Grow to Earn – Maureen’s Backyard Garden Model for Urban Farming and Food Security

In this episode, we meet Maureen Simang’aliso Ntaukira, a vibrant young farmer from Lilongwe – Malawi, who is transforming her backyard into a hub of productivity and purpose.
Through small-scale horticulture and sustainable agro-ecological practices, Maureen is not only feeding her family with diverse, nutritious produce, but also generating income and building resilience. Her story is a powerful example of how urban farming can be a tool for change economically, nutritionally, and socially.

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Malawi Ugly Bees podcast. business. [Music] Yeah. Which then are you all right? So yeah as Mrs. I’m married. Yeah. So and I I used to work a lot. Okay. Yeah. So recently last year and I quit my job. Yes. Because I was home like I was cooking more and stuff like that and then I just started uh filming my recipes and then just posting them online. And then I saw and then people were commenting, “Oh, this is so inspiring. Yeah. So like for me it was just sharing. Okay. So when did you realize I can put this? Okay. Yeah. I think like my husband would call me, oh this is nice. It’s a nice recipe. So I liked trying new recipes and stuff like that. for my business. Yeah. So I just used to use it to promote. Yeah. So I saw you know people were engaging and stuff like that. So I was like ah let me one day I just filmed the process. I’m like ah let me just post cuz I saw people sharing their life then it actually attracted more viewers than Yeah. So and then it just motivated me. So like that motivated me the next time I posted someone said you know what this is so inspiring. So it just became now like a thing I was just sharing. So for me it wasn’t very hard because [Music] You want to create a content? Yes. I’m just filming that process. So, it was just like I’m really just filming as the day goes. Backyard Garden. Mhm. Okay. So for me growing up So that motivated me. Let me just grow my own vegetables. My husband loves salad. crispy. So you can only achieve that if you’re just getting it from your garden and you know chopping it and making that salad. So the only way is to grow it yourself ladies. I use ladies for breakfast, for dinners, for lunch. Yeah. So that’s what motivated me like the garden it becomes when you’re there. It’s so fulfilling and these things are easy. you know, stuff like that. Are you a farmer? I am. I call myself an aspiring farmer because I have just started farming. Agreneur. Yes, that sounds better. Yeah, that sounds better. Yeah, I think if you see my content, I’ve gone into farming content. So, I always say I’m an aspiring farmer because I want to get there, but I’m just starting out. So, garden. Yeah. I think when I saw how uh growing things are, how easy it is, how I was like, “Oh, I can do this large scale, you know.” So that’s how I like this year I grew my first tomato field and farmer. So I sold my tomatoes and I made I made some money from it and then drama. So like this is my plan for this year is to go full time and do farming as well. Okay. It’s just that I wasn’t sharing. All right. Yeah. Before we were living in 47, I used to have a nice garden there. So it was even bigger because I think the other you can just go there and buy. It’s just that I think I wasn’t filming. Let’s see your garden and stuff. Then I started showing people my garden. Yeah. Chinese spinach, beetroot, garlic, tomato, green pepper, [Applause] seeds. Is it broccoli? I think parsley. I have those cauliflower as well. [Music] So I do have I think those are the ones I can remember the top of my my head. Okay. So how big is your garden? 15 16 plus. How big is your garden? It’s it’s small. It’s not it’s not very big of course. [Music] Okay. Yeah. which is a lot of that is tomato Chinese the spinach I’ve been selling I was like, “No, stealing my tomatoes and buying my tomatoes.” Yeah. So, um, yeah, I have a lot of tomatoes. people are interested in buying so they’re able to pick the vegetables that they want, the tomato that they want. So they find that exciting as well. But I’ve made quite some money. Even the other day I think it’s just about 30 trees and then someone came and said and then000 was like then I went to And then I was like, okay, I still have tomato from the garden. Literally, I can be able to eat every day from the garden. Not just for me, but if I sell, I’m also able to buy. I’m also able to buy think you can go in the supermarket. Yeah. Okay. So, first of all for you want fresh vegetables every day. I need to go and buy every other day. That’s time and money as well for me to go to the shops. They’re not going to be as fresh. Not going to be as fresh. and everything. