Tamsyn Meyer — Director, Environmentalist, Sustainability Advocate

right now what's involved as we do each and every Monday at this time and my special guest in studio this evening Tamsin Mayer. Hello Tamsin. Hi David how are you? Good good good so I'm just reaching all over the place and trying to get myself organized here. Tamsin is from SA horticultural products and why would I want to talk to somebody about that? Because you know what I'm a bit of a hippie and I live in a plot and I came across Tamsin when we went to go and get some soil and bits and pieces and I just thought this is absolutely wonderful but you're not just from SA hort, you're a director there but I mean you also you've got many other passions so let's start off tell me tell me a bit about Tamsin we did Tamsin grow up. I grew up in Johannesburg David. I said you're a Dover girl okay all right that's okay I mean we can forgive you for that I'm a Benone boy so you know East Rand yay represent and all of that oh what's a Benone? No. East Rand. Okay we won't go into details because people yeah it could I don't know back pain maybe anyway but you never started off with the idea of getting into horticultural products I mean you started off studying accounting you said correct I did and then and I've always been passionate about gardening and interested around fertilizers and how things work and just always enjoyed biology and things around how things work because when I when I met you you know if you if you'd said to me then hello I'm actually you know I do book keeping and accounting and stuff I get I would have gone there is no way and yet you do and it's and it's absolutely fascinating and it's it's become a bit of a passion of yours hasn't it? I'm completely passionate about this industry it really has become a passion of mine it's it's a driver it's it's something that is up and coming it's a sustainable market it's the way of the future I think I think it is I watched a really scary documentary the other day about this the state of the earth and in and around American farms and and viable earth and the fact that they reckon that in I think they said something like in the next 20 years they're gonna have total failure there because they keep putting chemicals and chemicals and chemicals and the soil is dying and I always went sand is sand but since I've developed this interest in it there's so much more there's so much more and you are correct about 2050 we're gonna be without food they say wow if something isn't done drastically so my little my little gardening on the plot thing I could I could be onto a good thing here you definitely aren't a good thing and I gotta tell you and we're gonna get into this during the during the course of this discussion but when we pop through to go and see terms and there was a there was a couple of things that that I wanted to get the one thing I still don't know what the correct name for it is it a is it called a jiffy pod or a jiffy what a jiffy pellets a jiffy pellet now I was told that these are the things if you want to plant seeds and get them to grow this is the thing and I was like okay so we got a few quite quite a few and I promise you it is the most fantastic thing in the world like we planted a bunch of different seeds in the minute you know the coolest part though is they come compressed and then when you put water in there like swell up and then you just pop the seed in and I promise you it makes things germinate like crazy 99.9% success rate with the jiffy pellet you told me that and I was like yeah huh I want to see this I want to see so I counted and you were right if we lost one of them you know and this was this is stuff we've had problems germinating before and just I think because of the because of the soil and everything and the nice thing is once it's now grown you just take that whole thing and pop it in the ground and it's done and you know it was amazing so we're gonna get on to that but one of the other things that you do and that you are also very interested in is hydroponics yes that is one of my very big passions and then we move on to something which I am hydroponics fascinates me it scares me but I want to do it and then aquaponics where you've got the fish involved as well is absolutely I mean it's unbelievable the stuff that I've seen people doing so I don't even know where to start where should we start can I start can I jump in wherever I want you absolutely up to you there's too much terms and there's too much up to terms it was was kind of you know she looked at me a bit stranger and I said it's an hour and I said no no it's gonna flower bar and I'm already thinking there's not gonna be enough time in this this this entire discussion talk to me about some of the other things you say you're passionate about sustainability now when we talk sustainability are we talking in our earth I'm talking about in our earth I'm talking about in our country I'm talking about in our water systems I'm talking about everything to do with the way that we live at the moment and we're not living a very sustainable life right now and that filters through to everything but I'm mainly seeing it's you know that's just on on one hand but if we go to the soils and we look at as you said the farms in America yeah the same thing has happened here you know the the the land has been so overworked and not enough has gone back into the land into the soil and what's happened is that that ground is degraded to such a point that the the quality of the food that you're getting today they say you'd have to eat something like 27 apples to get the same amount of nutrition that you would have got in the 40s yeah I can one apple I can believe that and then you know and then we as consumers always confused because you know then then it's it's organic and