'Growing flowers was not going to cut the biscuit ' whereas growing food would be a skill for life.' Tim Ramsden teaches vegetable gardening to special-needs children at the Khanyisa School for upportive Education in Cape Town. The movie After Peak Oil shifted his view on gardens radically: 'The movie shows what happened in Cuba after Soviet withdrawal and the collapse of the economy. Organic farmers from Australia were brought in, and the country soon became self-sustaining through growing its own produce.' Inspired, he did away with flower-gardening at Khanyisa and prepared a vegetable garden and orchard to teach the children a skill that would serve them no matter what their circumstances later in life. The sole workers involved in digging the trenches, raising beds and building a pergola with netting to keep out guinea fowl have been him and the children.

Feeling rules over thinking

The children are from diverse backgrounds, often of hardship, and have different levels of learning disability. Tim's biggest challenge is to connect with their internal world. He believes in teaching with passion and loving-kindness, while giving the kids the containment they need. I followed the lesson from the classroom to the field. When a child wanted to crush a ladybird he re-directed the flow of the lesson and discussed this. It became a teaching opportunity ' on how ladybirds eat aphids, and on reverence for life. 'I'm growing with the children. Two mentors advise me on the organic and biodynamic farming side, while I learn through my mistakes. I have learned how important feeling is over thinking when dealing with a difficult child.' He transmits his passion for nature and gardening to the children. Longer-term he plans to write up his lessons in simple notes to go back into the community, and to include food preparation using the veggies grown. How does the gardening benefit the children? 'Firstly, they have to retain an idea and follow it through a process of growth over weeks and months. Some of the boys just want to dig, others ask endless questions: What is a Venus fly trap? How is a nasturtium an antibiotic?' Tim tosses a beanbag from one child to another ' each one naming a different vegetable on catching it. They have done moon planting and are building a shaduf, an ancient Egyptian device that moves water from one area to another. The idea was taken from the children's history class.

Eyes on the back of his hat

Tim has eyes painted on the back of his hat. He explains things in images from the children's world. 'Cover the seeds with soil as you would a baby with a blanket. Tuck them in gently.' The kids distract each other, but he holds them on the thread of his story. Lettuce and spinach are peeping out and he explains about growing potatoes in stacks of tyres so that they grow upward and take less space. There are many frustrations, including small resources, but he goes with the flow.