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I would say it’s organic. Of course I do use all the time. There’s a debate outside there. Yeah. I don’t even affects growth. Not saying most of the times it’s going to be affected. podcast. [Laughter] So, now. Yes. Now I wish I paid attention. I feel like it’s very Okay. I think first of all you have to want something how I think about life because if I have my two hands I have my head my brain or whatever I can do anything that so first of all you have to believe we are able to do something and also information is out there even from people that have done you know a particular something I get a lot of people so they just say that come ask you know for information yeah of Yeah. So like for me so what I used was this is my first time I read books. I read I watched videos on the internet and I found people so you learn from them and approach matters and then you just leave it out there supposed to go therely. for my she helped me with my tomato farming growlings. He also helped me. So like for me I was so interested. I was like okay so how do I do this? How do I do stuff like that? So, that’s the good thing about him. So, like for him, he he played a major role in my family because he did help me. And then training. I’ll show you the very well. It’s only 5 weeks old. of the sambar and he was surprised that yes he was so he was so surprised I was like just from bits and beats and stuff if I want to do it like you know seriously on a large scale I really need to have all information that’s why I enrolled myself in this training Why are we putting this don’t explain? So we have to inform ourselves whether you’re reading books and stuff. They know the challenges. They know how to deal with them. I think I’ve had a lot of people I can’t confidently teach someone how to grow. This was my first time. I still have a lot to learn. [Music] people and this training is practical. It’s going to take like six months because we’re learning step by step. So you you’re going to wait for six months. But then you also have to invest in your knowledge. Yeah. Okay. So I think it’s just a matter of timing and how you plan your time. So like I said right now I’m not working but I do have the shop that I I run crossroads. I do bake cakes for business and then I’m doing the farming so I have to go and then I have two boys that I take care of and my husband and then house. So that’s another job all together. Yeah. So I think it’s just a matter of how you manage your time. And of course I also have people that help me around the house. I have a nanny. I have a garden boy. Although the cooking I do cook but it’s not 100%. Yeah. There are specific foods that I cook like breakfast. I do breakfast for my husband. I make snacksacks for my child. So that one is easy cuz it’s just waking up. I’ll make breakfast for him. I’ll make snacks for my kids. Now I have time that I can go and see my garden. I know. [Music] [Applause] You see that’s the thinking out there. Yeah. Yeah. From 6 a.m. Then at the same time, how do you manage your time? Um, if you can go back to comment section, Facebook, Tik Tok now and again, how do you manage your time? I think it’s just about managing your time really. It’s just a matter of managing your time. like [Applause] I think even when I was working manager so I know I can multitask so cuz we used to have a lot of projects I used to manage a lot of people so it’s just how you you plan your day when you wake up you you decide like and also having like a great team that uh that you you are able to work with. So it starts with having people that I can trust, having people that I can trust, having people that I can trust. So when you have that great support system, things work easily. Like how many hours you spend? I would say maybe 2 hours. I can spend maybe one to two hours if I’m working on something every day. Like there are some days where I’m just going there to like walk around, see what’s happening. And then there are some days where I’m going there. So I’ll spend longer hours like that. Yeah. So it’s it depends on what I’m doing. Every day I go there and I’ll like check it out, take pictures, take content. Yeah. And stuff like that. So it’s not Okay. Yeah. It’s just how you also maybe delegate and how you follow up. Oh yeah. Do you think Okay. So what especially if you have a small space, what you need to grow is high value crops. Okay. Yeah. Things like as much even though they’re taking up the same spot. So it’s just a matter of for you to calculate which ones valueifi it’s just that I very so I I’m going to grow around maybe 400 bill trees. 