it's this and it's that but then you worried about how organic it is and I remember when when I was growing up my grandmother had a tiny little house but in just about every little house around us people had a fruit tree in the backyard and they were growing their own vegetables and this was got got me started on my journey is is the vegetables I remember eating as a kid they don't taste the same anymore well they all taste the same now well exactly like water am I who am I gonna upset when I said I don't care it's one of the things I'm famous for speaking or infamous for speaking my mind foot in mouth disease so I watched all of this and then I got very very interested in in this concept of living soil because it never struck me that soil is a living entity and it's and it's an entity that needs to have a lot of things happening in it in order for us to grow plants vegetables etc etc and then I started off and one of the first things I did was I started off a compost heap so you know everything got separated grass-cutting food etc etc but for somebody like me who suffers just a teeny bit from impatience composting takes a long time it does so you have to have patience and we're a nation of we're a world of instant gratification exactly exactly so I then went I can't wait I don't want to wait okay it's now been going for a year so now we're starting to get that that whole cycle happening but I couldn't wait a year until I grew everything it was just not going to happen and that's where we came across you so first of all Jeff you pellets rocked I don't know what's in them I think good stuff she makes it sound so simple but it's not I guarantee you and then you have amongst the many products and it's I think we should talk about some of the products that you do carry but the one that that I bought from you was literally it's called living soil and I was like a bit skeptical and I mean we did buy a few bags but I was like okay let's see if this is as good as they say it is and well the result is you're sitting here now that's that's the result of this stuff because my giddy aunt in in the small area that we have we planted lettuce tomatoes what else we had beans going there spinach what else I didn't do so well I didn't do so well with the celery I think I missed something with the celery and my cabbages didn't want to cabbage they just kept on growing and growing and growing so I got massive leaves but nothing in the middle it's quite sad but cucumbers I got cucumbers for days and we grew peppers and we grew what else what others a jalapeno chilies yes beautiful when yes oh yes many different kinds of letters lettuce do you know you probably do lettuce has a taste I never knew that until we grew our own yeah it was the most amazing thing and I promise you with with with what I do because I'm involved in I do a lot of corporate training stuff obviously the radio stuff the podcasting so it's very digital okay and it's it's a high stress pressure environment getting out and about and getting back into the soil and getting your hands dirty and when I was talking to this about this to a friend of mine they were like yeah but it smells it actually doesn't it's got a beautiful smell you know I don't know I don't know what people think that it has to but it smells beautiful that soil that we got from you yes a living soil and some may have an a living soil is a generalized term for for us for soil yeah that has living organisms in it mm-hmm so soil has an ecosystem of its own it's got little microscopic worms and microbes and bacteria and microsia and all sorts of different things and all this is there to basically give the plants nutrition so that we get the nutrition hmm I mean that's the bottom line of why you would want to have a living soil and because all of that nutrients that are that are so rich in that soil would then be go into into the the fruit hmm the most amazing thing that I noticed is when I'd tried tried growing vegetables and stuff before in just in normal like ground dirt from the house kind of thing number one they didn't grow as well germination which was really not good number two they got attacked by various insects and I don't know if this is something about the living soil these plants that I've now been growing no insect damage whatsoever as a healthy as can be and every day I just sort of get up and I go and check is there any bugs in here nothing lots of bees lots of bees which made me very happy that makes me happy as very very happy that's gonna be my next project I'm going to I'm going to start is it I want to start keeping bees I saw something the other day I think they did it on this radio station with in fact it was was the other Naton mix where they're talking to these like be rescue people where they'll they they now go and remove hives that people don't want and rehome the bees and everything because that's also a vital vital part of our entire ecosystem there is a reserve in cradle of humankind for bees mm-hmm a whole nature reserve just wonderful dedicated to bees I've got I've got sustainability I live in a big plot so you know I can do a couple of bees there no problem no problem but is is that a thing about living soil if you give the plants the proper nutrients they're able to have their own defenses absolutely that that is when you when you go into a when you're using fertilizers and manures and everything that's where you tend to see your insects you will get insects in a living soil it's alive there are insects in it but those pests yeah if the soil is healthy and your plants are healthy you won't have the pests which was I mean to me it was amazing because it literally the stuff grew that the tomato plants I in my entire life I've never seen anything that is grown that big and that tall and fruited that much and