can embrace the whole journey as a blessing with love and appreciation. Life does not owe us anything. Life is what we make of it. Should life give us , we can always make lemonade.
2019: I moved to Sweden, to a completely new country, learned the language, and embraced life – even the cold, snow, and long sub-zero temperatures. The Swedes joke that it’s not cold; it’s just that you’re wearing the wrong clothes. For sure, one has to learn quickly how to dress. Layers and more layers of clothes, I found, were the top secret. I learned so very much, and mostly my best and favourite teachers were my landlady and landlord’s little children and their friends, who took me under their wing to teach me Swedish, skiing, building a snowman, and making snowmen in the snow. They really took their job of teaching very seriously, and we did most of the teaching and learning in the garden, growing food – from fixing the soil to planting and harvesting, to the children digging up the potatoes, washing, peeling, and cooking chips/fries on the fire. Children are so very pure in mind, body, and spirit; they are also so honest and tell it as it is. At the time, Hugo was 3, going on 4, and I would watch this little person zoom past me on skis, so confidently. Did I mention I mostly fell in the snow? With Swedish, he was a very strict, no-nonsense teacher and didn’t mince his words when correcting me.
After five years in Sweden, I have now moved back to the UK. As one gets older, one realizes the importance of family. The downside with Sweden was having no family, nor did I ever meet any fellow Zimbabwean countrymen there. COVID-19 was also a wake-up call for me and many. With the lockdowns, I didn’t see my daughters or the rest of the family in the UK for over two years. One of my daughters fell seriously ill with COVID for two weeks, and there was nothing I could do. Even after COVID, because of work, I only got to see my daughters twice a year, and when they came over, I was working.
Finally, in September 2024, I moved back to the UK to live with my daughters, and it’s great to be back. Yes, I miss Sweden and the people, too, for in Sweden, the soil, land, and people there taught me so very much in my journey through life.
This year, I had grown more than ever – even peanuts – and my former landlady and friend sent me a picture of peanuts. Now I know that our humble Zimbabwean peanut can grow in Sweden, probably in the UK too. You can bet I will be growing them. I started them indoors in Sweden.
Our plan as a family is to get a smallholding in Wales with 3-5 acres or more if possible. Properties are not cheap in the UK, so let’s see what happens.
At present, we are in a rental contract for six months that can be a rolling contract until we find something. After selling our little house in Birmingham, the girls put an offer on a property in Wales two three months ago, but the sale fell through for some reason. Renting for a while whilst taking our time to look for our forever home made sense. In the rental, we are not allowed to plant anything 😒 .
My sister’s garden
I spent a week with my younger sister up north in England, and whilst there, we gardeners must always be gardening. My sister has lupus, and though she loves gardening, it’s a bit difficult for her. She has been growing in pots and containers. With my sister’s garden, we prioritized improving the soil first, suspecting it was built on compacted former farmland. So I got stuck into tidying up her garden and fixing the soil a little.
I began by weeding, then purchased two 100-liter bags of half-rotted bark/wood chips. I incorporated kitchen waste, paper, cardboard, cow manure she had on hand, and plants removed from the garden.
Next, I dug up sections of soil, filling the trenches with layered organic matter, watering, and topping with soil and a final layer of organic material. By spring, the soil should be crumbling like a biscuit.
I also:
- Planted flower bulbs
- Used leftover homegrown potatoes and some older ones for next year’s harvest
- Transplanted her green vegetables to the newly prepared garden
- Utilized the existing wooden fence/wall to create a trellis for grapes by running three wires
- Demonstrated the benefits of vertical gardening in small spaces
- Created a small lawn patch where local kids often jump to retrieve their ball
The garden’s potential is now unlocking, and with these changes, it will thrive.
“Don’t you just love the power of seed saving and sharing? These are mine from the seeds I got from you. I guess mine are even bigger than the ones on your picture. From my farm, it pays to grow your own food.” – Grateful Kenyan friend living in Sweden
