Mr. Obaba's Lesson on the Shoe Plant Pot
Life Blooms in Unexpected Places
Mr. Obaba’s Shoe Planter Meets South Africa’s Healing Plants
An old takkies becomes a tiny apothecary in Akrofu village, Ghana
In the small Ghanaian village of Akrofu lived an elder everyone called Mr. Obaba. He never threw anything away. Old shoes, cracked enamel bowls, broken chairs — everything waited patiently in his yard for a second life.
One afternoon, little Ntana found a single worn-out canvas shoe by the river. Mr. Obaba smiled, turned it upside-down, tapped out the pebbles, cut a few drainage slits with his pocket knife, filled it with rich black soil, and tucked in a sprig of wild dagga. “This shoe has walked enough,” he said. “Now it will help something else walk toward the sun.”
Ntana never forgot that lesson: life blooms wherever it is planted, if we give it a chance.
From Shoe to Living Pharmacy: South African Healing Plants You Can Grow in Mr. Obaba’s Planter
More than a century ago, Dr. Isaac Weitz documented the very same wisdom across Southern Africa in his 1908 Contribution to South African Materia Medica. Indigenous healers were already turning “waste” containers — gourds, horns, even old boots — into portable medicine gardens. Here are five powerhouse plants from Weitz’s pages that thrive in a shoe planter and double as food or kitchen remedies.
1. Wild Dagga (Leonotis leonurus) – “Lion’s Tail”
Weitz (1908): Smoked or brewed for coughs and headaches.
Today: Flowers make a gorgeous honey-sweet tea that calms nerves. Leaves are edible in moderation in stews.
2. Bulbine frutescens – “Burn Jelly Plant”
Weitz: Gel for burns, stings, rashes.
Today: Squeeze fresh leaf sap onto cuts in the kitchen — instant soothing. Young leaves add peppery crunch to salads.
3. African Wormwood (Artemisia afra) – “Umhlonyane”
Weitz: Bitter tonic for colds and stomach trouble.
Today: A few leaves in beans or pap cut bloating and add complex flavor.
4. Cancer Bush (Sutherlandia frutescens)
Weitz: “Strength for the weak.”
Today: Immune-boosting tea; leaves give a mild nutty note to rice dishes.
Make Your Own Mr. Obaba Healing-Shoe Planter (2025 Version)
- Choose any old shoe — canvas sneakers work best because they breathe.
- Poke 4–6 drainage holes in the sole.
- Half-fill with potting mix + a handful of compost.
- Plant 2–3 of the healing beauties above (all are drought-tolerant once established).
- Hang in morning sun / afternoon shade.
- Harvest leaves and flowers as needed for teas, salads, or first-aid gel.
An old shoe walked a thousand miles.
Now it grows the medicine that keeps the next thousand walkers strong.
Mr. Obaba and the Zulu, Xhosa, and Khoisan healers were saying the same thing: Waste nothing. Heal everything. Let life bloom where it lands.