it's only what the bed is only probably about 12 18 inches deep but filled with this living soil and was it easy this is the easiest thing in the world man I felt like a proper proper gardener when I was doing that because literally I mean we got those little trades from you put the jiffy pellets in there bang the seeds in there within seven days ten days at tops this thing we're growing beautifully bang them into the soil done done now then all we literally did from there on in was just water it I also got I've got a got a little worm farm going at home and with the laziest worms you've ever met in your life so on the odd occasion that I do get any worm tea out of there then I just put that in there as well but yeah I need to I need to speak to these worms of mine I don't know somebody said I can put coffee grounds in there I think I might do that maybe they'll perk them up a little bit does it fantastic tomorrow my worms are getting coffee do they have a thing that type of coffee they like okay my special guest in studio from SA horticultural products is Tamsa mayor that will be having a chat to Tamsa a little bit more because I want to get into the hydroponics and the aquaponics and and just the shore side of it is brilliant if there are any questions anything you'd like to ask Tamsa and you can SMS us on 4 1 3 4 8 those SMS is charged at 1 around 50 otherwise whatsapp us 0 8 4 8 double 2 0 9 3 8 0 8 4 8 double 2 0 9 3 8 we'll be back with more green fingers and green finger stuff I love it with my special guest in just a bit my special guest in studio who is actually so nice she let me stuff up her business name twice and then only corrected me thank you for being gentle with me SA horticultural supplies is Tamsa and mayor and we've been talking about this this living soil just before the break is that is that something do you make that up how does it I mean it comes in beautiful 30 liter bags but is that something you put together or do you work with a business partner mm-hmm and the product was manufactured yeah and created by a very clever person yeah you put the whole thing together and I just really loved what he was doing and decided to put my name behind his brand yeah how do you how do you keep up I would imagine and maybe its fingers crossed off to tonight demand is gonna go through the roof I mean there's there must be a debon for it oh yes there's a month and and you guys are growing as a business all the time with with the the Jiffy pellets with that what other stuff do you guys have at SA horticultural supplies well a little bit about the business we're actually a importing sourcing company and we started that way and then we went into the horticultural line and started importing different mediums now when I say medium that's anything it's it's a soil this medium so soil is something that's living soreness it's not a liver there's nothing in it it's it's clean so the product called coco peat which comes from India okay Lanka yeah no about that yeah use an agriculture any sort of growing and then we import another product called expanded clay now that people might not know about which is used in aquaponics family enough and hydroponics hmm that's it's it's mostly used in the aquaponics space yeah in the beds and it's a it's a it's a very nifty little product it's basically what it is is it's it's it's got little microbes inside it little little holes yeah and all the little microbes attached to these little porous holes inside the expanded clay yeah and create their own little ecosystem going on inside each little pebble and they then also obviously eat whatever is around expel and do all those good things absolutely and there's there is it's basically you grow in this these little pebbles mm-hmm and you would you would be surprised they they hold water they are extremely successful mm-hmm and it's clean there's no dirt basically there's no flashing of your system only when if at the end of season or there's a problem there's no cleaning of your system basically everything just runs through there's no sand there's no sediment and your plan goes straight in that's fantastic you see there's too much to talk to you about because one of the things I noticed and I had I met a very clever person a little while ago and they were talking about biochar now in your soil you've got biochar as well and apparently this is also like the bees knees when it comes to microorganisms and what it does and how it does all of this is in your soil and I can't I can't speak highly enough of it you've been kind enough to to offer us a price for tonight correct what are we gonna give away five bags of the soil so five bags and let me tell you it is worth it worth it worth it how is somebody gonna get hold of the soil do they need to come through to you to collect it or we can organize to have it delivered depending where they are okay so you've got to be in the Joburg area for this one because we got listeners from all over the place so let's say Joburg area for this one absolutely unless you are prepared to pay your own career fee if you're in Krizalina or Cape Town or something like that I think it's only fee because that's definite you don't want to miss it okay I'll give you the question towards the end of the show my whatsapp plan is going nuts already we'll ask you something towards the end of the show okay let's get on to something that fascinates me I don't think I'll ever get away totally from from growing with with this living soil now purely because I get so much satisfaction out of it and I love getting my hands in it and everything but I am fascinated by hydroponics because you know it sounds it sounds brilliant but then part of me is going but that's not surely that's not organic and is it organic and how do you do it and then I was thinking it's got