di Cultivation of a food garden
Many people have small piece of land or a section in their home which they use as a garden mainly for the production of food for their family and to save money in other cases.
Requirements:
1. Viable food seeds, seedlings or cutting for example okra, tomato, green or spinach, garden egg, onion, carrot, cucumber, cabbage, beans, groundnuts, pumpkin, teliferia, solanum, cassava sticks, seed yam, ginger etc.
2. Good soil.
3. Manure and/or suitable fertilizer.
4. Garden tools.
Materials for asking if necessary for example for yams, tomatoes, some creeping vegetables.
Procedures:
1) Prepare the soil by:
- clear the ground. Remove all weeds and plants.
- mark the soil. Beds can be made to be 1.25 metres wide by 7.75 metres long or any convenient length.
- plough or cultivate the soil to break it up, so that it becomes loose and workable.
2) Apply suitable manure and mix properly with the soil.
3) Mulch the beds by covering them with dry grass, leaves, rice husks or wood chippings.
Uses of mulching:
- it helps the soil to retain moisture and keeps it cool.
- it suppresses weed.
- it prevents soil erosion.
4) Plant the seeds according to their types:
- large seeds (for example Okra, pumpkin, melon, maize) are planted directly into the bed.
- tiny seed (for example spinach, onion, lettuce, carrot, tomatoes) should first be planted in nursery. Nursery baskets, boxes or beds should be properly prepared and manured. The tiny seeds germinate into seedlings. These can be transplanted into the garden beds after about 2-3 weeks.
- many plants can also be grown from cuttings for example bitter leaf, cassava. The stem is normally cut to about 25cm and inserted into the soil.
