Entering the yard of a Tafelsig’s Magdalina Saralina is stepping into a tranquil piece of nature.
The 73-year-old great grandmother from Searidge Park transformed a sandy plot around her drain into a beautiful floral garden.
“This is my heart and soul. I love this garden,” she said.
The first thing Ms Saralina does every morning is have a cup of coffee at the table and chair beside her marigold, posy and carnation patch.
“Living in Mitchell’s Plain is like living in a concrete jungle, so I’ve created some greenery and nature for me, which my neighbours and friends also enjoy,” she said. “I find peace, joy and fulfilment working in my garden with my hands.”
Ms Saralina would like to involve the neighbourhood’s children in cleaning the field across from her home. She hopes to have some vegetables growing there within the next few months.
“We can do it by ourselves. We just need to put our shoulders to the wheel,” she said.
She said gardening does not take a lot of money because she harvests the seeds from the plants that are already growing.
Ms Saralina believes green fingers run in her family because her grandmother, Sophia Davids, had a famous garden in Belgravia, which people dubbed Lillydale Garden, more than 50 years ago.
