One thing one generally doesn’t expect to see when entering a shopping mall is a vegetable patch, full of green, leafy edible plants.  Now picture them being grown vertically – a “Living Wall”… a vertical food garden.

That’s the fabulous sight that greeted me as I wandered in to Constantia Village yesterday morning to attend the launch of the new-look Woolworths food store (more about that another time) and of course I very quickly jumped in and planted my very own tomato seedling.

I think it’s an awesome idea… passing shoppers get to plant their own vegetable seedlings in recycled plastic cold drink bottles which are then fixed to a fence, gradually forming a living wall of green.

And, most importantly, it’s not just about the show – according to the press release I received today, all the vegetable and herb seedlings planted by the Constantia Village shoppers will be donated by the Woolworths Trust to Constantia Primary School, an under-resourced school near the centre.

Constantia Primary has a permaculture food garden and this seedling donation will be used to start their own nursery – to boost the sustainability of their food garden.

In a world where consumerism is king (especially at this time of year), it’s sometimes good to be reminded about the source of things, and I think this very simple but effective display does just that.

The Woolworths Trust “Living Wall” will be up until Saturday the 28th of November – so go ahead and get planting!