to cost a ton of money and I thought you know what Tamsin is a very very busy lady the only way I'm gonna get these answers to invite her onto the show so tell me about aquaponics hydroponics rather what am I talking about hydroponics yes aquaponics is something else all right so for those a lot of people know what hydroponics is yeah but for those who don't it's it's irrigating with water the roots with water with a solution of dissolved nutrients mm-hmm and minerals and irrigating the roots without a medium so with no basically it's it's the roots that are immersed in this liquid and that gives it all the nutrients it needs you would use a soil is medium to grow in and a soil is medium would be a cocopeat expanded clay perlite vermiculites you would grow in in a soil is medium and you would actually use the water as your vehicle to to move the new trip the nutrients around okay now just off the top of my head as somebody who really doesn't know a lot about this sounds like a very water wise way to grow things is it because it's a it's almost a closed loop isn't it it is a closed loop and aquaponics you reusing your water yeah and hydroponics you using clean water because you you as your you you you feeding nutrition into the into your tank yeah yeah and you putting your fertilizers in and all that you need with your water mm-hmm that thing goes through the through the system and the plants take off the whatever nutrients that they want to take out of the the water yeah and if it's a a clean system if you know what I mean we don't have lots of soil and everything going through and some people you you reuse that water as a closed system yeah or some people depending on this way you've got your system set up that don't reuse their water yeah but but then could I use that water to water my existing veggies and you would you would reuse your water so it's like a jewel and I would be doing water changes every now and then yeah okay and where is it an aquaponics system you don't really do water changes all right now now is it organic to grow hydroponically yes if you use organic nutrients so do you sell organic nutrients yes we do okay I'm fascinated I need to know how to do this do you do talk people through how to do this because I know you this is something you're very passionate about absolutely I am um I do I speak people I work with people we go through solutions we are more a business to business facing business yeah and then we offer consulting and those sorts of services as well in terms of people who want to learn to grow and just like me a little backyard gardener I mean yes you know people say refer to the internet but I like talking to a person would you would you be in a place to help or to should have say if I came to you in terms and I need to know about this would you say okay David we can supply you with all the bits but go and speak to so-and-so to show you how to put the bits together I know a lot of experts in a lot of different areas okay I'm an expert in certain I wouldn't actually say I'm an expert I'd know a lot of in certain areas yeah yeah there are a lot of areas I don't know anything about some areas that know a little bit about yeah when I don't know enough I call in somebody who does and believe me I'll know who they are yeah so okay um so so take me take me through I mean I've read somewhere that literally if you get a one of those those plastic storage container things those 25 liter ones and then I've seen people get this PVC popping and then they get a pump and everything gets connected and bang before you know people have got things growing there is it as simple as that it is as simple as that once you understand how it is all put together it it's nothing to put it together it takes you a couple of hours depending on the size of your system and you can have systems that you buy already and have them installed we supply systems what's exciting is we are also expanding and it's going to be supplying parts for the systems so we've always done that the end caps and the pipes yeah but on more specialized projects as well you know specialized parts specialized the things that need to be made and we really gonna go in depth in the hydroponic side of things and really look at a complete solution okay so literally you're gonna be the one-stop shop for this now yes you said that you do it for for larger for larger people but but members of the public can come and purchase from you I mean we and they can call for advice and we'll always put them in you know I'll I can't help I'll put them in touch with the right person or more than likely I'll be able to help listen if Tamsin can help me I think she can help anybody because I think when we walked in there like I need those funny little things that somebody's told me about that that like expand and you stick plant seeds in them and she knew exactly what I was talking about then I seen but then I believe I have to do soil I mean I mean there I didn't I didn't know what I was talking about in Tamsin was like calm down that's what you need that's how you do it and it was literally like that okay we drove away our car was groaning because it was a little car it's quite full of soil but I was amazed at just how and that's what struck me and that's why I wanted to talk to you just how helpful and an informative you guys are at SA horticultural supplies I mean it is really I mean I can see it's your passion it's going above and beyond but when it comes to is hydroponics going to be the way for it because I've seen some rather interesting things about people growing on rooftops now and all sorts of things like that in the CBD and supplying restaurants for example there's a lot of gardens that's what you're referring to yeah down in the precincts and stuff in Joburg absolutely they are very exciting