Hi, I’m Melanie and I grow things…
My name is Melanie-Fern Smit — yes, Fern really is my middle name — and it’s where Fern & Wild began. I’m the founder, flower grower, and the hands behind this little flower farm.
Fern & Wild is very much a one-woman flower farm. I choose the varieties, sow the seeds, prepare the beds, tend the plants, harvest the flowers and wrap the bouquets.
Fern & Wild brings together my love of gardens, useful plants, seasonal beauty and being outdoors— and like most growing things, it began with a small idea that slowly started putting down roots.
How It Started…
Fern & Wild did not begin with a grand plan to start a flower farm. It started with a veggie garden.
My husband and I originally wanted to be more self-sufficient with our fruit and vegetables, so we turned a greenhouse into a productive growing space. There was a bit of unused space at the back of the garden, and I thought, I’m going to plant flowers there.
As things often do with me, that small idea went from zero to one hundred very quickly. I started researching flower varieties, mapping out the garden and watching videos from flower farmers around the world. Before long, I had completely caught the bug.
The more I learnt, the more I thought, I can do this. And why not? We’re lucky enough to have a large backyard, but much of it is covered in lawn that we barely use and that offers very little to the environment. It made far more sense to turn that space into something productive—filled with flowers, pollinators, insects and life.
Although I’ve never lived on a traditional farm, growing has always been part of my life. My mother grew cymbidium orchids in a very small space and sold the flowers to florists, and some of my favourite memories are of potting, watering and cutting them with her. In many ways, Fern & Wild feels like a way of honouring her memory— carrying a little piece of her love for growing forward.
I also run From The Garden, an online fruit tree nursery created to encourage more people to grow their own food, plant fruit trees and live more sustainably. Fern & Wild feels like a natural next step: another way to grow something useful, beautiful and alive—while slowly turning an ordinary Johannesburg garden into something far more abundant.
Grown with the land
Traditional farming never really appealed to me in the way people might expect, but regenerative farming did. When I first began reading about it years ago, something clicked: the idea that growing could improve the soil, support biodiversity, encourage pollinators and work with a piece of land rather than simply taking from it.
Fern & Wild is being built around those same principles — caring for the health of the soil, the garden and the wider living ecosystem. Our approach focuses on building healthy soil, improving biodiversity and using thoughtful, regenerative growing practices wherever possible.
We are continually learning how to work more closely with the natural conditions of our small urban space, so the flowers we grow are not just beautiful, but part of a garden that is slowly becoming healthier, wilder and more alive.
Small Farm, Big Dreams
Our property is just under an acre, which is now quite rare in our area. The old farms and smallholdings have been completely subdivided into residential homes and apartment blocks, so we feel very lucky to have this pocket of space in the middle of Johannesburg—just 10 minutes from Sandton.
Our growing space may be small, but it’s amazing just how much you can squeeze into a backyard — especially with flowers. Fern & Wild is being planned bed by bed, making use of the space we have and slowly turning unused lawn into something more productive, beautiful and alive.
There is still a lot I am learning, experimenting with and building, but that is part of the story. Fern & Wild is not a big established farm pretending to be perfect. It is a real Johannesburg garden being transformed into a small flower farm with big dreams.
Follow the Journey
Fern & Wild is still growing—in every sense of the word.
You are invited to follow along as the garden beds are prepared, new varieties are trialled and the first harvests make their way from our little Randburg flower farm into Johannesburg homes, celebrations and flower shops.
This is only the beginning.
Join the Fern & Wild community
A Few Fun Facts About Me
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My mother and I bred parrots throughout my childhood and teenage years, so I grew up surrounded by feathers, noise and plenty of personality.
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I started my career as a paramedic before becoming a web designer and online marketing specialist. It was an unlikely leap, but it turned out to be the perfect fit.
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When I’m not working or growing flowers, I’m writing a fantasy novel and dreaming of seeing it on a bookshelf one day.
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My husband and I co-own four businesses, which means there is rarely a dull—or particularly quiet—moment.
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The easiest way to win me over is with biscuits. Flowers are a close second.
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I share my home with Kira, a Rottweiler who has very strong opinions about how my time should be spent.