Now a 23-year old architectural student specialising in environment-friendly design and inexpensive housing, Claire Reid was just 16 when she came up with an idea that has won local and international awards, and looks set to change the way that people nourish their families.

"It began with my father asking me to plant a vegetable garden during my school holidays," she says. "I think he was trying to teach me about business by suggesting that I grow the veggies and he would buy my crops from me."

The first thing that struck Reid was the cost she had to outlay to start the garden. "I was shocked at the cost of the seeds for just four different crops," she explains. "With the compost and the fertiliser, the price seemed astronomical for what would be a door-frame size garden. On top of that, only a few seeds are used and the rest  usually go to waste and expire after a year."

With tape measure in hand and tomato seeds in her palm, Reid attempted to follow the instructions on the seed package. Finding things difficult, she asked her family’s domestic worker Meggie to assist. "Meggie doesn't like gardening at all," says Reid. "She was an unwilling participant – and then I found out why."

It occurred to Reid that, while she has been tutored in both mathematics and English, Meggie hadn’t.. "The way the instructions are written on the pack makes it unfeasible for the people who most need the vegetable gardens to actually grow them. On top of that, the outlay is just not worth the yield."

Reid felt that there must be some way to overcome the problem. Then an idea that will change many lives came to her: what if there was a strip of seeds that were perfectly spaced and which indicated the correct depth, which could then be planted?

Knowing that newspaper is biodegradable, Reid cut a strip and stuck the seeds to it with a mixture of flour and fertiliser.  She planted the strip, knowing that not only would the plants be correctly spaced apart, the birds wouldn't be able to devour them before they had a chance to germinate.

"I was in Grade 10 when a teacher said I'd get extra credits for entering the Eskom Young Scientists Expo," Reid adds. "I took my invention along – and it won. I was thrilled and even happier when it caught the attention of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, who asked if I had conducted any tests to see how much water I could save using this method."

The Department nominated Reid's invention for the South African Junior Water Prize, because it reduces water wastage by up to 80%.  She won again, and then represented South Africa at the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, where Reel Gardening came first out of 24 countries.

The awards in Stockholm were hosted by the Swedish Royal Family."I was so intimidated, being the youngest of all the competitors. We won the international competition, and things have just grown from there”, she says.

The judges in Stockholm saw that this invention has the ability to solve both food and water shortages. According to Reid, “around 60% of our water goes into agriculture, so if we are able to save 80% of that 60%, it's a big deal. It also enables people to feed themselves."

The challenge now was to get large volumes of the product, “Reel Gardening”, into the market. Claire subsequently realised that to produce the seeds commercially would be a mammoth task. After much searching, she took the problem to flexographic, lithographic and digital label printers, Labelpak, who came up with a practical solution.

“The position of each seed is indicated on the strip of biodegradable paper, so the gardener can take just a small amount of water and pour it on the appropriate area. The paper absorbs the water thus, keeping the moisture right at the seed for longer,” notes Labelpak Director Barry Skjoldhammer.

The adhesive and face paper secures the seed into position, while enabling and affecting the seal of the strip. What’s more, the paper had to be bio-degradable and bio-inert so as not to impede germination. Exhaustive trials were implemented before the correct paper and adhesive combination were selected.

Labelpak now produces “seed strips”, which have a continuous length of self adhesive paper, with the backing slit down the middle to allow for easy removal. The face paper is a biodegradable substrate with a water based adhesive.

The face paper is printed with the description of the seed enclosed, like carrots or tomato. Also included are planting and watering instructions. Reel Gardening had a semi automatic machine built, which strips one half of the backing away, and drops the seeds onto the exposed adhesive, at the required spacing. The other half of the backing is then stripped away, and the face paper is folded in half, and adhered to itself.  This leaves the seeds encased in fully identified, bio-degradable paper, ready for distribution, explains Skjoldhammer.

From her venue in Johannesburg and a few select retailers, Reel Gardening now offers "seeds by the metre", which enables gardeners to purchase a metre of beans or two metres of spinach, depending on the size of their vegetable patch and the yield they need. There is also a range of herbs now on offer.

"You're only paying for what you are going to use, and the fertilizer is placed inside the strip. There are also seven of our official languages on every strip, as well as colour coding and drawings to indicate how to plant the strip." With vegetable, salad and soup garden starter packs, Reid hopes that people will be less afraid of setting up their own sustainable patch of healthy food.

"It's the least expensive way to feed a family with just a small patch of ground," concludes Reid. "From all perspectives, it makes sense for the people who most need it."