project that aquaponics project that just went on top of East Gate roof I don't know if you've heard about no really yes done by business partner vows uh-huh and and hydroponics is the way of the future you know as I mentioned she with the food the food scarcity and hydroponics is an emerging market it's you're gonna get a ten times greater yield in a hydroponic system then you would get in a soil system so my like 200 tomatoes I've just grown ten times yes holy guacamole Batman it's the speed and the efficiency which which leads me onto another one of my great passions which is as I mentioned earlier in the program and sustainability now what is that you know what does that mean you know people just throw this this word around yeah and it is a horticulture you know what we're what I wanted to align is a horticulture vision with my vision and my passion and and that is feeding people yeah and hydroponics is going to be the way to do it and that's why we want to be involved in this arena because it's going to be about feeding the nation and provide and creating jobs hmm and training people see that's one of my and I think I often get accused of having too much of a social work in me but that's one of my things with just with what we can do on on our little plot I want to make sure that everybody that lives there and that works there has access to fresh vegetables and what I want to do down at the bottom of the road and no I'm not giving you my address just yet but it's put a little trust all up there take what you need leave what you can with whatever we've got over I was going to mention to you later on what we need to be doing right now yeah getting little hydroponic setups in our backyard or growing our own veggies sharing with our neighbors knowing our neighbors you grow the potatoes I'll grow the tomatoes yeah that's how we should be doing it so I'm not that I'm not that weird oh well this is good news huh I can go out and sell the masses now but I really I really do want to do that and I want to now when we add in aquaponics then we start adding in the fish which is as I understand it there's a couple of different kinds tilapia is the one that springs to mind yeah yeah I don't know if we don't know if I could do truck by me it might get a bit warm for them but certainly tilapia but then the thing is once the fish go to a certain size or whatever they become food as well which is complete sustainable complete solution in to end we're looking at going putting in solutions where you compete off-grid I was just about because there's a question that's just come in what happens when power cuts when it comes to hydroponics so solar solar so I've actually just spent the last couple of days in in a little town in the Eastern Cape called Bathurst and my friend actually built his own house there him and his wife with their own two hands it's a timber frame house beautiful beautiful place they are off-grid they run everything of solar and initially when he told me I thought oh this is gonna be dodgy little flickering lights and everything you do not even know the difference no ways not done even and listen in this country I think solar is the way to go I mean it's definitely something to invest in and as I understand it you don't have to put in a massive solar system straight away this is the solar can also be modular so you can build up to it but I mean imagine for for hydroponics if you're going out you can grow outdoors yes yeah with with maybe a bit of shade cloth or whatever ever so you don't have to worry about lighting so you literally need enough power to run the pumps correct and that's not a whole huge amount of power that's I'm guessing it's a couple of solar panels a couple of solar panels a small panel just to power your one pump that you've got running your home grows all you need and you're done I think that's fantastic and the nice thing that if I understand this correctly with with hydroponics is the amount of space because a lot of the guys are doing this vertically now so it's these vertical walls of just the most beautiful vegetables it's kind of like vegetable porn for me I've been looking at all of this I've been so excited couldn't wait to talk to you and go can you do it how do you do it what do we need to do somebody's just sent me something here probiotic there's a whole thing I've got to look at over here so somebody's just sent me something I'll have to talk to you about this just now terms in NC but looks interesting also also looks like a a sort of broad spectrum probiotic microorganisms and everything so we'll talk about that a little later on don't have time to read that now so what are you guys doing as SA horticultural supplies to to get this ball rolling the sustainability ball rolling well the big problem is funding get one of these projects off the ground and the sustainability projects we're talking about yeah we're talking about getting investors getting investment we're looking at putting in a hundred tunnels yeah on about eight hectares of land uh-huh a hundred tunnels on eight hectares of land that's gonna feed an awful lot of people okay and be surprised at how low that figure actually comes in if you think about how many people you're going to feed and you'd be surprised to know how difficult it is to get funding now if we've got a corporate or somebody that works for a corporate that's listening now and going hey hey because this seems like a brilliant corporate social initiative to me get involved invest in this you're actually investing in your staff's health because they're getting healthy and you say the nutrients that you can add into this I'm assuming they are the algebo that are that are the chemical nutrients which I personally would stay away from I would try and go as organic as possible with with with