BERRY nice

“ For a long time, it was difficult to grow berries in South Africa (except in the Cape), because berries need cold winters, as experienced in Europe,” says Linda Wainman of Just Berry Plants in Roodepoort. For the past five years she and her sister Bev Klein, have been using a Facebook group, Berry Plant Lovers, to pass on their knowledge, with advice and follow-up e-mails to encourage first-time growers.

Aside from supplying nine different berries, including blueberries, cranberries and goji berries, they have developed a starter kit, mainly for acid-loving blueberries and cranberries. It consists of Lithuanian sphagnum peat moss, volcanic rock