400 trees. Yeah. Plant of bell peppers which I want to sell. Do you know how much bell peppers are in jibu per kg? No. I just checked yesterday. It was like 23,000 per kg. That’s how much they’re obviously. Yes. So even if you’re selling at 20,000 and then you see so it’s not about the space but it’s about how you take care of the few. Yes. Even the few plants that you have, how you take care of them, you can make so much money from it. So, do you think this is the right thing? And by the way, yeah, they can do that. Ask their parents, it’s fine. If you don’t have three, four, whatever, you can even go and grow. If you want somewhere which your parents is just staying you’ll be able to make 5 million 6 million shift I I think fortunate enough because my husband bought a lot of land. So we have land but then you know there are those options. So there are people like that which it’s very hard to get. So instead of just staying here looking for you still apply. You’re there. So you go there with the money that you have. You find you know with the money [Applause] I was so surprised after they make a lot of money. They make a lot of money. Even those people make a lot of money. We just now I know people do make a lot of money. So the backyard is is a great place to start. that’s why you get more information about but now I know so much as you grow now you know you meet them so they say experience is the best teacher so this is how you when I just started they also don’t know like you know you need to have fats. So if you don’t have like you’re doomed because people just you don’t know why they’re putting that but you have if you have knowledge so you can only get that by you know learning now investing in knowledge Yeah, it’s very important. Okay. Because I always say farming procedures, do this, this, and that. When you go on the ground, you’re going to meet totally different things. So with farming you actually have to do the things go through them for you to really understand because there are a lot of factors that affect growth whether it’s soil watering You just think for me you don’t have that knowledge. We are not all knowing. You get what I mean? As an aspiring farmer, I don’t have that knowledge. Maybe I’ll be a but I’ll be a pro at it. Why? Because I don’t have knowledge. It means if I want to do them, I also have to be informed on how bad grows, you know, totally different things. So you still have to learn. Now I’m learning about whatever you find, you know, off the internet, but I don’t know them in detail. If someone was to come and tell me maybe I’ll try teach them about the tomato because I’m more informed about the tomatoes, but I’ll just give them, you know, That’s just whatever. But if you go deep deep in books, uh that’s where now you’re going to be really more informed. Okay. [Music] Yeah, I don’t remember the last time I asked for Emma. I think I should try asking my husband. So what’s your message to have a yard back? Okay. For me, I would say you plant what you like, what you eat. You just plant the specific things. It’s very satisfying. So, it’s very easy to do, especially vegetables. They’re very easy to grow. home use. You can use it a whole year. 8,000 seeds. Yes, you can use it. almost 99% That’s another thing. Yes. Yeah. [Music] All those options are there. Make use of them. Tell them what to do. They’re going to do it. Actually, I had to force my sisters. I told them you’re no longer coming to buy to get my vegetables now. They were telling me the other daylings now they love it and you know it’s very satisfying to eat your own vegetables. You’re very sure. Yes. And you can just get but it’s very fresh. Uh, so now before we get there, By the way, actually what I want to do, I want to replace all the flowers with the cuz they equal they look nice Yeah. So, it still looks presentable, very nice, but you’re still eating. Yeah. We’re just wasting order and plus the two boys. Yeah. Mhm. back then. Mhm. Um I think it’s the love for vegetables. Like I I feel like my son loves uh vegetables more. Maybe because they’re more fresh or I think it’s also because like he gets excited that are we going to cook this? Okay, let me go. So he’s usually helping me. So he’s excited to eat and then he goes like, “Oh, I’m the one.” He gets so excited. So they’re very the very even salads. He loves salads. He loves the crispiness because they’re fresh. I think now like I have like constantly I’m able to change. I’m able to make spinach. So it’s not boring for the people in the house. And because I also cook a lot, I’m able to change recipes and cook them a different way. So it’s easier for them to eat the vegetables. My son cannot eat vegetables. Like you ask, oh didn’t put vegetables for me and like he’s so used to eating vegetable. He’s becoming a That’s for now. That’s for my youngest, the my 2-year-old. He’s he’s recently just started school the other day with my garden boy. It was his birthday. He loves it. Okay, fine. So, um garden. Yeah. [Music] Mhm. Um Oh, okay. So, from growing my own vegetables. I’ve learned so much about what plants need and I’m learning every day. I’m still learning. I’m still learning what I need to do. Even like you saw there was a guy who came to buy vegetables. how how to make money like I’m able to know okay and if I sell this how much this is how much I’m going to make from this section almost half an okay because of the inspiration that I got from so I quite understand how from selling it small scale I feel