hydroponics it's just me it may be a bit more expensive but just think if you are a corporate you're investing in yourself's health because now they're getting good quality healthy vegetables that are full of nutrition that's got to be a plus absolutely I mean think about it it's it's a it's a no-brainer really yeah we we let me look at it where to put our energy and where we want to focus and we and you look at at the the situation that we in right now we where do we need the mode where's one of our big areas we need to feed our people and to and and for the corporates and whoever may be interested in these sort of projects all the specific project and the jobs that will be created and the quality of food that's going to come out and that will be for several rural and urban areas okay from this one project I'm definitely you know what I'm gonna go and I don't know sell a kidney or something but I need to come and see you I want to I want to set up a hydroponic system at home I really do I mean the results I've had just from that living swell and the nice thing is because initially and thank you for telling me this because initially I thought oh it's a it's a living soil so I'm gonna be able to plant the stuff in it once and then it's done and then I gotta like toss it out and put in fresh and and you say no it actually as a living soil you should keep you should reuse your soil and reuse your soil and reuse your soil and keep adding there's something called can I just just go off one second and then minutes let's talk amendments when we come back because that's very very important as well and I wanted to check with you on exactly what that was all about because I knew you had to add something we'll be back with Tamsin from SA horticultural supply what's involved the Monday nights Alfavel and forever young oh it's my dream it's my dream and if I eat good veggies maybe I can stay younger for longer my special guest in studio Tamsin Mayor from SA horticultural supplies so before the break I said to you about this living soil that I've now bought which I'm glad I don't have to throw it away because I was just gonna put it back into the compost or something you said amendments now now speak to me of amendments what's that all about without getting too complicated and movements are aspects of the soil so things that you add into the soil okay so you would add an amendment to enrich the soil okay alright so you get different amendments so a wide range or a number of them so things things like what you mentioned acetic acid you make acid kelp meal datamaceous earth okay and and they all have little roles that they play but you can purchase amendments from us as amendments and enrich your own soil so now let's take for example and I don't want to use myself yes when my when I'm finished now so my tomato crop is done do I need to add amendments now can I plant another crop in that same soil immediately how would I what would I do I mean but I don't it won't hurt for me to add in a little bit of extra biochar or something like that okay so somebody's just said how does one know which amendments to add what you would do is you would need to look for deficiencies you would either have your soil tasted or you'd need to look for deficiencies in your plant okay no watch what's missing okay okay and what amendments to add as I said there's a there's a whole range it would depend on what you're growing and it would depend on well is there a safe couple across the board that you can throw in to make yourself better yeah but again this is something that you would be able to advise somebody because I love this this is a great this is a great explanation of amendments this comes from Charles he goes amendments sounds just like making a very good curry all about what you add yes there you go that's right I would agree with that and as well as with the very good curry it's all about feel uh-huh so not about exact science it's about yeah I've noticed this is there is quite a bit of a bit of that but I mean I could come to you and I could say terms in I'd like to buy some biochar and you can then you can sell me biochar you don't sell it just in massive big quantities you can do it for the smaller person okay it would all depend on a case-by-case basis and what the person needs it for what sort of size land they've got what they're wanting to do it would be a complete requirement now where would you get soil tested because you know that I'm probably going to arrive at your shop one day with a little bag of soil and go can you fix it where would you how would you do that is there a soil testing person there are places the test soil but it is quite specialized does it so that's more for the larger scale kind of kind of yes you can also that you get something called if you want to have a look at the the the neutral the nutrition in your soil yes something called a TDS meter which total dissolved solids I remembered something okay yeah and that you can buy and that you can buy and you can see if you've got if your soil is is if it's a if there's anything in it mm-hmm if it's a clean medium like a coca-peet or if you've got a living soil you can see oh look I've it's right up there yeah okay now at SA horticultural supplies what what kind of things do you sell to the public we've discussed those jiffy pellets trust me go ahead and get some of those things they are the bomb promise you if you into and they don't just work for veggie said I mean if you grow flowers or anything else you can bang it in there and it'll also germinate perfectly okay what about stuff somebody asked me here what about what about things for or kids do you do you love expand okay that I spoke about the small one yeah and the three to eight ball if anyone's looking specifically the three to eight because let me