Indigenous trees at Meriada Garden off Muthangari Road in Nairobi. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
What you need to know:
Let your garden make money for you by turning it into play area or arts centre.
What do you do when you find land at the perfect location, but it’s missing one crucial element?
That was the dilemma that faced Fred Nyabera and his family when they found a beautiful piece of land just off of Muthangari Gardens Road in Lavington.
It is right around the corner from Valley Arcade, but far enough from the main road, a quiet, peaceful and rustic space that almost makes you forget you are just a stone’s throw away from Nairobi’s bustling Central Business District.
The place was filled with shade and cool breezes since there were ancient indigenous trees all around the edges of the land. The problem was just that the rest of the space (almost two acres) was dry, dusty and barren.
“So what we decided to do, was to take the space, but then bring in scads of soil, grass and a variety of vegetation,” says Fred. “We planted lots of young trees and also brought in various shrubs to beatify the place.”
Eating place
“We also brought in lots of pots in which we planted more greenery,” says Emmanuel Nyabera, the youngest of the Nyabera’s seven siblings.
The beautification process has paid off since the greening of the Nyabera’s land has made it literally one of the coolest, cosiest and comfortable places to go on a casual Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
The garden has retained a rustic, woodsy feel and look despite being surrounded by cement highways, shopping centres and traffic jams just a few blocks away.
When the Nyabera family first found the land a decade ago, their plan was to turn the space into an indoor-outdoor restaurant and name it after their parents, Mary and Adam. Thus was born the name, Meriada Garden.
“We thought of starting a restaurant because our family had grown up going out to eat almost every Sunday, and since the family is big [At the time, we were seven siblings plus our parents, spouses and our kids], we decided it made sense to start an eating-out place of our own,” says Emmanuel.
Emmanuel Nyabera next to Kioko Mwitiki’s scrap metal owl. PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU
Playground
There was an old colonial bungalow on the land when the Nyabera’s moved in. This they transformed into the restaurant and bar.
“But we’ve been careful to protect our trees,” adds Fred.
But since the garden is quite spacious, the family chose to allow the restaurant seating to extend out onto the lawn where several polished wooden tables sit under large umbrellas, protecting guests from rain and sun.
They also created a small children’s playground so that when families come, the parents can relax and also watch their children as they play.
Recently, Emmanuel proposed making one corner of the gardens into an arts and crafts centre where, every first Sunday of the month, the grounds could be opened for artists and artisans to exhibit and also sell their works.
The family gave him a green light, in part because several local artists had already come and asked to exhibit their paintings on the restaurant walls and everyone had agreed. So The Owls Nest came into being officially just three months ago.
Explaining how he came up with the name, Emmanuel says he’s been fascinated by owls since he was very young.
“My father taught in a school [in Western Kenya] that had one empty classroom which I, as an eight year old, discovered was being occupied by owls. I used to go and watch them for hours”.
Then when he told the details of that story to his friend, the Kenyan sculptor Kioko Mwitiki, the artist went and made him a life-size owl out of scrap metal. “Kioko’s owl needed a home, and thus, the owl’s nest was born!”
Launching The Owl’s Nest in early June, John Sibi-Okumu (the writer, actor, author and former TV anchor of The Summit) noted that its opening reflected Kenyans’ growing appreciation of creative expression and the arts.
But it’s the natural beauty of the majestic trees and leafy greenery that provides the primary setting for people to come and visit Meriada Garden. Local artists like Jack Birgen, Waweru Gichuhu, Eddie Ochieng’, Evans Ngure and Samantha Koi were just a few of the many who exhibited last Sunday at the Owls Nest as well as inside the garden restaurant.
On those first Sundays of the month, space is also made in the garden for local musicians, like Makadam, to perform.
“We even have a children’s art programme,” says Emmanuel.
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