N3TC has been touching lives along the span of the N3 Toll Route for the past decade and it was therefore fitting to launch the N3TC Legacy Project this year which involved the Topsy Foundation.

The Legacy Project has focused on three communities that are plagued by poverty – Van Reenen, Grootvlei and Moholokoeng (Harrismith).  It was essential that the legacy would continue to benefit members of the communities for many decades to come and the Project therefore focuses on nutrition and education.

N3TC partnered with the Food Gardens Foundation to establish sustainable food gardens in the Van Reenen area; and to enhance the food gardens that exist in the Grootvlei area to incorporate fruit trees as a complementary source of food for the community.

Topsy has previously worked with Food Gardens Foundation to establish community food gardens as well as a food garden at our Sanctuary in Grootvlei.  The need was then identified to complement these food gardens with fruit trees.

N3TC supplied the necessary tools and 100 fruit trees to Topsy for distribution to the five communities that the Sanctuary serves.  A variety of fruit trees that would thrive in the particular weather conditions in the area were selected, which included lemon, peach, nectarine, orange, naartjie and apricot trees.

The fruit tree planting training, which included a food gardens refresher component into the session, included theoretical modules on interplanting, mulching, watering, labeling, record keeping, crop rotation and transplanting.

Thank you N3TC for your continued and invaluable support.