tell you all kids and I I love them they do not love me eventually eventually I've now got three that seem to be doing okay they seem to be in the right medium and they're doing the right thing and I've just had all of them for the last couple of months blooming beautifully the flowers are all now dying off don't know if it's the right time but I'd used to frustrate the life out of me that I couldn't get or kids to go I killed them left right and center every orchids are finicky and they are one of the more complex wants to grow oh is it yes okay so it's not just me that's done oh sure you see I feel better now bonsai somebody just said bonsai stuff to grow bonsais and expand really expanding clay for bonsai and you've got all of that sorry I interrupted you busy talking about what you guys supply very popular love me some fabric pots fabric pots and additives your additives are that'll be your pH up and pH down why would you need that because different plants like different pH's yeah believe it or not so tomorrow's gonna like a different pH to the green pepper let's say for example I get what you're saying so so it's either either more alkaline or more acidic the additives pH up and pH down we sell all of the different additives you're you're what you would need in a for a setup we sell so from the living soil the fabric pots the jiffy pellets I could come to you see now now now we're getting into the good stuff this vermiculite in but I could literally come to you as if somebody's listening to not nigger you know what I want to try this hydroponic thing I could literally come to you tomorrow and go terms and please help and I could walk out there with a little system could I do that could you help me I could help you you don't walk out little system tomorrow because I'd have to order stuff in well depending on what what you're okay put a little system together for you and we take it from there so you would draw me a picture I'm coming to visit you know that I just and my fiance is busy hiding the credit card as we speak I guarantee you because I want to come and visit and I want to do this I really really do somebody says excellent show this evening they've got people all over the place lovely that are doing this and hydroponic projects in Mauritius as well so there we go people enjoying the show wonderful stuff all right before we say goodbye to Tamsin we need to ask the question so the question is you can SMS me four one three four eight those SMSes are charged at 150 otherwise what's up oh eight four eight double two oh nine three eight I need your name and I need your email address and the answer so listen closely name email address and answer all right if I don't get all of those we're not going to make you a winner okay and the address you can just email them to get the address because otherwise it's gonna okay you want to do the address - okay name email and address and answer so name email address and answer one person is going to win five bags of living soil let me tell you you can grow yourself some stunning vegetables with five bags of that that's 150 litres worth of soil am I right yeah 30 metres of bag for you yeah it's a lot of soil and you really you will not will not be disappointed okay so name name email address and answer I can't brain tonight I swear I think I used all my words during the course of today yeah so name email and your physical address or the post we will physical address I don't think we can post that stuff to you what is the difference between hydroponics and aquaponics that is the question what is the difference between hydroponics and aquaponics once again SMS 4 1 3 4 8 all whatsapp has 0 8 4 8 double 2 0 9 3 8 you're gonna win yourself five bags of that amazing living soil which I highly highly recommend Thamesham before you go if people want to get hold of you after the show they want to find out a bit more about SA horticultural supplies what do they do they got our website which is www.SA horticulture yeah it's horticulture yes horticulture or they can email me on Thamesham T-A-M-S-Y-N yeah S-A horticulture okay because somebody just asked for your details so it's T-A-M-S-Y-N at S-A horticulture dot C-O dot Z-A if any of that those things make you confused you can always get hold of me I'll put you in touch with Thamesham David at what's involved dot C-O dot Z-A David at what's involved at C-O dot Z-A if you didn't get Thamesham's details the kiddies are flying in here now I'm probably T T okay okay all right good we got a whole bunch I'm gonna put it all into our randomizer here and we're going to choose one lucky winner to get those five fantastic bags of living soil that's compliments of Thamesham and SA horticultural product is a horticultural supplies supplies why why am I so confused about the Thamesham thank you we might have to get you back here I hope somebody's listening and I hope this turns into more sustainability more people taking responsibility for their own nutrition and health growing their own stuff and who knows maybe even a corporate going hey we want to get involved with your project so we wish you all the best thank you for being here with us tonight it's been an absolute pleasure I love chatting with with Thamesham and really yeah the things that you guys do and your knowledge and your passion is is awesome thank you so much sure we'll have Thamesham back in a little while I'll tell you who the winner is in just a bit and then after that Angelie mark on from our heart center what are we talking we're talking healing we're talking plant medicine we're talking the courses the training that she does we're gonna get we're gonna get our we're gonna get our interesting on okay because that's that's the way it is you know I do like things that are strange and exciting so we'll be back with that