like this backyard is teaching me a lot which is helping me in my farming in my farming journey. Yeah. [Music] They feel like they’re working [Music] nails. I know how expensive [Music] you look. What would be your message to Okay. I would say don’t look down on backyard farming, backyard garden or farming in general. You can still do it while you’re still doing office work, while you’re still being a body. You get what I mean? First of all, for nails, there gloves. You don’t want to touch them with your fingers. You can wear farming gloves and do whatever. You don’t necessarily have to do it. You can just have people do it and you direct them. That way you at the end of the day, what you want is fresh vegetables. So, you just need to give directions. Just inform yourself. you find someone that can do it cuz if you’re working you can maybe afford to hire someone to do the work it’s not actually you’re going to find it very fulfilling for yourself to go it’s actually very rewarding for you to be in that garden you know you’re having a bad day like I usually just go take a walk around my garden and you know it lifts your spirit cuz There’s just something about, you know, sit in peace like it’s just it’s just it’s just so nice and so fulfilling and at the same time it’s very healthy and you know you you’re going to have a family that’s eating healthy food and it can also be something that is also bringing money to the table. So yeah, I think it’s it’s the way to go. Now Yeah. [Music] No. Okay. So for me creating content like I like creating content is inspiring others like if I post a video and one person is helped that day like I’m I’m happy. So the whole reason I create content is to create content that will inspire someone. So I’m happy when I see people who now I have a lot of followers who text me every day with pictures who did have started their garden and it fulfills me so much. It gives me more motivation to post more cuz it’s helping someone. Even the cooking it’s helping someone. I think the only thing that I haven’t posted is the recipe for my cakes. Yeah. Because I post decorating but I have people saying So, okay, this is my KFC. This is my KFC recipe. Like, I’m not going to post me. Yes. But for the cakes, I mean, for the food, I share my and I share them in D. I don’t hide anything because like for me, the whole reason I create the content is able to come and watch the recipe and cook it that way. And right now I’m also going towards you know promoting Malawi and food like I want to do more content especially on YouTube you know if people are thinking about Malawi they can go like okay what do people like eating in Malawi so how do they cook simma how do they cook how do they cook on sa whatever so I want to also dive that into more for people that are you know foreigners and whatnot. Yeah. But then for the Malawi and content, I just want to, you know, share my recipes so that people can be inspired, can learn from them and it can help them. Do you have a business number? Okay. Yeah, I do have a business line like especially if people want to come to the shop and stuff. I’m open with people coming to the shop, not my home because you know this is my family home. I have my kids here. I cannot have people coming in and out. Yeah. So like people maybe can come to buy stuff but they’re not like just coming in and out. Yeah. But I’m open if people want to meet me, they want to learn more from me. They can find me at the shop when I’m at the shop. So I I do have a business line um which they can use to call or WhatsApp. They’ll probably talk maybe to my girls at the shop. Yeah. But they they can give them my best my personal number if depending on what they what they want. Yeah. So they can find me through that way. Okay. Can you mention the number? Uh 0996618005. All right. Yeah. So that’s my shop number. All right. Yeah. So for the kids uh the kids the kids shop it’s at Crossroads. I show I sell kids items [Music] and stuff like that. So that’s the number as well. they can find it crossroads. Yeah. For my farming stuff, I usually sell from home. So when I have them, I I put it out on the internet. I have I have stuff which I want to keep cuz I don’t want to buy tomatoes until my next harvest. I do have tomato. [Music] So I just want to keep the one for now. But I’ll be back with selling more tomatoes and onions and stuff like that since now I’m like a fulltime farmer. Full-time farmer. Yeah. But for cakes, they can use the same number to also order a cake for me. I make birthday cakes and whatnot. All right. Okay. Actually, if you meet people that know me from my job, they’ll call me Simma as in short for Simalis. So, my grandmother gave it to me. So, it’s Morinaliso. And that’s my name on all platforms. If you go, I’m on Tik Tok, I’m on Facebook, I’m on Instagram, and I’m on YouTube. Subscribe to my channel, please. Yeah. So the name is Malawi. All right. [Music] [Music] Next week, Malawi Ugly Bees podcast